The inaugural Fashion for All was a post-repeal 377A extravaganza on the roof top of Design Orchard. Laudable, all-prancing merriment it was, but fashion for every body was still—amid the gaiety—a tough call
The finale of the Fashion for All show at Design Orchard
"Everybody Matters", went the rallying call of Design Orchard's latest promotional campaign, but everybody does not necessarily mean every body. Fashion for All (FFA), the annual Pink Fest's first-ever fashion event, held in "partnership with Singapore Fashion Council at Design Orchard", was unveiled last Saturday on the terraced rooftop of the emporium that retails Singaporean fashion labels. With a runway cast of 92 models, including one on a wheel chair, it was a massive, operationally-challenging undertaking. And a promising study in how fashion shows can include a diversity of people. We love the community vibe of the event as much as the next person. A fun exercise for the pink group in a middle of Orchard Road is commendable and uplifting, but calling it "fashion for all " might be a tad far-fetched. There is no denying that inclusivity is paramount in an increasingly divided world, but we were not clear if the catchphrase was, on this night, rhetorical or hyperbolic, or sanguine.
We were careful to take into consideration that the event was meant to be part of Pink Fest, a "commercial festival that aspires to create a supportive and inclusive ecosystem that benefits and welcomes ALL," according to the organisers. In addition, the program hopes to "engage LGBTQ people, allies and inclusive businesses." All, as it appeared, was an ambitious target audience. We were told by a source that the majority of the attendees of the show "were invited by Pink Fest". Understandably, despite a seemingly more open society now, members of the LGBTQ community continue to hope to be counted. FFA was, by the end of the show, possibly more about the community than clothes, although clothing—rather than fashion—was the medium with which Pink Fest seemed to assert that inclusive dressing must be a large part of communal life. But was inclusivity adopted as a broad stroke to paint a picture that has yet gained complete societal acceptance? Or a convenient watchword to spotlight variant sexualities and attendant variant styles?
Old names, new names. Top from left: Binary Style, Joesh, and Serina Lee. Bottom from left: Monster, IKV, and Goh Lai Chan
We spoke to eight individuals at the show, and asked them one easy question, which we thought was pertinent: Fashion for All. Did you feel that there was anything for you? Just two said yes, although one, who is "in financial services", first hesitated and then qualified that "only if you were talking about the wearable". A part-time make-up artist said, "我没感觉到 (I did not feel it)." An engineer, who did not consider himself fashionable and was, therefore, the "wrong person to be asked", said, "有没有，我觉得他们没有包括我也可以 (yes or no, I feel that even if they did not include me, it's alright)." Another guy, who said he was "part-timing", was not concerned either: "Tak, sebab saya bukan 'semua' (no, because I am not 'all')". One photographer was short and swift: "nope"; he did not wish to elaborate. A product development executive said, "frankly, I didn't feel there was. Then, it may not be for us." One social media consultant was emphatic: "I don't know about all. Fashion's problem today is that it is trying to reach too many people."
It was ironic that the event was a by-invite-only affair. The host of the evening enthusiastically called the attendees "fashion people". Would FFA not include non-fashion folks? It is regrettable that despite the intended reach, the show was essentially a closed-door event attended by a group that was part theatre people, part fashion industry regulars, part social media influencers, and part must-be-in-the-action die-hards. If the interested public (it is possible that interest would be considerable) was allowed to be present, perhaps the show might better serve its objective. Or would that be too inclusive? In September 2022, Balmain staged a Paris show in the Jean Bouin stadium, where the Paris rugby calls home, to 12,000 fans (whether they were "fashion people", it was not reported, but that they were screaming was). The event, part of an ongoing Balmain Festival (!) then, was free to those who wished to attend. WWD reported at the time: "Holding a fashion show at a stadium is more than spectacle, it's a political statement." Olivier Rousteing seconded that, telling the daily that the object was "to make it more accessible. I think that's what culture wants. The world wants everybody to be together and viewed the same way." That does not sound different from what Pink Fest desired for Fashion for All.
The rare runway appearance of In Good Company
But what the show was really about was not entirely clear by the time we sat down. Confusion somewhat set in during the course of the parade. In his opening speech, Harris Zaidi, FFA's festival director told the audience that it took two years for the show to materialise. He did not explain why the gestation period was necessary. Or why it was that long. Publicity material shared on Pink Fest's website and social media stated that FFA was "presented by Pink Fest in partnership with Singapore Fashion Council (SFC) at Design Orchard". We did not pay much attention to the credit, assuming that, while it was primarily a Pink Fest event, SFC and Design Orchard were instrumental in getting the show off the ground. As we waited for the presentation to start and read what little that was shared about FFA online, we noted the use of the preposition between SFC and Design Orchard. Why did we need to be told where SFC was "at"? Was Design Orchard involved at all? When a segment featuring Goh Lai Chan's clothes emerged, we were just as puzzled—Mr Goh no longer consigned his products to Design Orchard. As far as we were aware, past Design Orchard shows—the last was in 2022, after a "re-launch"—did not include brands not retailing in the store. What primary role, if any, did Design Orchard play? Or were they a convenient location to sell the garments, post-show?
This was the first major runway presentation under the stewardship of the new CEO of Singapore Fashion Council (also operator of Design Orchard), Zhang Ting Ting (张婷婷). In her eloquent opening speech, Ms Zhang described the partnership with Pink Fest as a "purposeful endeavor" that involved "exacting curation". As if addressing those aware of the difficulties SFC faces, she informed that there was "a bit of wrangling [with Singapore Tourism Board, one of the owners of the Design Orchard project/building] for this to happen." Even with STB's approval, the budget for the event, as we understood it, was "very small"—a source told us. And the two-year wait? Another source revealed that one individual, formerly connected to Design Orchard "in a big way", had at first offered to collaborate with Pink Fest, but for reasons unclear, "did not deliver". Mr Zaidi, by chance, bumped into multi-hyphenate fashion person Daniel Boey at the end of last year and asked Mr Boey if he might be interested in bringing FFA to fruition. The source said, "as you know, he is a fruit bearer."
Closing sextet by Thomas Wee
With considerable thrill in her voice, Ms Zhang declared FFA as the "first-ever, fashion-inclusive event in Singapore, ever", adding, "I think inclusivity in Singapore got chance, lah." Street casting for the show took place in the first day of May in the retail space of Design Orchard. A reel on FFA's Instagram page considered inclusivity to mean "all body types, all ethnicities, all gender identities, all ages, and all sexualities." Although there was no mention of the physically-challenged, in the final show, quadruple amputee Carole Ann (in a suitably pink wheelchair) was included. While inclusivity is not necessarily diversity, representation at FFA was rather resonant, although, surprisingly, there were no models in strictly modest fashion or wearing the tudung or the turban. Inclusivity is not a straightforward construct or a commercial policy; it is often a practice, if at all, influenced by personal values and one's relationship or awareness (or lack of) with and of the world. It is, therefore, too complex to discuss it in this post. But we were burning (and it was not just because of the heat) with curious to know how SG fashion was, even for one night, inclusive.
"Celebrating diversity and inclusivity", Design Orchard cried in its latest promotional drive. Everybody Matters, which upon repeated hearing, sounded like a political slogan, overshadowed fashion, so much so that in the end, fashion mattered not. It was all jubilant cheers for the motley cast than the clothes they wore. When Carole Ann emerged, she received the loudest shout of encouragement and approval. We asked a few people after the show if they remembered what she wore, no one did. A lanky lass helpfully told us, "she was seated". Under the aegis of Pink Fest, FFA exalted the excess. In part, it was burdened by its own fabulosity. Many of the attendees set the mood—dressing like this was our very own Met Gala, which, in itself, was droll to watch. On the runway later, it was a demonstrative display of how to achieve that, in whatever dose one chooses.
Models parading during the after-party
Fashion for All "believes in the power of fashion to lead the way, transcend outmoded perceptions and restrictive stereotypes," as it declares in its online publicity. It calls the show "a new fashion narrative, of freedom, of individual expression." This narrative cannot be subtle (for true fashion cannot be); it is freedom from the constraints of immaculately designed and made clothes (inclusivity means consider, too, the poorly-produced. They have a place in the scheme of things and the shelves of Design Orchard); it has to be individually expressive—you do not want to go unnoticed, the bane of a fashionable self, the blight on the breathtaking. Everything has possibilities and require a runway, which led us to wonder if being discerning means not being inclusive, as it invariably involves being selective. And when selective has to give in to inclusive, excessive usually wins, which seemed to commensurate with Pink Fest's own rallying call "Unleash Your Most Fabulous Self". Yet, fashion is not always the Wild Rice Ball.
Fashion on a runway, until recently, has been mostly exclusive, hence its appeal. Inclusivity, for most shows, has been confined, more or less, to the casting of the models and the sizing of the clothes. With the inclusive cast of models settled, Fashion for All's curator Daniel Boey went on to assemble a largely diverse selection of brands and designers—18 in all—for the show. Some where established names, such as Thomas Wee, Goh Lai Chan (who still has not abandoned the desire to throw as many ethnic details in one garment as possible, as if every occasion is a Miss Universe National Costume segment), and In Good Company, while others were virtually unknown until this evening. But rather than flog the inclusivity horse, Mr Boey preferred tapping on the strengths of his picks, even if many were still grasping at straws when it came to aesthetical and qualitative positioning. He was heard telling an enquirer after the show that his main plan was to "ra-ra the designers and get them to meet, and continue to talk with each other." He takes his role as "godfather of fashion" seriously. The continued conversations and community-building could bolster SG fashion, whether, with its bold ambition, reaches all, or not.
Photos: Zhao Xiangji
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