LIKE a good number of bag designers out there, Tara Gelpey of Blush B-Lush started designing bags as a hobby; but unlike many struggling designers, she had her bags picked up by Topshop in Oxford Street, which propelled her into instant fame.
A Blush B-Lush bag with an embellishment of Pegasus, the winged horse
'I've been extremely lucky,' she admits. These days, her bags are stocked in some of the best stores in the world including Harrods and House of Fraser and rightly so because luck aside, her bags are certainly very well-made and painstakingly adorned with unique embellishments. They cost from £105 (S$295) for a wallet to £520 for luggage.
She says: 'My main ethos is to design a bag that is beautiful but practical. Women buy my bags for this reason and unlike the 'it' bags, they are timeless.' Speaking of time, Ms Gelpey's bags are also interesting because her embellishments tend to be based on historical references.
Her latest collection features the icons of Omega and Pegasus, representing fearlessness and victory respectively. Her Pleats collection was inspired by the scarf tied around safari hats in Victorian days. 'It (the Pleats collection) has quite a colonial reference but the outcome is quite 80s,' she says with a laugh.
And given the success that her bags have found in Asia - they were sold out in Hong Kong two seasons ago and are selling well in Japan and India - she believes that her bags will also do well in Singapore.
She concludes: 'I think the clutches will. Unlike the Japanese who like the quirkiness of big shoes and big bags on their tiny little bodies, I think that Singaporean women are more delicate and I think they would really enjoy the smaller bags and clutches.
'My bags are very embellished but they have a huge demographic when it comes to age group. Even women who dress plainly buy them as a statement piece.'
Claudine
AS far as clutches and evening bags go, a must-buy for 2008 is a Claudine bag. Half-Brazilian and half-Lebanese Claudine Abou-sawan's (or Claudine as she is better known) graduate collection at Central Saint Martins got rave reviews from The Independent newspaper which said that she 'should design directly for Christian Lacroix'.
Bags, ladies: A sculpturally distinct evening clutch from Claudine
Despite this being only her third season, Claudine has managed to carve a niche in the market by creating evening bags that are so sculpturally distinct that one can tell immediately upon sight that it is her design. In Paris, her bags are even sold in a museum as works of art.
'I think that this is the way to go - to have a really distinct style and work upon it,' she says. Her bags are made mainly of sprayed plastics, velvets and silk satins. They are priced at between £350 and £500 - which is really a good deal, especially when one considers that everything is handmade and each piece is sewn personally by Claudine because she 'doesn't trust anyone else to do the sewing'.
Although she has found fans in celebrities such as celebrity scion Kimberly Stewart, singer Sophie Ellis Baxtor and Britain's burlesque star Immodesty Blaize (who had a bag custom made), the amiable designer is still getting used to her new-found fame. She says: 'It's amazing to see my bags in magazines or to hear people talk about which celebrity carried my bag last night, it's quite a feeling.'
Hannah Marshall
THEY say that London Fashion Week is the place to spot new talent - think Matthew Williamson and Alexander McQueen - and a young female designer called Hannah Marshall is certainly following in their footsteps.
Hannah Marshall remodernises the Little Black Dress with a sexy edge
At 21 years of age and immediately upon graduation from the Colchester School of Art & Design, Ms Marshall was the youngest of 31 entrepreneurs head-hunted by The National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts to enter their inaugural Creative Pioneer Programme where they receive intensive personal and business development training.
Fast forward five years and Ms Marshall - and her very own label Hannah Marshall - is now one of the rising young stars in British fashion, having been chosen as one of the designers to enter the Topshop-sponsored British Fashion Council's prestigious New Generation initiative. This despite Autumn/Winter '08 being only her third season.
Titled Code Black, the collection takes inspiration from female music icons like intense punk rocker Siouxsie Sioux, the eccentric and sensual androgyny of Grace Jones to the liberation of Alison Mosshart.
'Music, lyrics and powerful imagery set the scene for the collection that features my signature black dresses,' she says. 'This time, it focuses on my strength of contrasting luxury fabrics such as hard leathers with transparent chiffons. Silhouettes feature severe cuts and razor sharp lines for a look that is architectural and edgy, yet sharp and sophisticated.'
By focusing on remodernising the Little Black Dress, Ms Marshall's designs are clean with a sexy edge: the epitome of femininity, perfect for women to strut their stuff in.
'The woman that I design for looks for effortless pieces that are without definition of a particular age or occupation, and she is confident, sexy and powerful enough to conceal rather than reveal her body,' she concludes.
Lee Klabin
LOOK out, Sex and the City fans. You can now have a piece of the show because clothes from Lee Klabin - the designer responsible for a delicious Midnight Moth feathered corset worn by Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) in a key scene of the new movie can now be bought in Singapore.
A Lee Klabin corset that enhances the curves and does wonders for the posture
But before you think that her corsets are anything like the modernised versions with hooks that we usually see, think again for her corsets are made using the traditional way - complete with lace, of course.
She says: 'Real corsets do wonders for your posture. Women who first walk in here always worry that it's going to hurt but once we lace them up, it's like 'ooh, I like how I look in this'.'
And this is where Ms Klabin's designs really stand out, making a Lee Klabin corset a must-buy in 2008 - especially for any Asian woman looking to enhance her curves.
The price of a corset ranges from about £620 to £3,200 which may sound expensive but when you consider the amount of work that goes into making one and the final effect, the price is well worth its bite.
More importantly, women worried that wearing a corset may be too risque for them can have the option of choosing a corset-ish dress instead although that really should not be the case for even the most unexpected women have been found to pick up a corset for herself.
Recounts Ms Klabin: 'One of our first customers was this really old lady and she walked in, picked up a red and fuschia corset, liked how she looked in it and said, 'yes this is what I want for my birthday party' and bought one. So really, I can say that I design for a certain type of woman but I can never guess who is going to end up buying it. There's no age limit for looking good!'
Apart from orders with Glamour Inc, custom-made pieces can be ordered via her website at www.blue poppycouture.com
Made in Heaven
FORGET Seven For All Mankind and True Religion, the next big thing in the 'it' jeans department is Made in Heaven (MIH). The label that will be sold exclusively at The Link was originally established in the 1960s and aptly named Made in Heaven because its sole goal was to provide the most perfect fitting, bum enhancing, leg lengthening jeans around. It was worn by all the coolest girls in town at that time, from Jane Birkin to Farrah Fawcett.
Made in Heaven jeans have been modernised from the 1960s original to suit today's generation
Today, the jeans label has been revived by Chloe Lonsdale - daughter of London's 'Blue Jean King' Tony Lonsdale and god-daughter of MIH's founder Tony O'Gormon - and is still being worn by the coolest girls in town such as Kate Moss and Nelly Furtado. 'We're like a new brand that is influenced and inspired by the 70s,' says Ms Lonsdale. 'We've modernised the jeans to suit today's generation but our jeans have kept its history of being elegant and smart, just with an additional fashion edge.' Priced between $300 and $450, MIH jeans are certainly like nothing else in the denim market today.
It is special in that it would appeal to women of all ages - from the young fashionista who would appreciate the quirkiness of owning a pair of vintage-inspired pair of jeans (not to mention all the celebrity endorsement that it has had so far) to the older working women who would appreciate the classic, streamlined look that can be achieved by wearing a pair of MIH jeans, it is certainly one denim label that crosses boundaries.
Says Ms Lonsdale: 'Made in Heaven captures something very unique in its British heritage that is totally different to American denim brands. It is about jeans that are clean and understated and not jeans that are in your face. You wear the jeans, the jeans don't wear you.'
Ozakii
FOR those of you who have yet to hear of bag label Ozakii, you might be missing out. Already a massive hit in the Middle East, Ozakii bags are for women who are looking for something that will make them stand out from the crowd.
Unique types of leather and painstaking effort go into Ozakii bags
According to Ozakii's creative director Ngozi Uchea, an Ozakii bag is designed for women looking for something that will stand out among the Guccis and Pradas. And exclusivity, because Ozakii design only comes in limited pieces of 20 to 30.
'I don't buy leather from London,' says Ms Uchea. 'I go to Milan twice every year where there are great textile fairs and independent textile makers just to source for unique materials, unique types of leather that nobody else uses. Each piece is hand-crafted and ornamented in London and even all the buckles on the bags are specially commissioned just for us.'
It is precisely that painstaking effort and detail that goes into making every Ozakii bag that justifies its price tag of about £250 to £800 - not exceptionally low but still relatively affordable as far as bags go.
Adds Ms Uchea: 'I try not to make it too unaffordable. The nature of the bags do mean that I aim to attract the luxury market and its clientele but I'd like to keep them relatively affordable for women who love my bags.'
Having done her degree specialising in textiles, her main inspiration is, inevitably, the materials that she uses to create her bags. She says: 'I love textiles. I look at how the light shines on the leather and the sparkles that they can create, and I start designing and embellishing my bags from there.'
Todd Lynn
FORGET expensive, the new word for luxury is exclusivity. Well, at least to hot young designer Todd Lynn anyway. 'Anybody can buy a bag that costs £10,000; that is not luxury,' asserts Mr Lynn. 'It's when you can get a bag that nobody else can, regardless of how much its price is. Now, that's luxury.'
Which is why all of Mr Lynn's designs only come in limited pieces of 10 or 20, no doubt to justify his hefty price tag of about £1,400 for a suit (especially from a young label like his) but a tactic that inadvertently makes every piece of clothing that he sells a special one in the process.
Sharp and edgy clothing from Todd Lynn that is slightly androgynous yet feminine
And fans are definitely lapping up the exclusive designs of this Canadian-born designer who has designed clothes for the music videos of rock stars such as Marilyn Manson, U2 and The Rolling Stones. He is definitely one of the most talked about designers in Britain at the moment alongside other Topshop New Generation stars Gareth Pugh and Marios Schwab.
His clothes epitomise the idea of rock chic, earning him the nickname 'King of Rock 'n' Roll' - sharp and edgy clothing that are sometimes slightly androgynous but always sexy and feminine at the same time. But he really should be called the 'King of Tailoring' for Mr Lynn's devilish tailoring is absolutely to die for.
He says: 'There are many designers out there who say that they design for certain kind of women like strong women. My idea is that any woman who buys fashion is strong. A woman who wears clothes with an edge has to be strong. The women I design for are these women. Women who buy my clothes because they can wear them.' But, despite all that, Mr Lynn insists that his clothes must have what he calls 'longevity' - clothes that can be worn for a long time as opposed to just six months or so.
He concludes: 'It is very easy to create something really outrageous and send them down the runway. Whilst this is very good for editorial, I'm trying to sell clothes so my idea is that my designs have to make a woman want to keep wearing them for a long time - that is what I mean by wearable.'
Zufi Alexander
IF you get only one bag this year, it should be a Zufi Alexander - the bag label that The New York Times has likened to the quintessential Hermes Birkin has finally made its way to Singapore.
Priced from 700 euros (S$1,506), Zufi Alexander bags have been making waves all over the world, having found a fan base amongst A-list red carpet walkers like Cate Blanchett, Kate Moss, Katherine Heigl and Beyonce - no mean feat for a label that was launched just four years ago and one that was started as a hobby, no less.
'I was forced to leave my job at Christie's because my bag business got too big,' says Ms Alexander with a laugh. 'They told me 'I don't think you need this job, do you?'
It is, however, unsurprising that the bags have gained the favour of young fashionistas out there not simply because the bags are the epitome of style but more importantly because they reflect the self-belief of articulate women like Ms Alexander, an Oxford graduate. She says: 'I design for women who are confident, have a sense of style and who believe in themselves.'
The Elizabeth pink python bag emphasises Zufi Alexander's vividly colourful style
Her Spring/Summer '08 collection, for instance, uses bold colours to exemplify a woman's confidence to carry off vivid-coloured bags. This was followed by her Autumn/Winter '08 collection that was designed in collaboration with esteemed shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti by utilising elements drawn from his shoe line in a bid to create the most luxurious bag in the market.
She adds: 'People should not give up and women should go out there to achieve their dreams. I believe in promoting to other people that dreams can come true as long as they try, and that is what my bags are about.'
Made In Heaven is available at The Link boutique. The other seven can be ordered at Glamour Inc's trunk show to be held from March 18-20 at the Marriott Singapore, Tang Un Tien Suite. For appointments, please call Dorothy Augustine at 9877-4729
This article was first published in The Business Times on Mar 15, 2008.
