Blueprint Local - Mae Pang & Ling Wu

Local accessories designer (and yummy mummy to-be) Ling Ling has been making quiet waves with her edgy but yet luxurious wallets, bags and clutches. All her accessories are made using authentic farmed snakeskin from Indonesia, and then lined with soft leather on the inside. She revealed that it is not difficult to source for fabrics in Indonesia, and she has all her products manufactured there as well.

I love that her wallets are minimalistic and fuss-free in terms of design to simply let the texture and amazing colour of the snakeskin take center stage. Her ruffled clutches and bags is made of goat skin dyed with a metallic sheen on the outside and then adorned with snakeskin ruffle trims to once again, bring out the texture of the material. Her slingbags incorporates more details with the cascading leather strips, knotted bag handles and weaved bag straps, but everything seems to be rather organic in the sense that there are no additional embellishments or metal hardware. In essence, her designs are simple but yet stand out through its popart colours and her precise presentation and placement of the snakeskin and goat skin fabrics to bring out the texture of both. Its luxury lies in its exquisite stitching, buttery soft skins and understated design accents.

(PS. Both Ling Ling & I agree that you shouldn't be hypocritical. If you eat meat, then you shouldn't be against farmed animal skins used in designs, provided that they are killed in a humane way.)

I see Ling Wu to be the perfect accessory for my friend Mae Pang's futuristic designs with similar precision cutting. For her newest Cruise collection, Mae Pang delivered tailored vests with pleated chiffon fabric and sturdy leather lapels, multiple slitted maxi skirts made from a mix of polyester and lycra, and long structured vests of polyester with an outer suede finish - with most of the outerwear and bottoms in shades of black, navy and dirty green. Adding to the mix are those what I like to call highlighter fluoroneon colours of yellow, blue and pink made into mesh tops and dresses overlaid with vinyl panels. This makes an edgy and irreverent collection that is exciting with its colour choices and custom pleated chiffon fabric. (And how great are those zip shin tights?)

Mae Pang continues to be one of those few Singaporean designers who are unafraid to push the envelope just a little more to produce edgy collections that are one of a kind, instead of the same old neutral colours and excessive draping as seen in other local designers' collection.