From The Straits Times    |
Haute Couture Week 2012 Singapore press con THUMBNAIL

Women’s Fashion Week and Haute Couture Week 2012 Singapore will be bringing some of the best in fashion and shopping to Marina Bay Sands from November 23, 2012.

The two separate events will focus on the opposite ends of the fashion spectrum with Women’s Fashion Week featuring ready to wear collections from a number of established international fashion labels, while Haute Couture Week 2012 Singapore (HCW2012) will show a select number of private shows featuring the very best in bespoke, luxury fashion.

Haute Couture Week 2012 Singapore press con DECOR
Looks from two haute couture design houses, Julien Fournié and On Aura Tout Vu, that will be showing at Haute Couture Week 2012 Singapore in November, 2012. Image: Fide Multimedia

At HCW2012 there will be eight runway shows from haute couture houses including three returning Parisian Couturiers, Christophe Josse, Gustavo Lins and Alexis Mabille. Debuting at the event and on show for the first time in Singapore will be Haute Couturiers Bouchra Jarrar, Julien Fournié, Maurizio Galante, On Aura Tout Vu and Yiqing Yin.

Julien Fournié and On Aura Tout Vu gave journalists a taste of what will come during a press conference on October 5, 2012, having travelled all the way to Singapore with a select few pieces from their stunning collections.

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Six looks from haute couturier Julien Fournié that were shown at the Haute Couture Week 2012 Singapore press conference. Image: Fide Multimedia

Established in 2009, Julien Fournié is known for combining technology with exquisite detailing, sharp cuts and a surprising amount of subtly displayed skin. His dedication to haute couture is obvious in the incredibly precise cuts and fits of his garments, picked up from his training at Christian Dior under John Galliano, Givenchy under Alexander McQueen and Céline, as well as his stint as assistant designer at Jean Paul Gaultier, before he took up the job of designer with Claude Montana.

Julien’s haute couture career really took off when he became the creative director of legendary French house Torrente at the age of 28; he created four collections for the house before establishing his own label.

Julien Fournié is currently a Guest Member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, the official French organisation that defines and designates who can actually use the appellation of “haute couture” for their collections.

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Looks, and centaurs, from haute couture house On Aura Tout Vu at the press conference held for the launch of Haute Couture Week 2012 Singapore. Image: Fide Multimedia

On Aura Tout Vu is an official Accessories member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, having established itself by creating the accessories, embroidery, buttons and decorations for fashion houses like Christian Lacroix, Christian Dior and Givenchy since 1998. Co-founded by André de sà Pessoa, Livia Stoianova and Yassen Samouilov, the brand is known for it’s whimsical, elaborate pieces with attention to detail, colour and fantasy.

Each of the six womenswear pieces brought to Singapore were a part of On Aura Tout Vu’s Spring Summer 2013 collection entitled “Somewhere Else Kingdom” and featuring women as “independent Queens”; they also provided a spot of colour with two bare-chested “centaurs”; the pieces On Aura Tout Vu designers Livia and Yassen created for a production for Monaco’s Les Ballets de Monte Carlo.

Both Julien Fournié and On Aura Tout Vu are known for “stretching the boundaries” of traditional haute couture fashion and were chosen especially for this attitude according to Frank Cintamani, Women’s Fashion Week and Haute Couture Week 2012 Singapore’s chairman and founder of Fide Fashion Weeks.

On top of the Parisian couturiers, this year there will be a Japanese Couture Showcase on November 28, 2012, featuring three of Japan’s most respected fashion designers – Junko Shimada, Somarta and Yumi Katsura, who also showed at the recent Asian Couture Fashion Week 2012 in Bangkok.

So, if you love fashion in all its guises, don’t miss this combination of events. Women’s Fashion Week 2012 Singapore will run from November 23 to 25; the Japanese Couture Showcase will be held on November 28, and Haute Couture Week 2012 Singapore will run from November 29 to December 2, 2012. All the events will be held in a purpose built “tent” on The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands waterfront.

Women’s Fashion Week and Haute Couture Week 2012 Singapore are organised by organised by Fide Fashion Weeks and The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. For more information about Fide Fashion Weeks, go to www.fidefashionweeks.com. For more information about The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, go to www.marinabaysands.com/Shoppes. For more information about Julien Fournié, go to www.julienfournie.com and for On Aura Tout Vu, go to www.onauratoutvu.com.