Yun Ting Lee holds a Fashion Degree from the Raffles Design Institute, and a Diploma in Fashion Design from LASALLE, College of the Arts. In 2009, she was one of the selected designers for the ‘Resuscitation’ art and fashion exhibition, curated by Woods & Woods, presenting a three-outfit collection made out of used clothing.

“For me, art, philosophy and history synthesize and form a fundamental part of my aesthetic view,” Yun Ting explains. “I enjoy exploring how the fusion intersects with social phenomena now, thus reflecting it in my designs to form functionality and contemporary fashion.”

Titled Cognizance of this moving universe whirled along by Time, a quote from Marcel Proust’s autobiographical novel ‘À la recherche du temps perdu‘, Yun Ting’s collection explores involuntary memory and the unconscious. “The collection also portraits his recognition of the past in present moments by incorporating elements of past clothing into present and modern looking designs,” she adds. “By coining involuntary memories, some of the garments incorporate second hand products or clothing. Also, elements like opening details visible on the back of the garment, represent memories which are lodged in the back of our mind.”

Caroline Kan Su-Wei just finished the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program at the Anglo-Chinese School where she took higher level Visual Art. “Recently, I’ve tried to live my life in a bit of a creative bubble, exploring new fields and trying to embrace those I’ve shied away from (like drawing, which I loathe),” she continues. “On that note, this September, I’m off to Central Saint Martins, where I enrolled in their Foundation Studies, Art and Design course. Whether I’ll continue to pursue design or foray into fashion journalism is still unknown, but therein lies the beauty of life’s whimsicality.”

Caroline about her Paper Dress: “For my final year exam, I created a collection around the exploration of identity (mine), which was a rather epic personal journey. The piece explores emotional fragility, and how our pain is often masked with aesthetics and ridiculously attractive embellishments; how else is one supposed to survive life’s rough patches? I chose paper as a medium for fairly obvious reasons: it’s common, everyday, and often overlooked/taken for granted; it’s pretty fragile, especially in comparison to our urban concrete jungle of today and it’s widely available (for practical reasons). I wanted the dress to be irresistibly pretty, gentle, and feminine, but also be structured and exude a sense of strength. I like toying with contradictions and perspective, where pieces work in different ways and on different levels, because that way, it’s kept honest. No one has life figured out: things change, and can often be very confusing. The ambiguity keeps the observer wondering, ‘fragile, attractive, strong, sturdy, questionably perfect, layered, delicate,’ I like people to think (there’s no singular answer).”

Darren Lee’s fashion film Remember definitely made my morning. I came across this beauty on Facebook and I felt that it was too good not to share.

Remember
He’s gone, but I still think of him. What he left behind evokes memories of his touch, his smell. I am torn between remembering him and forgetting him.

You should definitely put aside a couple of minutes to watch the video. Voting ends in two days, so click here and now!

Nathalie Théry is a half-French half-Singaporean concoction, who recently graduated from Temasek Polytechnic with a diploma in Visual Communication, majoring in Photography. “I focus mainly on fashion photography, but I also love to shoot food and products,” says Nathalie. “I started sketching and designing in secondary school,  but I soon realized that I liked capturing the fashion that was in my head, versus sewing up the garment. At that time my brother was doing photography for gigs at various clubs. I got interested and decided to merge my interest in fashion with photography. I also like to style my own shoots when time permits.”

For her final year project, Nathalie put together a lovely photographic project and a concept magazine to boot. The publication titled Wonderer, carries beautiful content from Nat’s shutter around three themes: Perpetual,  The Asylum and Native Spatiality. We’ve put up a couple of images for your viewing pleasure.

Nathalie set off to Melbourne last month to do her BA in photography at RMIT. You go girl!

Juang and Johanna graduated from Temasek Polytechnic with diplomas in Apparel Design and Merchandising.  Friends of ten years and counting, they are somewhat different in terms of personal style and character, but when it comes to design, they share one vision. “We understand each other, like leather and lace, or Shaggy and Scooby,” Juang quips.

“We got wind of the fashion incubator project while flipping through the pages of Urban,” Johanna explains. “That was the perfect time for us to kick-start our careers in fashion. It’s been eight months since we set sail, and two months since the opening of Ownmuse, and we still have truckloads of love for each other and barrels full of passion for our label.”

“We absolutely love vintage pieces but we are also intrigued by the simplicity and sleekness of modern fashion,” Juang continues. “Therefore we seek to create designs that are a balance of both modern and vintage, both bold yet feminine. As this is our first collection together, we decided that is was only apt to represents the both of us. The pieces reflect our dreams, struggles, love and freedom, our journey to becoming a significant name in the world of fashion.”

Inspired by the streets and monuments of Paris, the girls have translated these images into design elements such as cutouts, intricate beading, and a palette of soft pastels. Expect to see intricately cut out crop tops, full high waist chiffon skirts, beaded rompers, pleated chiffon blouses and sleek paneled maxi dresses.

(Top) Vivid Creatures by Li Sang Rita. (Bottom) Translating Orientalism by Linda.

LASALLE College of the Arts is the first Asian college to have its graduating students invited to the London Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) since its inception in 1991.

The event which will be held from 6 to 10 June, showcases the works of the very best BA graduate fashion design talents from 50 of the top fashion and textile universities from the UK and Europe. The four representing LASALLE – Li Sang Rita (21), Lidya Chrisfens (25), Linda (20) and Vicole Lang (22) – will present their respective collections at “The International Show” on  7 June.

(Top) Call of the Siren by Lidya Chrisfens. (Bottom) Slithering Venus by Vicole Lang.

For students wanting to break into the fashion industry, GFW is a major springboard. It has launched the careers of the biggest names in fashion, namely Stella McCartney, Julian MacDonald, Christopher Bailey, Hussein Chalayan and
Antonio Berardi.

28 April saw twelve fashion students showcasing their lingerie designs for this year’s Triumph Inspiration Awards. By interpreting the design theme of “Shape Sensation”, the students competed for the honour of representing Singapore at the Triumph Inspiration Awards Final held in London in September this year.

Grace Eliana Sugiarto, 22, from Raffles Design Institute was crowned as the winner, wowing the judges with her concept titled “Preserved Beauty”.

Grace about her piece: “I was deeply inspired by Pharaoh Hatshepsu, the first woman to rule Egypt as Pharaoh for more than 20 year; She brought much prosperity, wealth and peace in her time. Although she has lived thousands years ago, she would be rocking the lingerie in the other world as the bodysuit is inspired by the wrapping method of mummification using nude colored stockings instead of linen bandages.”

Click to ogle the other designs in the competition.

Images  from Alicia’s latest lookbook, ‘In Love With A Girl’.

Our pick from the recent Blueprint 2010 tradeshow, is local designer Alicia Ong. Born in 1983, Alicia began her career in fashion in 2005, with an internship at Marc by Marc Jacobs while studying at Parsons School of Design. After graduation, Alicia spent almost two years working for fashion houses J Crew, DKNY and Richard Chai.

Following her return to Singapore in 2008, she pursued freelance work with local designer Wykidd Song. Her creative flair and independent nature led to the foundation of AL&ALICIA.

Alicia’s debut collection -titled STREET(n) path upon which travel occurs- was launched in November 2009, and reflects her signature flair of ‘boyish chic’. The collection was largely influenced and inspired by random street culture, music and art.

Fans of the AL&ALICIA label include South African celebrity host and model Jeanie Dee, renowned fashion site refinery29.com, and a variety of fashion and lifestyle magazines including Top Billing. The Straits Times also recently named Alicia as one of the top 50 faces to watch this year.

The AL&ALICIA collections are available online and from selected boutiques. Visit the website for more information.

Larry Lam is the talented designer behind the  clothing and accessory label, Sundays. On 31 March, he opened his shop at the PARCO next Next Fashion Incubator zone.

Larry -a Bsc (Hons) Psychology from UNISIM- developed an appreciation for creating garments from his mum who used to sew her own clothes. He also picked up a few things from books and magazines. “I started creating random accessories for friends a few years ago, and soon began to make my own shirts.”

Read on as Larry dispenses the details about his Spring/Summer 2010 collection titled Viaje.

“The collection is titled ‘Viaje’ which is Spanish for journey. It is a reflection of how far we’ve come and where we’d like to go. Having said that, we like to reiterate that it’s not the destination that matters, it’s the journey that we set upon that is most enriching and we like people to find courage to seek their own journeys.”

“We also like the fact that individuals are able to break away from the restrained and reserved culture we have here, and commit themselves to spread their ‘erratic sparkles’; much like giving magic colours to a dull city,” Larry continues. “Our clothes encapsulate this spirit; our signature hoodies give magical breathe to the otherwise restrained silhouette of menswear. We like that, and we like all our members to find that magical warmth, that magical spark which motivates us in our journeys.”

She is an SMU Graduate with a degree in Psychology and Marketing, who decided to take a part time Fashion Design course at Nanyang, before segueing into fashion.

Jennifer Li, designer-founder of the aMuse label, sets out to spread her sense of style to the masses with her Spring/Summer 2010 collection. The collection invites you to explore the quirky world of ruches and pleats with exquisite finishing, beautiful draping and lush fabrics.

Jennifer about her label: “aMuse is a gamine yet edgy fashion concept build upon playful fantasy. It lets you take a flight of fancy into a surreal dimension, where you can expect the unexpected.”

Available from the label’s newly opened shop at PARCO Marina Bay.