Forget fast fashion and avoid dressing identically to the person next to you. Here are five local fashion brands to celebrate National Day in.
1. Aijek
Signature tailored lace and embroidered pieces by Danelle Woo that easily bring one from boardroom to bar or ballroom. Woo is a self-taught designer who started her business in 2010. The label is her Chinese name - Kejia - spelled backwards. Expect easy-to-wear but well-cut clothes that are timeless, and feminine. Woo's collections are also sold in China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Lebanon, Panama City, and in the US.
www.aijek.com
2. GINLEE Studio
Local designer Gin Lee started her eponymous label in 2011 in Israel, where she was based. Lee, who studied womenswear design at Central St Martins in London, incorporates an Asian aesthetic into her designs. Her pieces - from silk shirts to shift and wrap dresses in muted colours and relaxed yet flattering silhouettes - are easy to wear in equatorial Singapore. Lee has recently collaborated with another Singaporean designer, Xiaoxi Teh, who specialises in machine embroidery, to produce a limited range of pieces.
https://www.ginleestudio.com
3. Dzojchen
Pronounced doh-jen, the brand was launched in 2009 in New York City by Chelsea Scott-Blackhall, a British-Singaporean who had been modelling in the fashion capital for several years. Scott-Blackhall had started the label with a line of denim jeans, but has since evolved to a range of edgy pieces for men and women. The collections have been paraded down runways in New York and Singapore, as well as Paris and Seoul.
https://www.dzojchen.com
4. Saturday
Spearheaded by local designer Nic Wong, who started the brand following the success of his first label, Nicholas. Saturday's collections build on Wong's understated, minimalist aesthetic with fluid jersey pieces made for a stylish weekend, or otherwise.
http://iwearsaturday.com/about.html
5. The Prefecture
Helmed by British designer Butho "Mr Q" Msimanga, the bespoke menswear brand offers sharp suiting and shirts constructed for the tropics in silk, linen and voile. Before starting The Prefecture, Msimanga had co-founded online tailor Edit Suits.
