Tong Tong Friendship Store
Shaw Towers, #01-04/05
Tel 6396-3887

WHEN Tan Sheau Yun opened her fashion boutique two years ago, it brought together two big loves - her love for Chinese culture and Singaporeans' love for shopping. The result was Tan Tan - a little boutique in Shaw Towers specialising in Chinese inspired clothing, in particular cheongsams with a modern twist.

Then armed with a newly minted postgraduate diploma from the British Museum, the former journalist had a simple yet lofty vision. 'I thought that selling cheongsams was the most accessible way for people to break into Chinese culture because Singaporeans like shopping' she recalls. 'If I could get more people to wear Chinese inspired clothing then maybe Singaporeans would become more interested in the culture that gave rise to them.'

The success of Tan Tan is indisputable: With prices ranging from $25 for a brooch to $599 for a dress, its debut collection sold out within two weeks of its private launch and over the past two years, has earned a reputation for its innovative use of silhouettes and fabrics, an impressive achievement for a woman who has absolutely no design training whatsoever.

'Before I launched Tan Tan, I'd been wearing cheongsams for many years. I just pass my ideas over to my pattern maker who translates them to paper for me. Plus, the silhouettes behind cheongsams and other traditional Chinese garments are well-documented and I know them well through my years volunteering at the Asian Civilisations Museum and my time studying at the British Museum, not to mention growing up with my parents who were educated in Taiwan.' Despite all her efforts, Ms Tan doesn't believe Tan Tan has achieved its aims and feels like she should do more to promote Chinese culture in Singapore. 'Yes, people come into my shop to buy Chinese-inspired clothing but I've noticed that it hasn't sparked off their interest in Chinese culture, they just buy my clothes because they think it's nice!' says Ms Tan with a laugh.

'We didn't have time to do anything beyond making and selling cheongsams which defeated the purpose of me starting Tan Tan to being with.' Enter Tong Tong Friendship Store, a new concept named after the original friendship stores of 1950s China that catered exclusively to tourists and foreigners.

'Of course we're not going to only sell to foreigners! I just liked the idea of calling my shop a friendship store because our motto is 'be friends with Chinese culture,' exclaims Ms Tan.

The new store, she reveals will push Chinese culture beyond the sale of cheongsams through initiatives such as the sale of more Chinese-inspired accessories as well as the production of a book on Chinese erotica that will be given away to customers.

Tong Tong's cheongsams will also have a stronger historical and cultural element incorporated into them. For example, unlike the generic cheongsams of Tan Tan, Tong Tong is working on producing a range of cheongsam inspired by Chinoiserie (Chinese-esque), a 17th century European artistic style that reflects Chinese artistic influences. 'There are paintings of Chinese women painted in a French way which we are thinking of printing on our cheongsams via silk screen,' explains Ms Tan.

'But more importantly, everytime someone picks up a particular item of clothing or product, the staff will make a conscious effort to explain the history behind it, so the whole shopping experience becomes a cultural exchange as well.'


benWu
1A, Aliwal Street
Tel 6341-7871
www.benwudesign.com

IF you overhear Ben Wu speak of his creations, you might be forgiven for thinking them buildings or sculptures - he uses terms such as 'address the dimension' and 'vernacular design'. But what the local designer is really referring to are the crisp linen and floaty organza and cotton-silk blends that have been cut, draped, scrunched, pleated and shaped into strong, structured silhouettes under his eponymous label, which was launched four months ago.

Wu's way of expressing himself in fashion, both linguistically and via his designs, reflects his non-fashion background: A Lasalle education in environmental design and 11 years in an interior design firm. He swapped his AutoCad software for needle and thread in 2001, going on to start local label Tian with a partner in 2003 before launching benWu this year 'to move on to a higher plane of design aesthetics'.

Says the designer of how his previous work experience has come in handy since he moved to fashion: 'Clothes are also structures with verticals and horizontals - a column or a beam can translate to a vertical stripe, for example. It's all mathematics.' The debut benWu Spring/Summer '09 collection is entitled A Moment Of Motion (a theme inspired by 'urbanites in transit', according to Wu) and comprises '40 or 50' dresses, tops and skirts in summery shades such as cream, lilac, peach and lime.

Featuring tailoring and cutting techniques developed by Wu himself, it's somewhat reminiscent of the work of masters of fashion innovation, Hussein Chalayan and Nicolas Ghesquiere: there's a light cotton shift that's been cleverly folded - not cut and sewn - to cup the bustline, for instance, and a cropped collared jacket that's been structured such that it can be worn back-to-front.

A long-sleeved top shows quirky side gussets of silk georgette that add visual interest and double as 'air vents', while a couple of dresses and blouses have a 'slight humpback to break the silhouette'.

'In buildings, shapes matter. Similarly, in fashion, silhouettes matter,' says the designer, who ended his show at this year's Singapore Fashion Festival by converting a chandelier on-stage into a long white train, which he attached to his final look. 'You have to see that your concept goes all around your design; that it works from all angles.'

For the moment, the benWu label (priced from $109 for a silk-cotton top to $239 for a dress) is available only via Wu's website - clients pick the designs they want and he makes them to order after several fittings at his tiny Aliwal Street studio. But the designer will more than make up for that lack of luxe next year: he's setting up two boutiques at Ion Orchard and Mandarin Gallery that are to open in June and 'somewhere during the third quarter', respectively. Never mind that it took him nearly nine years to start his own label - Wu's fashionably late entrance looks set to make heads turn.

This article was first published in The Business Times on Nov 29, 2008.