Style Squad

No fashionista is an island, and that’s especially true for the recipients of our very first Singapore Tatler Fashion Awards

his month’s cover shoot was all about showcasing personal style. But, as the newly minted recipients of the very first Singapore Tatler Fashion Awards showed, individual style just isn’t possible without the concerted efforts of a good team, and the amalgamation of a lifetime of experiences shaped by those who are near and dear to your heart. There were those who arrived for the shoot with members of their style squad—sanveer Gill had his trusted barber William Yip tending to his locks (he’s growing out his hair to attempt a man bun at some point, he told us), and Grace Yeh’s daughter and granddaughter dropped by as the society maven got all dolled up. Meanwhile, the ever-chirpy Dawn Koh brought her mother Ginny Ng, and shared with us that it was Ginny’s experience in the jewellery and apparel industry that first sparked her interest in the world of fashion. Dawn quipped that while she still loves getting dressed up, the realities of running her cake company Chalk Farm are not always conducive to the pursuit of peak fabulousness. One day, when she wore fur-lined Gucci Princetown slippers to the shop, “my staff pointed out that I was essentially helping them mop the floor”. Even the ladies who decided to fly solo at the shoot couldn’t help talking about their families. Stephanie Lee opened up about how much elder sister Cheryl means to her, half-joking that she was tearing up just talking about their relationship. Also getting in on the sister act was Margie Van Elten Blommaert, who called her elder sister the equivalent of that cool kid in school whom everyone aspires to be like. Her sister now lives in Australia, while she’s based in Singapore, but they manage to catch up by attending Paris Fashion Week together. The way Margie describes it, the trip sounds more like Paris Indulgence Week: “There’s lots of eating, lots of bubbly, and lots and lots of fun.”