Editor’s Note
Acouple of years back, I found myself in Shanghai for work so I took the opportunity to meet up with a childhood friend who was an architect based in that city then. It was also the week of my birthday, so as we readied ourselves for dinner he handed me a birthday card that he had printed out the night before. It depicted a side-by-side photo comparison of us at ages 18 and 41. Oh, how we laughed. There we were, our younger selfs obviously thinking they looked so stylish and edgy in the photo. I had thick, centre-parted hair that I can only describe now as being mushroom-shaped, and was sporting a light purple (was that lilac??) T-shirt … excuse me, V-neck T-shirt … with straight-fit jeans and a pair of denim retro platforms bought from a vintage store in Kuching. (Okay, the platforms are still cool though). When juxtaposed against the photo of us taken just the year before, in our sharp winter coats and cool casuals, it made me ask, “How on earth did we get from that to this?”
Self-expression—and by extension, fashion—is really this one spectacular adventure, isn’t it? It’s not just about picking out the right dress or shoes for the day. If you probe deeper, what motivations moved you to buy that dress on that particular day in the first place? Would you have bought it ten years ago?
See, discovering one’s personal style is this grand odyssey if you will of trying to figure out who we are, and what we are about. What it is that we like, what kind of styles we resonate with, and what image we want to portray to the world around us during a particular period of our life. And like all explorations, we discover new ideas and concepts, learn more about the ones we like, cast off the ones we don’t, and unearth even more discoveries as we move along.
My personal style evolution truly began in the mid-Noughties, when I made the decision to remove jeans from my wardrobe. (I just wanted to challenge myself). It was a period that led to various sartorial experiments. Some hits, some misses. But it was a journey that forced me to reevaluate myself, and even confront some personal prejudices. Case in point: I used to cringe at carrot-cuts, thinking they were hideously ‘80s. Yet through the past couple decades, my go-to staple now are beautifully tailored pleated trousers. I guess the trick is, when it comes to genuine effort to learn more about ourselves or the world around us, we need to keep an open mind. Regardless of any personal bias.
From Ferragamo’s Tuscan dream to Piaget’s celestial homage, the concept of journeys—geographical, physical, emotional— is the running theme of this issue. Learn about how a 13-yearold Louis Vuitton left his hometown to walk all of 292 miles in pursuit of his dream, or the creative rites of passage four of Malaysia’s brightest designers took to get to where they are now. Discover why the Birkin remains mighty and the B.zero1 remains strong. We also look back on past beauty trends and how they influence us today, as our fashion spreads take us through desert dunes and sandy beaches in bold silhouettes and rich textures. Hopefully we can inspire you to look back at your personal fashion journey—ask yourself, “How did I get here?” The answer and discovery might surprise you.