Craig Green freshness

In the early days of Dunia Fashyon, I used to see fashion as an outlet to get all frivolous, fun and carefree. I did not see fashion as a platform that could enforce critical thinking; I doubted that it could make men ponder about garments through collections, let alone to have a serious and meaningful contemplation. It was too easy to have such perspective after years of struggling in a 'legitimately serious' world that is the field of medicine; being surrounded by people who are not necessarily like minded did not help much either.

Metal Heart

The title doesn't connote a German heavy metal band album, but it's more of my experimental game with not two, but three wearable metallic-hued items:

Item no. 1:
An old pair of Marni at H&M silver sandals that were almost ruined by being stuck in the mud - all thanks to my overtly ambitious attempt to go against the grain in interpreting festival wear at Urbanscapes 2012.

Beo Menswear

I hope that I'm using Dunia Fashyon as a platform to introduce new local designers, starting with Chiyo. As Syawal is just around the corner, I think it's the perfect time to talk about what will men wear this Eid Mubarak...

You probably have read/heard about Beo Menswear being bashed on Twitter or Instagram by now. But truth be told, I kinda like the ballsy attempt.

CAMERAderie: Louis Vuitton A/W 2013

Louis Vuitton men's autumn/winter 2013 show was an event filled with fashion heavyweights and celebrities, naturally. Arriving at the venue, and seeing so many people outside waiting to get inside, I thought that this is the biggest show that I've been to so far (but did not, unfortunately, have the invite!). So I stood outside whilst awaiting for Arman and took photos of the stylish folks outside, including Kanye West, whom I papped after the show. Waiting in the cold could be detrimental but a motivation to be a semi-devoted tabloid paparazzi-like makes it totally worth it!

On another note, after meticulously judging the attendees, I made a conclusion of trends that I suspect will be ubiquitous for seasons to come: prints and color blocking (yes, I'm totally clairvoyant!), chunky footwear and chunky bellies, and of course, Yeezy. 

Gucci Menswear A/W 2013 review

Time cannot be more appropriate as I wake up to the news of Gucci opening its largest menswear-only store in Milan in June this morning. To be honest I am not an avid follower of the behemoth label - in my eyes sometimes they can get a bit too 'mainstream' for my taste and the looks are relatively ubiquitous, thanks to (un)healthy rounds of high-street knockoffs (from Zara, notably). Aside from coveting a pair of their shoes or two in the past, and scoring a pair of penny loafers two sizes too big for my feet from DMagazine in Milan, I have nothing but generally a skeptic's view on this label. However I'm ready to eat my own words ever since seeing their latest offerings up-close... 

Prada Menswear AW13 Review

Forgive us for this entry's overtly excited tone but it seems so futile to contain it. And for the risk of sounding shamelessly superficial may we exclaim, "It's PRADA!", after all. At the time of writing we are already in Paris and thanks to an overload of shopping (we had less shows to attend in Paris, boo hoo...) this post has been sitting in 'draft' mode for quite some time. Nevertheless it goes without saying that the experience attending Prada Men’s Autumn Winter 2013 collection has got to be the highlight of the week (honestly every event is a highlight but this one is monumental!).

As we were not that busy towards the end of the day (Prada show was slated to start at 6 p.m), we decided to move out from the hotel earlier just to check out the venue, plus it is a significant label as we know it; so we want to be fully prepared and avoid all those bad contingencies as Milano traffic can be very unforgiving at times.

CAMERAderie - Milan Fashion Week (Mens Autumn Winter 13/14)

‘CAMERAderie’ is a column on DUNIA FASHYON where we try to encapsulate an event in a concise form of photographs. A collection of photos is compiled together to best sum up the whole occasion that took place, in our own perspective.

Bottega Veneta menswear AW13 review

The Bottega Veneta show was scheduled at 9.30am on a Sunday morning, located inside the brand headquarters in the industrial part of Milan. We managed to arrive very early albeit the freezing and drizzly winter weather. Ashley Thng, the brand PR from Singapore greeted and brought us around the complex. Model-looking ushers approached and held a large black umbrella for us as we made our way into the building - an experience which felt very much like a Downton Abbey moment to us. Once inside, we headed to the cafeteria in the showroom-turned-lounge space for a quick cup of freshly brewed Italian espresso.

Burberry Prorsum menswear AW13 review

We kicked off our Milan Men’s Fashion Week with Burberry Prorsum runway show last Saturday. Hafidz was granted the elusive Front-Of-House pass which means he is allowed to enter an hour prior to the show. He managed to secure a spot amongst seasoned global runway photographers (albeit having to squeeze through the comparatively large-built Europeans)! The show started rather timely (15 minutes late in fashion means 5 minutes early, you see).

As we all know, Burberry Prorsum is the conceptual high-end fashion line of the house. Nevertheless the importance of skillful craftsmanship and luxurious fabrication in producing each and every piece, akin to its classic range, is very clearly stressed. This is evident during our re-see session where we had a close-up look at each item, thanks to the PR representative who was there to bring us around and explain the whole collection.

Margiela fever

I suppose you are getting pretty tired to see endless entries regarding THE Margiela, but we could not hide our excitement on their upcoming collaboration with H&M (another three days left, have you eyed on any specific pieces?). True, the designer has left his eponymous brand but the nostalgia definitely lingers. Doing re-editions at a mass scale is a pretty brilliant move to introduce the enigmatic brand to the more 'commercial' world, at least to me, personally...

I'm sooo excited to have acquired a few Margiela-related pieces previously (some are vintage from Labels Inc, and some are from their MM6 x Opening Ceremony line that I scored during the Musa sales). Regretfully I rarely wear them out. This might sound pathetic but the reason being I truly cherish the pieces and I fear ruining them from over-wearing!

Hopefully the impending H&M collaboration will provide me another Margiela piece (albeit not truly authentic I'm satisfied enough; to those MMM elitist/purist fans, go away to your regular MMM boutique, thanks). In fact the launch which is barely a few days left pushed me to style up and wear my personal pieces, that serve as a memento, just in case I could not get hold of the high street pieces come November 15th. The date will surely be anticipated with excessive palpitations...

MM6 x Opening Ceremony palazzo pants, worn with Zara blazer, Uniqlo striped tee, eBay belt

The Sartorialist: Closer

Scott Schuman

Following his successful first street-style photography book Scott Schuman aka The Sartorialist has delivered another printed version of beautiful images that need to be praised, not just by the fashion community, but by photography enthusiasts as well. In this edition he breaks free from photographing the rather expected 'fashion pack' and ventures to a bigger world of creative dressing, and more importantly, personalities of the people who make the clothes live.

Summer sales happiness

It's good to know that MUSA has managed to clear much of their inventory from SS2010 and beyond, in order to move on to their next project which is still in a hush hush mode. But it's sad the venture into independent European labels is rather short-lived though. I try not to toot my own horn here but dare I say I am among the lucky persons (but unlucky financially, if you'd like to think the other way) who managed to scoop a great bargain that this sale offers (offers, as in present tense. Yes, it's still ongoing). 

As I tweeted previously the Christopher Kane items at MUSA are so greatly discounted it surpasses the London sample sale calibre. I'm not exaggerating! Now the seemingly unattainable FW2011 tartan print shirt becomes my possession at a fraction of the original price...

I tried to pair the (here's my attempt to create a new colour vocabulary) dusty gold t-shirt with a nearly-matching jacket, tailored to my petit frame. Remember when the jacket was a tad too large? The pleated wool trousers are from Et Vous, a French label, acquired during a separate MUSA sale. I love the baggy yet tailored silhouette, the pleats, and the best thing is they're cropped at the ankles! They actually come together with a jacket but the Gaga-esque exaggerated shoulders made me think twice to wear it...

I'm wearing a custom-tailored jacket from eBay, Christopher Kane FW 2011 tartan print shirt, Et Vous pleated trousers, Comme des Garcons Shirt shoes, Ayame socks, brooch from a market in Sabah

It was not a coincidence as Arman and I decided to wear Kane's t-shirt from the same collection. The purple hue is a more vibrant option than my more subdued version. This is further augmented by a shiny clutch from Marc by Marc Jacobs. I guess outfit color-coordination speaks volumes in terms of reflection of the wearer's personality - perhaps the notion of bright colors equals to outgoingness and vice versa is indeed a tried-and-tested concept...

 

Arman's recent trip to Johor Premium Outlet has resulted in this interesting beaded sneakers from Adidas x Jeremy Scott commercially successful collab. Arman always gets amazing footwear on our jaunts to JPO but I, on the other hand, always come back empty-handed due to the lack of small boyish shoe size there.

P/S: By the way, if you haven't noticed we have joined forces at Dunia Fashyon and Arman has put on some wonderful news, e.g. all the Oroton updates. 

Have a great weekend!

written by Hafidzudin
twitter: @naboonies

Paisley-ed

It's so easy to give titles my outfits posts nowadays. Add an '-ed' suffix to any noun and bam, I'm ready to go. Batik-ed, paisley-ed. What's next? Baju Kurung-ed in Marc Jacobs Resort 2013 perhaps?

And I probably should have named this entry 'Unflatteringly Bulbous Silhouette with Hairy Chicken Legs' as well. But I simply can't. In fact, I am refraining myself to do so. It's all because of this dirt cheap haul from MUSA sale, currently ongoing. (I said dirt cheap as the dirt that my mother buys to supplement her bougainvilleas is in fact, priced a tad higher). Previous season's House of Holland and Peter Jensen at a very very competitive price made me cross my comfort zone of streamlined clothes to a rather experimental one:

Now you can see why I should've named this post 'Unflatteringly Bulbous Silhouette with Hairy Chicken Legs'  - the illusion of big beer belly by this House of Holland's shirt, only enhanced by the jodhpur shorts by Peter Jensen. Anyhow, this latest find further propagates my love of paisley motifs...

Paisley bandana prints played a major role in House of Holland's AW2011 collection. Heavily influenced by the Eighties, he managed to update the retro look with that certain sassiness, which translates into commercial success. 

House of Holland paisley shirt, Peter Jensen linen jodhpurs shorts, Tophop studded shoes, Comme des Garcons pouch

Runway image of Peter Jensen, the Laurie collection SS2010. It clearly shows that the jodhpur fits the model better than my grizzly, stunted legs. (The hip-bearing look is previously loved by me in this post.) But the linen material makes it a good pair of summer shorts, nevertheless!

The old Topshop studded shoes, which, in my feeble attempt to augment by adding customised foam soles, have caused them to be quite unwearable. I mean, I can't even walk straight without having them accidentally pulled off of my feet. Oh well...
Happy Sunday!

Adventure in tailoring: paisley print fabrics

I've been involving myself with an experimentation on various kinds of prints lately, thanks to the Ben Thanh market fabric haul a couple of months ago.

Soft cotton black-and-white pattern shirt worn with Mexx cardigan, Zara velvet pants, H&M faux suede creepers, eBay sunglasses, Mom's doctor bag  

H&M Autumn 2012 (Part Two)

While I'm still salivating over the tailored goodness that is the Autumn 2012 H&M menswear from my previous post,  the womenswear department fares a good job as well; this time around the concept is all about maximalism / metallics combo.

The feminine side of me got a little bit too excited seeing all the rhinestones-laden harness top, skirt and sweater. This is all skilled work with painstaking effort, at an affordable high-street price.

Apart from that there's this digital print floral sweater that just begs to be worn, which screams a milder version of Mary Katrantzou; and the metallic part comes in the form of this lame skirt reminding me of Anna Dello Russo, I think, because of all the ostentatious (in a beautiful way of course) loud prints + metallics that she dons which makes her so strikingly unique...

First look: H&M Autumn 2012 (Part One)

I think most of Kuala Lumpur citizen are well informed regarding the news of H&M's inaugural opening in Lot 10 this September, thanks to the vast online spread. And obviously I'm lagging behind the coverage of its Autumn Winter 2012, which is all about metallics/ maximalism for women and tailored goodness for the men. Nevertheless I'm feeling elated over the opportunity to visit their showroom recently, which certainly gave me the chance to closely inspect the merchandises in person, and in effect, delved in to the details of the tailoring quality and tactilely stimulated by the fabrics. And of course, I get to compare the prices internationally.

In view of the possible lengthy commentary and image-laden entry (quite a rare occasion at Dunia Fashyon these days), I think it will be wise if I divided this post into two halves - both menswear and womenswear respectively.

Adventure in tailoring - Burberry Prorsum jacket

 Personally I do not put outerwear first in my wardrobe list. However, it seems that lately I find myself searching for a good jacket - sometimes a man needs an outer shell to provide his body a structure. And more increasingly so I find myself in a position which requires me to wear such apparel from time to time again.

I am quite lucky to have found a reasonably good jacket from Burberry Prorsum from AW 2009/2010, a purchase acquired at the Johor Premium outlet (read the post about JPO here). The charcoal wool jacket is love at a first sight, and teamed with an affordable price, it was almost an impulse purchase. But I sat down for a while and figured that it was time step up to another level in my style searching endeavor - a tailored piece is deemed worthwhile.

   

The runway image (courtesy of vogue.co.uk)

The original jacket boasted fairly narrow lapels, working button sleeves, and lovely vents. But alas, my petit size could only mean that a bit of customising was in order. As a result of tailoring, the sleeves are chopped off (well, not literally, but you know what I mean) and sadly the buttons on the cuffs are now sitting there deceivingly for display only.

Adventure in tailoring

My personal pioneer adventure in tailoring begins with the construction of a sadly looking oriental costume (or so I deem, as I'm lacking an appropriate name for this suit), which was a fruit of labor of a single simplistic trip to a nearby tailor.

It all began with an invitation from an ex-classmate who was getting married in a five-star hotel, and from the looks of it, the reception would going to be a rather glamourous event - stated in the invitation was the dress code revolving around something I recall as "Red Carpet Glam" and "Oriental Chic".

Hide the hole!

I just found these  images whilst cleaning up my 'outfit post' folder. It's been a while since I attempted a DIY and this shredded cardigan is the living proof that I don't know how to customise outfits other than shredding clothes HAHA!

The cardigan is from Mexx ( a Spanish high street label) that I got while studying in Russia. It was one of my favorite cardigans because of its relatively good quality and of course, its black color essentially goes with anything.

Why do I ruin the cardigan if I loved it I hear you ask? One day I found the cardigan hanging in my shared closet (i.e shared with 2 other housemates, that was the dark period for wardrobes  I dread to go back again) . It was hanging there with TWO large holes near the left shoulder area. I was devastated really, thinking the possibilities of:

A) It was a foul play (is it even possible haha)

B) The cockroach ate the fabric

C) Or worse, the RAT ate the fabric

So to preserve what's left of a holey black cardigan, I decided to 'camouflage' the holes by rampantly shredding the fabric even more....

I was in an almost all-black ensemble with this cardigan from Mexx, sleeveless tank top from Miu Miu (eBay), Topman trousers, Calvin Klein booties, socks from Happy Socks, Forever 21 hair clip as shoulder accessory

I rarely wear these Calvin Klein perforated booties anymore because of the thin soles and the awkward fit (they are ladies footwear after all). But I kind of smiled when I looked at the neon- tipped socks from Happy Socks. Yup I'm ready to compromise with the label's rather hefty price tag over their eccentric socks design...

Scooft and the polka dot door

I just realised how my wardrobe lacks of something with geometric prints. Most of the patterns that I own are of floral type (a fetishist behaviour since high school I'm afraid as I'm most likely sold to any thing  with leaves/small flowers which makes me biased over any other sort of prints. Blaming this obsession over the ladies at my home who have countless batik Baju Kurung).

However I digress. Recently I have been in the hunt for different types of patterns. More geometry, less floral basically. Before I know it I discovered this polka dot t-shirt at an interesting shop called Scooft in Sungei Wang Plaza.

The geometry/ simple pattern theme resonates in the striped Muji socks. They are of ladies but even so still a tad big  for me! Worn with ZARA blazer and tailored Uniqlo pants.

Forgive me for repeatedly basking in the Lanvin clogs glory but this time around I think the shoes finally had its justice under direct sunlight - the reflection is almost blinding I tells ya!

The streetwear combined with vintage mixed with new (and vintage-inspired) pieces at Scooft instantaneously attracted my attention. It's a 180-degree turn of what most shops in Sungei Wang has to offer. Seriously, at second glance the shop looked very out of place from the over-crowded, utterly trendy but cheap-looking  neighbouring stores.

My style resolution this year is to add more polka dot or other geometry pattern to my weary and borderline geriatric wardrobe. Perhaps a little bit more  polka dots from BLACK Comme Des Garcons line would not hurt?

And lastly doesn't the post title remid you of the 70's educational animation series The Polka Dot Door? (It was aired at Malaysian television in the 90's). The theme sing is soooo addictive!