Saturday, September 29, 2012

Bye-bye summer aubergine


Bye-bye mustard and aubergine, hello reddish brown and teal! That's how I feel about this season's sentiment. Happier hues of blue, purple and tawny brown are here as well. My gut feeling for Burberry last season was spot on - high street stores like Topshop, H&M and Uniqlo are cashing in like mad from clearly Burberry-inspired designs. And the trend is going strong this season. The warm optimistic colours of spring/summer inevitably give way to more sombre tones but the autumn/winter 2012/2013 collection brings with it a more interesting (i.e. not boring) splashes of colour in addition to the ever-so-often recycled black, grey and dark brown (yawn). Something to brighten up the not-so-bright economic outlook, I guess.


Apart from the staple leather items, fabric this season is soft and comforting in the form of velvet and wool. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised when I ran my fingers through a washable merino wool cardigan in a high street store just last week. Merino wool, washable - can you believe it?


Other notable items include umbrellas with mallard head handles by Burberry and Louis Vuitton's uber-luxurious kimono-style silk shirts (reputedly the Japanese silk factory where they come from makes only 20 centimetres of the fabric per day). Unfortunately, I hardly see them in the stores here in Malaysia, huhu...


This time around also welcomes a wave of change in the fashion world as new designers are taking over the helm of some notable companies. Paul Surridge at Zegna and Kim Jones at Louis Vuitton are doing well and I hope the coming of Hedi Slimane (my fashion hero) to YSL for spring/summer 2013 is nothing but good news.


As rumours of the European fashion industry facing a gloomy forecast fly around, fashion houses are turning to the Asian market for salvation. This can only bring good tidings to us Asians since I can now see 'Asian Cut' shirts in Zara stores and smaller sized pants in some other. Thank God for those size 28 pants :)

Curiously, they are now also selling chunky woolen sweaters here in hot and sunny Malaysia. Err.. why exactly?

Friday, September 14, 2012

Love at first light

Sunrise at sunset cabana, Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia.

The first light of the day offers one of the best lighting conditions for photography, in my humble non-professional opinion. Good contrast, mildly mysterious and quite dramatic. The air is less dusty too. Probably most of my best loved shots were taken around this golden hour. Take my recent self-portrait (taken with timer) above for example, hehe - I like...

Morning climb up the hills of Tasi-tolu, Dili, Timor Leste.

But I have to wake up early, which can be a problem ;) Even more so after I bought my oh-so-soft Tencel bedsheets.. feels like silk, only machine washable.

Just before sunrise also offers dramatic lighting. Secluded beach at Terrapuri Resort, Terengganu, Malaysia.

Waking up happy.. only happens on holidays, right?

Rolling mist in the wee hours over Borobudur, Indonesia.