DEAR DIARY- The Success of the West in the East
Luxury fashion was born within the heart of mainland Europe and despite the many economic challenges faced by the average consumer in the last few decades, it continues to spread across the globe like a mainstream phenomenon. Right over to the efficient, wealthy and stylish parts of South East Asia.
Asia has always been a proportionally large consumer of luxury goods for the European sector of designer brands. The likes of Chanel, Mulberry, Louis Vuitton and Tom Ford have been opening flagships in China, Japan and surrounding islands at a rapid pace in the past 10 years, through the recognition of a source of big spenders. No wonder the Orient has been a key trend this past season. But it's one to take Karl Lagerfeld's word for it, boldly declaring South East and mainland Asia as 'the market of tomorrow' and another to see it for oneself.
'The Kaiser' as Lagerfeld is fondly known as by the Singapore editions of ELLE and Harper's Bazaar, took last seasons Chanel collection to present at a specific, low-key location in Singapore. Although some of the city's buildings were 'ugly', he declared his love for the 'beautiful' Botanical Gardens and naturally the world famous Raffles hotel. It seemed ideal for Chanel to present in this domain of Asia, as it's voted the top luxury brand by Asia consumers in 2012. As I had scored a trip to the island myself, I thought I might investigate the influence of western luxury fashion on eastern professional style, for myself, also to see if Chanel maintains it's influence.
What I've learnt is surprising. A few things deviate from the Western attitudes of luxury dressing particularly from the perspective of the promising young professional. A great outfit is armour; a means of identifying oneself with a certain lifestyle and position in a company. This isn't exactly an alien concept to British professionals, but what changes across the Pacific Ocean is the feeling of necessity that style has in the success of a 20-something businesswoman. In the heart of Singapore's business district a woman's outfit is telling of her position; a role that she'll host 24/7. The power heels, the selection of luxury European handbags, peplums, colour blocking and a focus on a streamline-silhouette are rife on the 8am morning commute. Thousands of women on the MRT railway without a hair out of place, crossing the roads, getting coffee en route and sending numerous morning emails on their iPhones. A very familiar template.
The attitude is far more mature than I could ever expect. Women decline to have their outfit photographed. "That's not really my thing" or "I'm just not interested in that, thank you" are common responses when I ask. Polite but direct. It's a little surprising, but on second thoughts, perhaps not. In a city of financial success, when everything is renovated, cleaned and polished to perfection, fashion is much like the hundreds of sky-scrapers that line the sea-line shores and glitter at night; a finish, the cherry on the cake. Style is a second thought, an accompaniment to the job at hand and the impression a company makes. Worlds away from the blogging-central, fashion obsessed professionals I'm used to in London.
In the central districts of Raffles Place and City Hall, clean-cut, professional style goes far beyond 5pm and it also works on a Saturday. I've seen (lucky) red colour-blocked 60's dresses with full pleated skirts, matching hand bags and nude heels at a street food vendor. Forest green pencil-skirts, a cream silk bow blouse and black quilted pumps at 9am in a weekend breakfast meeting, Purple peplums and a sky-blue pressed shirt with pearls around her wrists and neck, finished with bright red shoes going straight from work to dinner and back again. Again the handbag makes an appearance. Michael Kors, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and of course, Chanel snugly swing from tanned shoulders and elbow crooks. Work doesn't really stop in Singapore neither does killer style.
The fashion magazines are the same. ELLE, NYLON and Harper's Bazaar Singapore are mirror images of their British counterparts, yet the diversity of their content preaches an attitude similar to that on the street. The creative stores behind the photo shoots and the witty, unique voices within the writing are contemporary and fluent to any reader, but as a foreign reader, I feel like I'm missing something. The restrained and shockingly refined translations of the heavily and wonderfully shot photographs create a fluid sense of understanding for the reader. Unlike the daring and bold pictures in British Vogue and InStyle, mainstream magazines here create art and explain to the reader how to create their own take on the look with a real foundation in understanding the Singaporean or Chinese consumer. Sharon Lim and Kenneth Goh advocate a far more polished, professional image than the crazy, dressing-up philosophy encouraged by British editors. Yet this style of writing (and indeed, styling) is void of any snobbery, as if they know something I don't, like the wise words of an older sister. I'm very impressed.
Professional style in Singapore is upmarket. It's doesn't make an effort at particular times of the day, but maintains it's pristine job-interview status from dusk until dawn. I can see why luxury style thrives in this region of the world; apart from having the finances to fund a chic shopping habit, they have the personal tastes of the ideal luxury consumer. I'm keeping the magazines I've picked up, to use as an on going source of elegant inspiration until I come back. Hopefully by then I'll have a Chanel bag of my own.
