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People are really busy about the upcoming season, but Summer hasn’t ended yet, at least for the Sculptural Heel trend. They are too cute and arresting to be buried by the Fall leaves.

Based on Elle, sculptural heel is “eye-catching with an embellished or irregular-shaped heel” shoe.

As it becomes the focus of your outfit, keep the rest of your look simple. Never distract people’s attention by over accessorizing. This flamboyant shoe comes great with tux, but make sure the trousers are narrowed at the ankle it won’t cover up what you want to show off.

(Source: Elle)

Topic: Shoe
Tags: Shoe, summer

It’s so interesting to talk about breaking-out, Asian born, attention catching and heart stealing designers. Doo-ri Chung is a Korean-American. She was prized $200,000 (also came with a Lexus and a Montblanc watch) as the first winner of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund competition in 2006. And the same as Thakoon, she also designed the limited edition of classic white shirt for first GAP Design Editions.

Doo-ri is known for her smart, clean, and feminine designs that won fashionistas’ hearts such as Eva Longoria’s and Chloe Sevigny’s. Her signature is the way she drapes jersey dress that she does each season, as she told in Vogue February 2008.

She also told Vogue about her shoe collection for this upcoming season (Fall 2008). She had developed “a new wedge, a sort of chunky heel, but very feminine”.

In Asia itself, Doo-ri’s collections can be found in Japan (Aqua Girl, Estnation, Jun Opititude, Loveless, Mitsukoshi, Salotto, Seibu), Jakarta (Jade), Hong Kong (Joyce), Taiwan (Level 6ix), Seoul (Galleria, Boon The Shop) and Singapore (Club 21).

Topic: Asia, Boutique, Designer
Tags: Designer

Pop, vibrant, bold colors may have been the ‘it’ seasonal trend that have passed. People are starting to move on and talk about Summer, or even Fall 2008 trend. However, in Asia, especially in tropical countries which are blessed with sunshine the whole year, there’s always reason to wear what’s called ‘remainders from Spring’. Colored bags will never disappoint you since they are so refreshing and eye-catching.

Marc by Marc Jacobs Faridah Leather Bag is one of the ‘remainders from Spring’ that can be your everyday bag. The simple look won’t overdo, but the color will undoubtedly stand out. And the most important for us in Asia, colored bag can be a way to cheer the days up under the sun :)

(Source: Marc by Marc Jacobs Faridah Leather Bag)

Topic: Bag, Designer
Tags: Bag, spring

Batik, the Indonesia’s original attire is becoming the latest girlie fashion trend these days in big cities of Indonesia such as Jakarta, and Bandung. Batik is dominating the display of girls’ clothing stores, and it comes in various patterns and designs.

This phenomenon is quite surprising since batik is usually regarded as old fashioned, and only worn by Javanese. There used to be only 2 types of batik: first type which is worn only at home (as the substitution of pajamas), and the other one is batik for attending formal wedding party. No grey area that people could wear batik to the mall.

However, it seems changed. Now, people, especially females see it differently; there are countless reasons to wear batik. On the top the list is, of course, because it comes as really cute stuff like mini dress, tunic, and skirt. And the followings are the fact that it is very comfortable to wear, and the price that is so affordable (the price range is from IDR.20000–IDR.70000). The combination of cute design, comfort and reasonable price has made batik wearable yet casually trendy.

A retailer said that the trend was initially started to celebrate Kartini’s day (21st of April) this year, and he got the supply from cities those are known for their batik like Yogyakarta, and Pekalongan.

Besides, batik trend actually doesn’t only go local, but also international. It’s on the list of stuff of ‘Xenophile’ look, together with other countries’ ethnic prints, and African safari look such as zebra stripes bangles. Xenophile is defined as “a person who is attracted to foreign cultures” (in other name: Global Chic Mix look) and became the X on TeenVogue’s ‘Spring Forward; All The Trends from A to Z’.

This is good news for Indonesia. Batik should be preserved, and the ‘I-Love-Batik’ campaign seems to be successful. We’ll see whether this is going to be an everlasting love or only temporary. But for now, Indonesia’s latest trend is coming home.

Topic: Asia, Batik, Indonesia
Tags: Batik, Indonesia

It’s really nice to see Asian faces like Doo-ri Chung, Derek Lam, or Thakoon Panichgul in Vogue (February 2008) pages, especially when they are titled ‘Fashion’s Latest Breakout Designers’, and called ‘America’s hottest talents’. Eventhough they are nationally American, but we can still feel their Eastern heritage :)

Talking about Thakoon, this talented designer, who grows more worshippers each day, has caught my attention a lot. Not only mine, but maybe also the-rest-of-the-worlds. His collections are worn by fashion trendsetter celebrities like Rachel Bilson, Kate Bosworth, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Demi Moore.

Thakoon Panichgul, was born in Thailand, and raised in Nebraska. He once worked as a merchandiser for J. Crew. He’s also a former editor at Harper’s Bazaar. Thakoon got his fashion background formally from Parsons School of Design. He produced his first collection for Fall 2004. In 2006, he won the runner-up position at CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund competition, while Doo-ri Chung got the first one. This had brought him (and also Doo-ri and Rodarte) to partnership with GAP for designing unique interpretations of the iconic GAP classic white shirt limited edition collections last year.

Thakoon is known for his playful designs those are charmed with sweet, offbeat details. Last Spring he was inspired by “girl culture and Japanese tourism, and (this) idea of a woman who travels and gets lost in an idyllic life and is forever transformed” (as quoted from Vogue February 2008).

Topic: Asia, Designer
Tags: Designer

It’s the story about the only Filipino fashion designer, Josie Cruz-Natori, who has become a global brand.

Topic: Asia, Culture, Philippines

Singapore takes a lead to push student fashion shows in order to drive industry in Asia.

Fresh! – a graduate showcase at VivoCity is a step up to the next level in fashion for young budding fashion designers in Asia. The showcase is part of the ongoing Singapore Fashion Week. Competitors from four design schools – LASALLE College of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Raffles Design Institute and Temasek Polytechnic – competed for the grand prize in three categories – women’s, men’s and mixed collections. Priscilla Tan from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts topped the contest, earning her a two-week internship at Topshop/Topman in London next year.

Source | Photo source

Topic: Asia, Fashion Show, Singapore

Singapore seems to be the fashion center in the Southeast Asia.

Singapore has become the newest member of the Asia Fashion Federation (AFF) in a signing ceremony that was held on Monday as part of Fashion Week 2007. The move is seen as giving the local fashion industry a boost. AFF was founded three years ago in a joint bid to promote Asian designers and labels in the Western markets. Up till now, the group has been restricted to only its founding members – China, Korea and Japan.

Source

Topic: Asia, Forum, Singapore

The Vimal Master Craftsmen Forum, which was formed on April 13th, 2007, will conduct a seminar-cum-workshop at five centres  Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. Forum will also learn to craft fashionable Italian suits and jackets and spread the ‘Fashion Forward’ movement further.

Topic: Asia, Designer, India, Seminar

Again, we talk about nationalism in fashion. And again it’s about national dresses that become unpopular in their own country. This time it’s come from David Tang, Shanghai designer that put Mandarin-collared shirts, cheongsam dresses and other Chinese-style fashion on boutique shelves from New York to Paris.

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Topic: China, Culture