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23-year old Tan Qiu Wen graduated from LaSalle-SIA College Of The Arts with a diploma in Fashion Design. Qwen is the designer behind iamwhoiam, and the pieces above are part of her Autumn/Winter 07-08 collection, titled “War is a Drug. We are dying of it”.

Qwen explains, “The collection is inspired by the films Dr. Strangelove, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. It references a nuclear accident, building on the widespread Cold War and the fight for survival. A by-product of human absurdity, Humanity having created ‘the ultimate terror’ must now live with the consequences in circumspect – the ultimate error.”

Qwen is currently working on her Spring/Summer 08-09 collection, which will be presented some time late October. “The name of my new collection is Nostos, which is Greek for ‘return’. It began with the yearning to return back in time,” Qwen clarifies, “to the nostalgic memories of childhood and euphoric happiness. This yearning will only continue… and I chose to be tormented by the unappeased feeling, rather than to feel empty about the present. This collection reflects the mixed feelings of my present emotions and the nostalgic feelings of the past.”

iamwhoiam is available at Front Row, Level3.

THE DESIGN

Lover’s Spit, FrüFrü & Tigerlily‘s third collection, draws inspiration from the music of Broken Social Scene, Aereogramme, The Cure, Ladytron and New Young Pony Club. Ginette Chittick, co-owner of the label, explains, “All our collections are directly inspired by music and moments in the lives of the team. The Hellfire dress (above) is our visual translation of the words HellFire, made for the Electro Pixie who likes to flit around in a piece that totally owns.”

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It is comforting to see a group of graduates wanting to tread lightly on the planet by spreading the word that green designs can be fashion-forward, edgy as well as sustainably responsible.

Founded in August 2007 by four students from the Republic Polytechnic’s School of Technology for the Arts, RecycloFashion has already generated quite a bit of eco-buzz.

I talk to Ash about the backstory of the earth-friendly initiative …

What is RecycloFashion? What is your mission?

RecycloFashion, essentially, is an ambassador to the many regional “eco” or green brands in Singapore, South East Asia and various countries in Europe and Australia. We collaborate with designers and artists from various backgrounds who use alternative and earth-friendly materials in their work. We come up with marketing concepts and advertisements that the brands use to brand their own ads. So in short, we promote them, and they promote us.

Our mission is create awareness and to make eco look wearable and fashionable for the discerning shopper. To us, eco is beautiful as it combines crucial values to create unique pieces with special individual pieces.

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THE DESIGN

Alicia Koh’s distinctive ‘Spinnable Wheel Bracelet’ packs the lasting memories and the sentimental significance of her grandfather’s old workshop.

“I used elements and properties from his workshop,” Alicia says, “and transferred them onto a jewelry piece; the combination of corrugated texture, perspective vanishing point and a flexible spinnable bicycle wheel …. crafted with reminiscences.”

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THE DESIGN

Cheah and Derryah, the designers of the Style Damsel label, embrace the challenging curves of a woman’s body by creating streamlined garments that are as body-conscious as they are practical and playful.

Cheah about the design (above), ” The Midnight Blue Frills is made from premium classic midnight blue cotton voile, and it’s flattering silhouette highly compliments the womanly figure. The feminine cascading frills fuse with the primp Mandarin collar to inject a dose of elegance and sophistication into the soft, flowy dress. The V-shaped style-line, and matching sash that finishes off in a sweet bow brings any wearer from corporate-chic to a ladies’ nights out in a snap.”

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THE DESIGN

Blooming Pod pendant and Bud Pod pendant by Serene Wong.

I love t43‘s first concoction of hand-fabricated, limited edition jewelry designs. The Art-Tea-Scent collection reflects three designers’ passion for tea, by offering three interpretations of the theme. Art by Szufen Huang (Taiwan) is a collection of sculptural forms carefully hand pleated in silk organza, with intricately painted motifs. Tea by Nana Akashi (Japan) is inspired by a box set of flavored teas in its familiar packaging. Scent (above) by local designer Serene Wong, combines the evocative scent of tea leaves with the modernity of plastic.

Of her design, Serene says,”Inspired by the scent of tea leaves, this collection interprets the intangible into a series of dramatic acrylic jewelry. Where a Chinese tea ball and delicate rose buds subtly perfume the air from within the hollow of a pod pendant; other pieces intuitively translate scent into sensuous, organic forms reminiscent of flowers blooming and layers of moistened leaves. You may choose to personalize the jewelry by varying the contents of the pod pendants to suit your preference. All the pieces are hand-pierced and formed to flow with the curves of the body.”

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Only a couple of years old (2003), HEADLINE is somewhat of a sensation with the local underground community. Founded by Calvin Yang, Edric Wong and Urica Sin, HDLN carries a selection of limited edition tees, shirts, shorts, pants and a sweet line up of hoodies.

Says Calvin, “The concept for our street label was drawn from Japanese and American (specifically New York) influences. Especially the big leading street labels and cultural trivia ranging from pop culture references, movies, music, art to comic books, porn and many many more. In keeping with our image of being exclusive, we have created a multitude of limited print design tees.”

“The Headline Zip Up Hoodies carry our very own signature monogram logo of the words HDLN, aka HEADLINE, and the repeating pattern of sparkling stars thats reflects on the sparkling path that we are heading in.”

Spotted! is a digest of fly work by fresh off creatives.

THE DESIGN

Vice and Vanity, is known for taking jewelry to new places, by creating idiosyncratic, industrial-chic pieces. Former Club21 employee, Vivi Masturah Lim and Fine Arts graduate, Aaron Kao are the designers behind the label.

Says Aaron, “We always try to originate new ideas, never restricting ourselves to a certain style or look. Our style is a work in progress and may or may not surface so quickly over a few collections. It takes time to develop a style. For every collection we always ensure that the quality is there and we want people to pay for something that has a lot of thought and effort put into the creation.”

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