White Hot - Borrowing from the Boys Menswear Dressing

Wearing White Blazer from Sheinside, Print shirt from Nikicio, Wide leg pants from Mango and Silver Strappy Heels from Ezra by Zalora

Photos by Jonathan Liu

The blazing sun is really very merciless now in Singapore, with temperatures reaching up to 30-32C. Despite that me and Yukie decided to team up together for a White Hot pair shoot. This was the first time that I have shot together with someone else and I have to say that it's so much fun! Both me and Yukie were so excited when we saw the end product turn out so brilliantly, so much so that it almost looked like a campaign shoot.

I love this pair of wide-leg pants from Mango to bits as it is so comfortable. It sits midwaist and makes my legs look really long as a result. I paired this with my white boyfriend blazer from Sheinside to put together a suit look and offset it with this beautiful print shirt from Nikicio which I acquired a few years back from Nina Nikicio when I was in Jakarta. This print is still one of my absolute favourites in my wardrobe and it was actually taken from a photograph by one of Nina's friends, which subsequently inspired a whole collection built around it.

I suppose this look would be an appropriate homage to June, which I spent reading, writing and traveling. With that, goodbye June and hello July as I work really really hard for the second half of 2014!

Hermès Men's SS2015 Défilé Livestream

For the best seat in the house, log on to www.hermes.com/defile on Sunday, 29th June at 2am Singapore time. Alternatively, log on now to sign up for a notification 30 minutes before the show!

Till then, I leave you with this livestream of Louis Vuitton FW14.

Sports Luxe - How to Dress for the Office II

Wearing Eclecticism Lauren Jasmine blouse, Club Monacco satin blend skirt with white trimmings, The Shoemaker's Elf leather strap sandals

Today marks the first day of my internship, where I'll be working hard away for the next six months. So - it would only be apt that I introduce Part II of How to Dress for the Office series.

Tip #1 - Add some Colors
As you can see, office wear does not always have to be about black and white. You can always add some colors by replacing black with royal purple, navy, emerald green, oxblood red, burgundy and other deep color shades. However, keep the color palette to no more than three colors for a pulled together look that looks sleek and professional.

Tip #2 - Add some Details
You can make your outfit look more interesting by wearing blouses with more details, such as this one here from Lauren Jasmine with lace inserts at the collar. You can also play with textures by wearing knit, silk, satin or other textured fabrics.

Tip #3 - Accessorize!
If your office dress code is really stuffy boring strict that you must stick to a monochrome color palette, you can always make it more interesting through your accessories! Here, I have on a simple pink jewel necklace that matches the pink of my leather strap sandals (3 color rule). You can of course always have pearl whites, champagne, rose gold and silver accessories or add some color through leather wrap bracelets (think the ones from Balenciaga or Hermes).

And that sums up my tips for this installation of How to Dress for the Office! Let me know if you would like to know more style tips with regards to mastering the OL look. Please don't let your boss see you in those horrible skater dresses next time! *winks*

A Pencil Skirt - How to dress for the Office

Wearing chemise shirt from Zara and Ruffled rose print pencil skirt from Eclecticism Lauren Jasmine

I'm about to start work very soon in less than two weeks' time full time in the CBD (Raffles Place) area and so I guess I've been prepping for a few Office Lady (OL) looks.

For me, a great OL look should be simple, smart and clean, but using accessories to add details to the look. Someone once told me that the clothes you wear forms the backbone of your sentence, but accessories act as punctuation. In addition, the look should be well-fitting, yet not body wrapping, which makes this pencil skirt tick all my boxes above! Paired with a plain black chemise, and you have the perfect OL look!

Some tips for the office look -

• Do not completely shun colors - you can add a pop to your office look with some pastels, light blues, greys and neutrals. An all white look such as a white shirt with white chinos pants can be updated with a pastel pink or yellow blazer. 
• Prints should be simple, with one primary color base and not look too busy or unprofessional.
• Always ensure that the overall look is fitted well on your body - no oversized pants or flowy skirts. Exceptions only for boyfriend blazers (good to throw on a shift dress when it gets chilly under the aircon!)

And there you have it, my 3 OL tips. Look out for the second installation coming at the end of the week! 

Asia Fashion Summit 2014 - In Talks With Mr Harry Markl, MD of Zalora

Mr Steven Kolb, CEO CFDA

Buyer's Panel with Tracy Phillips, Franz Kraatz, Rick Yoo and Buyer from Galeries Lafayette Jakarta

Mr Harry Markl, MD of Zalora

Mr Franz Kraatz, MD of Robinsons

Thomas Tait and Colin McDowell in conversations

The inaugural AFS 2014 was definitely another enriching, learning experience for me this year, despite the usual two days of talks being condensed into one day. I especially enjoyed listening to Mr Harry Markl, Managing Director of Zalora, talk to us about e-commerce strategy and building a successful online business model. Naked Glory sat down with Harry and had a quick chat to learn more about what makes the relatively young company tick. 

Naked Glory: Zalora has quite a number of labels that are priced very competitively when we compare it against blogshops. So how does it differentiate itself from the offerings from blogshops? 
Harry Markl: Zalora is primarily a multi-brand online store, and we bring in targeted brands for certain customer groups. I feel that in SE Asia, there is a gap in the overall product offering, which is offering fashionable products at affordable pricing.

We also have our own inhouse brand Ezra by Zalora, with an attractive price point. It's not cheap but affordable. In comparison to Love Bonito which also manufactures some of its own apparel, they have a loyal customer who is slightly different from ours. We choose to analyse what our customers are looking for and then bring it to then at a good price point and in that sense we do not really focus on differentiating from a blogshop.

Basically we are about fast fashion products - fast sellout and short shelf life - and we bring in new products constantly. We are lucky to be away from big competitors in ASOS, as we are based in SE Asia and we can mannufacture in Indonesia and have a lead time of less than 45 days, which gives us a big advantage.

NG: Are there plans to have Ezra take up the major share of revenue for Zalora in the coming years?
HM: Yes, definitely. Ezra was launched since Sep 2013 and is very successful. We have a design team in Singapore of 15-20 people, merchandisers, patternmakers in Vietnam, China and other parts of Asia in order to form a seamless supply chain.

We also plan to have relevant high street labels - currently we stock Mango, River Island and New Look but it would be nice to have some local champions such as Charles & Keith on board. And finally to have private labels forming 40% - 50% of the revenue eventually.

NG: Charles and Keith used to be stocked at Zalora right?
HM: Exactly but eventually they dropped us. A lot of brands are not sure if it will affect their offline business and in many cases they need to realize that online an important channel. It's not a brand choice, it's a customer choice and the demand is there. We are not going upon price, but we are going upon product and making sure the product mix is always good for our customer base.

Offline will always be bigger than online even 10 years from now and brands would need to align their channel strategy and not have a significant difference in prices online vs offline.

NG: Zalora recently took up Sephora account. Why do you think Sephora was willing to work with you despite already having their online retail presence in US, UK and Europe? 
HM: It is likely that they took us up as we are targeting the same customer - young, fashionable and trendy. Also, online retail is complex especially in the SE Asia context, it is not a black and white playing field. It may be harder to ensure that the product is fulfilled when only 10% of the population here owns a credit card. You need to offer cash on delivery options and you need to be able to deliver the product without certain infrastructure in time, while not affecting the brand negatively.

NG: Zalora had a big marketing budget initially and was aggressive in advertising online on different channels such as Facebook, banner ads on websites and such. How do you keep the customer still interested and product moving now?
HM: Yes, customer acquisition is quite expensive online but the good news is that it's comparatively cheaper in Asia to acquire a customer - it's one tenth of what you would pay in Europe and so acquiring a large customer base is much cheaper.

Now Zalora enjoys a large share of organic traffic and we can release some of the marketing budget to other areas. We strongly believe that we need to be offline as well to up the market perception of our brand and we intend to spend more of the marketing budget offline.

NG: Would that mean more popups in the future?
HM: Zalora recently had our 2nd anniversary popup event at Tiong Bahru, which was very successful. 70% of the people bought something at the popup, with great feedback for Ezra.

Thank goodness that the Zalora team is young and our staff enjoyed organizing the popup store, despite working longer hours. But if we were to do it more often in dept stores for example, we would have to hire an exclusive team doing it. But yes, there are definitely plans to do it again in the future as it allows customers to understand more about what Zalora stands for.

NG: What can we expect from Zalora moving forward?
HM: High street brands definitely remain one of our top focus - it is not a question of if we would bring them in, but when. We plan to have Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge etc and our team is working hard to get all the relevant brands online. In the next 2- 3months we would have lots of new brands coming in.

The big mistake which we made in the past was that we tried to be too broad but it confuses the customer. We had Kids, Home & Living, we had BCBG Max Azria with low end products as well. We learnt that we need to stand for something and be more focused in terms of our product assortment. We would not go up the price ladder - but always remain affordable fast fashion.
Every month or every 45 days we get a new collection from each of the brands to keep the customer constantly excited, engaged and eventually buy more, while keeping price points wallet friendly. 

Hope you have taken away something from the interview. I certainly have, considering that I'm a business student interested in working in the business side of fashion in the future. Essentially, business still drives fashion and it is a competitive and fast-moving market in retail, despite all the surface glamour of fashion. 

Lady in White - Lace Sleeve Dress

Wearing Lace Sleeve Dress from Eclecticism Lauren Jasmine, Gemstone leather wrap bracelet from La Mer Collections, Leather crossbody bag from Marc by Marc Jacobs

Sometimes all you need is just one simple white shift dress to make your look and this white dress with lace inserts on the shoulders in a looping cut is great just for that. The dress is great for work during the day, as well as for a date on the weekends. But with such a clean white color palette, it is always good to add a statement necklace and accessories to jazz up the look.

To end off - I believe Life needs to be lived comfortably and simply - yet with tenacity and determination.

AFF 2014 - Interviews with Singapore Designers Aijek and Triologie

One of the highlights for me at this year's AFF was that there was a stronger focus on Singapore designers. Hansel, Saturdays and Ong Shanmugam all had their solo show debut at AFF, together with Aijek, Triologie and AWOL, whom showed together during the Singapore Designers Showcase. I thought that since AFF is still indisputably the big fashion event in Singapore, and one which has built up an international reputation, it should showcase homegrown talents, and not just international ones.

How's a "Singapore Fashion Week" as termed by foreigners who visit a Singapore fashion week without some Singapore designers?

I caught up with the Danelle Woo of Aijek and Sylvia Lim of Triologie for an interview on their thoughts of showing during AFF for the first time -

Naked Glory: You've been designing for quite a while now. How do you feel about being invited to show at this year's AFF? 
Sylvia Lim: This is Triologie’s first at Audi Fashion Fest. It feels like Alice in Wonderland as we anticipate seeing the surprises behind each door. All good and very exciting times for Triologie!

NG: Who is the woman that dresses in Triologie?
SL: Triologie is conceived for the modern female who loves to discover and enrich her life with fresh experiences. Dreamer, traveller and trendsetter all at once, the Triologie woman possesses a timeless fervour for life, transcending boundaries with delightful ease. Embracing spontaneity, wearability and versatility.

NG: I noticed that you draw your design inspirations from several different sources. How does the design process work between the two of you and how does it translate into the actual product? 
SL:  It’s about story-telling. Each season, we create our own stories for the Triologie woman who embraces spontaneity, wearability and versatility through its silhouettes and detailing with a consistent handwriting. Designing is about story-telling and fashion is a lifestyle. Whether Tales of the Jazz age based on 1920s silhouettes, to Wizard of Oz in the 1930s, Quintessentially French to Audrey Hepburn at Breakfast at Tiffany’s in the 50s. Each season we tell a story based on a certain time period, fabric story colour palette and silhouette. Jenn takes care of the design process primarily while I fine‐tune and edit. I am the one who says all the “Nos” to all the “Yes”. I am the more evil of the two.

NG: How do you hope for the brand to progress forward in the next 3 years? 
SL: My greatest hope is for someone/people who believe in Triologie to take it to their own countries! I need to clone myself!

Naked Glory: Hi Danelle! Welcome back to Singapore! How do you feel about being back? Has anything changed for you? 
DW: It's awesome to be home!! The best experience for me since being back has to be meeting my customers. I returned to Singapore for good early this year, and met my customers for the first time at the stores when we dropped our new arrivals for spring summer. Through the 4 years since Aijek's birth, i have been working with my head buried in my designs and fabrics. The clothes were selling well and we have had great responses from stores in US, Hong Kong and Singapore but I have never really met customers face to face before. We may not know each other's names but we connected instantly. They spoke to me about their lives, their family, their friends who also are Aijek fans. It was like revisiting a old photo album for them, vividly remembering the night out with their girlfriends while wearing Aijek. But it was everything to me - I finally understood that Aijek is not just about clothing, it is about people.

NG: You actually have a stronger presence in US and China, where you used to live, as opposed to Singapore. How do you feel about showing here for the first time?
DW: Surprisingly, we have a large customer following in Singapore. The stores that stocks Aijek has been garnering a following since the last 3 years when the brand launched. I am proud beyond words to be opening the show for the Singapore Designers Showcase. We have come to long way to be here from starting up in a home studio in Shanghai to being stocked in various parts of the world, to now doing our very first runway in Singapore. On a personal note, it holds great meaning to be showing in Singapore after 15 years on the road and coming home full circle - it's an unexpected welcome gift for Aijek and myself!

NG: Tell me more about your recent SS14 collection. I see lots of lace, embroidery and jacquard - is there a deliberate move towards using such textured fabrics?
DW: We wanted to inject textures and variety to our silk and lace pieces Aijek is known for. This season we ventured into contrasting floral embroidery, and tone on tone embroidery to romanticize the collection. The collection called Fly Home is about discovering a woman's journey into the world and coming back home to finally understand the ironies and contradictions life has on her. It is about the opposites of the reality of life and the fantasy of dreams. We used leather on soft silks and laces, as well as feminine and masculine opposing silhouettes to create an interplay of opposites.

NG: What can we expect from you for upcoming collections? 
DW: Aijek is known to our customer for its easy to wear, timeless pieces. We continue to appeal to the modern women on the run, flying between cities for work, making time for the family. The real women i see today. We speak to them to create pieces that fits into their lifestyles, their personalities. Aijek's silk and lace feminine pieces continue to be our signature, as we inject new elements season after season.

With elegant dresses and easy casual wear separates with a strong attention to detail, cut and quality, it's no wonder that Aijek has captured the hearts of many women in Singapore and internationally. I'm definitely hoping to see more from this amazing lady in the future.

AFF 2014 Day Four - Walking on Water with Petzval Lens

Wearing Rose print Bustier from Cameo of Eclecticism, White wide leg pants from Mango and White vest from Zara 

It was great fun shooting with Samantha of FEElim Photography with the really gorgeously gold Petzval lens. Re-released by Lomography, this great lens gives off a cool, swirling bokeh effect, while still maintaining a sharp subject.

We shot this on film at a secret location which Sam introduced me to, with me literally walking on water to get some of the shots. I'm really loving this beautiful rose print bustier from Cameo - it fits me beautifully despite my rather skinny upper body frame and I paired this with an all white color palette to complement the prints of the bustier.

You can see from the closeups that my hair is now a deep chestnut brown, but it still gives off some glow! This is due to the really subtle, clever highlights that Selyn from Protrim Hair Salon did - he had to meticulously section my hair into different portions, then with each portion, he picked up literally a few strands of hair by a rat tail comb and then applied the color. The lower portion of my head has a violet red highlights, while the crown of my head takes a brighter copper red highlights and the rest of my hair is colored a deep chestnut brown. This makes the highlights look really really natural and gives greater dimension to the overall color.

So a big thank you once again to Selyn and Avan from Protrim Hair 313@Somerset for giving me such luscious locks when I had no idea what I wanted at all! You guys really know your stuff and never fail to surprise me.

AFF 2014 - Roberta Pieri x Jonathan Liang SS14 and DressCamp FW14

I was really excited to learn that Jonathan Liang would be showing his SS14 collection alongside Italian leather bag brand Roberta Pieri. I have been following his works since two years ago when I first saw it on a small runway during the opening of Workshop Element over at Wisma Atria (now closed and moved to Westgate). Liang has always been very good combining modern, edgy elements with femininity, which is almost akin to my own personal style. The garments carry an European sensibility with easy separates which translate easily from the runway to street.

For his SS14 collection, Liang took the inspiration of Bertil Nilsson's work on human anatomy, and vast seabeds and coral reefs and translated them into the textures in his clothes. Silk organza was overlaid simple separates of a crop top and pencil skirt, incorporated into paneled shirts and blouses - which gave the garment a beautiful movement while revealing and covering bits of the female body.

There was also tweed, pleather, and ring-spun jerseys, and I especially love how he mixed up the fabrics to give a peplum silhouette, but yet adding chiffon at the bottom of an ordinary peplum pencil skirt. Once again, a laudable collection with versatile separates that can easily fit into the modern girl's wardrobe.



Dresscamp, by Japanese designer Iwaya, was brought in by Parco Japan this season, a stark contrast to Jun Okamoto's poetic collection last year. Inspired by the Japanese version of the musical "The Threepenny Opera", Dresscamp's FW14 collection followed the dramatic elements of the 1920s musical comedy era of The Threepenny Opera with white tights, headpieces, ribbon neckties and ruffles seen on both male and female models alike.

The dramatic prints and styling, however, did not detract me from noticing the mastery in cut in the blazers and puffer jackets for menswear, which stood out for their precision, ending just right to control the silhouette projected. Quite a few of the prints for menswear was reworked into womenswear as well, as can be seen above, with added elements of lace, ruffles and tulle fabricated into dramatic silhouettes of a nipped in waist and voluminous skirt. I particularly liked a dress that featured tulle stuffed with roses, which I unfortunately couldn't get a photo of. The coveted accessory of the show was actually a gold-framed handphone case crafted to look what the modern day's Wicked Witch of the East might carry.

Even though I overhead some saying after the shows that the pieces were only showroom worthy, I thought the styling (especially hair and makeup) on the models reminded me of an earlier era of John Galliano's works, which I terribly miss. Kudos for Iwaya for bringing it back on the runway.