Oscar de la Renta, Prabal Gurung to Show at Singapore Fashion Week
There's pretty much always a fashion week going on somewhere.
And in a little less than a month, it will be Singapore Fashion Week, or the Audi Fashion Festival, as it's officially dubbed. And like last year, this year's event will be a mix of homegrown talent and established international brands, kind of like how a music festival might have a couple of big headliners and a bunch of local indie bands. This time, Singapore has nabbed a pretty major headliner: Oscar de la Renta, who will close the event with his fall 2014 collection. Another U.S.-based designer, Prabal Gurung, will open it.
Kate Bosworth will also add some star power to the event. She's being brought over by Japanese skincare brand SK-II, for which she's an ambassador.
The Audi Fashion Festival, which is in its sixth year, is a bit more consumer-focused than the four major fashion weeks (New York, London, Milan, Paris). For one thing, the public can buy tickets to attend, which gives international designers an opportunity to engage directly with customers, and promote sales and brand awareness in the region. Peter Pilotto, who showed in Singapore in 2013, told us last year that it was important to show there because his dresses were selling well in a local luxury boutique called Club 21. (De la Renta's children's collection is also sold at Club 21, and his bridal dresses are sold at nearby Trinity Gallery.)
The event's founder, Tjin Lee, told us last year that he wanted to get more Asian designers showing in Singapore because there's a great deal of local interest in them. It seems he is fulfilling that goal with Gurung, who was in fact born in Singapore.
But it's not just Asian designers who are interested in pursuing the market in Singapore lately. Calvin Klein held a star-studded event there less than two weeks ago to promote its Asian expansion plans, and last year Chanel showed its resort collection in the country. As with Hong Kong and Shanghai, Singapore is a key spot for fashion brands looking to broaden their appeal to Asia's growing luxury market.
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