新加坡品牌悄悄超越中国

• 作者：Blue Carreon
• 2011-11-11

新加坡正在进行一场时尚改造。这很大程度上要归功于其本土品牌，它们不仅在新加坡获得了热烈追捧，也向世界呈现出狮城的时尚形象。

阿什利·艾沙姆、拉乌尔和alldressedup设计的服饰

在时尚和风格方面，新加坡并未如中国一样引发众多议论。另外，普遍现象表明，狮城对待时尚很随意。短裤、T恤和人字拖是大多数新加坡人的选择。尽管新加坡有很多当地和国际性的时尚杂志，零售市场也处于蓬勃发展阶段。

当我作为一本时尚杂志的编辑在新加坡生活时，我一直都很惊讶，奢侈品牌是如何在新加坡生存下来的。长长的乌节路上有两家普拉达（Prada）的门店，间隔不远。到处都是古驰（Gucci）和路易威登的商店。但是，如此多的人们都穿着短裤和人字拖，以至于我写下了一篇专栏文章，称这种打扮为新加坡的民族服装。抱歉，跑题了。

但是，宽泛来说，新加坡正在进行一场时尚改造。这很大程度上要归功于其本土品牌，它们不仅在新加坡获得了热烈追捧，也向世界呈现出狮城的时尚形象。

“alldressedup”处于这场时尚复兴的前沿，该品牌由陈丽音（Tina Tan-Leo）创始，是一个女装与配饰品牌；陈丽音曾将艾特罗（Etro）品牌引入新加坡，她用自己对于时尚界内部运作的知识，创立了一个时髦、大众和具有全球竞争力的品牌。alldressedup偏好女性的审美，城市风格中参杂一点怪异调调。该品牌在萨克斯第五大道的精品百货店（Saks Fifth Avenue）、柏朵·古德曼（Bergdorf Goodman）、哈维·尼克斯百货（Harvey Nichols）和连卡佛，以及电商巨头Netaporter均有售。alldressedup在新加坡还有两家独立的精品店。“该品牌在海外很快就被接受，因为消费者认为这系列产品很独特、有方向性、时髦、做工好、易于穿着且好卖。他们知道，这系列的产品是那些现代女性每季想添置到自己衣橱里的衣服。我们独特的设计理念融合了西方现有的设计美学和亚洲的细节触动，这是我们产品的一个独特之处，而且它能吸引全球的购买者，”陈丽音说道。

拉乌尔（Raoul）虽然听上去是拉丁名字，但却是100%的新加坡品牌。它由奥黛尔（Odile）和道格拉斯·本杰明（Douglas Benjamin）创立和设计；本杰明家族旗下的本杰明控股拥有纪梵希、Gap、戈雅（Goyard）和赛琳（Celine）等品牌在新加坡的特许经营权。拉乌尔品牌同时经营男装和女装，它从职业装起家，然后迅速进入潮流服饰领域，设计生产那种能够出现在纽约时装周上的服饰。该品牌现在在美国、欧洲和澳大利亚均有出售，在电商网站如Matches、萨克斯第五大道精品百货店和Luisaviaroma上也有售。

“开始的时候，我们是想满足本地市场的需求，市场缺乏像我们这样价格和质量的产品。但是一段时间以后，我们回过头去看看自己做的事情，我们问自己为什么没有把产品卖给世界，而只是局限在东南亚市场，”奥黛尔补充说道，“当我们进入海外市场时，大多数消费者非常感兴趣，因为我们是一个向西方销售产品的亚洲品牌，这与通常的情况刚好相反。当我们告诉消费者我们来自新加坡时，就体现出各种积极的内涵。”

还有一些时装设计师真正征服了业界。设计师鄞昌涛（Andrew Gn）出生于新加坡，在纽约学习，在巴黎发展，他是新加坡有史以来名气最大的时尚界人士。他是国际名流和皇室的座上宾。“我多次回到新加坡，被祖国认可的感觉让人倍感温暖，” 鄞昌涛对我坦承道。阿什利·伊沙姆跟随着鄞昌涛的脚步，艾沙姆是土生土长的新加坡设计师，他的大名出现在伦敦的时尚圈，从凯莉·米洛到弗洛伦斯·韦尔奇（Florence Welch）再到艾琳·奥康纳（Erin O’Connor），都曾穿过伊沙姆设计的服饰。

那么，在制造品牌方面，新加坡是否比中国具有更强的国际竞争力呢？alldressedup和拉乌尔等品牌成功的因素是什么？“他们都关注各自目标女性是怎样一群人，并且忠于自己的目标，保持连贯和强烈的风格。他们的定价也很妙。他们选择进入当前的国际市场，这种做法很明智。我认为，仍然存在需要弥补的差距。两个品牌都在利用一切必要的渠道将自己的品牌推向全球市场：从巴黎和纽约时装周的秀场，到被大型国际零售商和电子零售商选中，以及登上具有影响力的国际性媒体的封面。同样值得指出的是，两个品牌之所以掌握这些诀窍，因为它们都由在时装界享有大名的人进行指导，”《时尚芭莎》（新加坡）的编辑Giselle Go表示。

Singapore Labels Quietly Outpace Chinese Brands

Clothes from Ashley Isham. Raoul, and alldressedup

Singapore does not get a lot of buzz in terms of fashion and style what with all the attention bestowed on China. Plus, there is also that generalization that the Lion City is too casual to bother with fashion. Shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops are the uniform of choice for majority of Singaporeans. This, despite the presence of a number of local and international-franchise fashion magazines and the booming retail market in the city.

When I was living in Singapore editing a fashion magazine, I was constantly amazed at how luxury brands survived in the Singapore market. The long stretch of Orchard Road is home to two Prada stores that are a stone’s throw away from each other.  And everywhere you turn are Gucci and Vuitton shops. And yet the people were dressed in shorts and flip-flops so much so that I penned a column calling the look a national costume of sorts. Apologies, I digress.

But Singapore is, to use the term loosely, getting a fashion makeover. Thanks in large part to homegrown labels that are not only gaining a strong following in Singapore, but are also presenting a stylish image of the city to the world at large.

At the forefront of this fashion renaissance is alldressedup, a women’s wear and accessories label founded by Tina Tan-Leo. Tina, who distributes brands like Etro in Singapore, has channeled her knowledge of the inner workings of the fashion industry to create a label that is chic, cosmopolitan and competitive in the global marketplace. The aesthetic of alldressedup is feminine and urban with a smidge of quirk. It is sold at internationally Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Harvey Nichols and Lane Crawford, plus on e-commerce behemoth Netaporter. There are also two stand alone boutiques in Singapore. “The reception of the brand overseas was almost an immediate acceptance as buyers complimented the line as being unique, directional, stylish, well made and easy to wear and sell on the floor.  They knew the line was very much on the pulse of what modern women would want in their wardrobes seasonally. Our distinctive design philosophy of fusing western current design aesthetics with Asian detail touches is one of our unique product offerings and it appeals to an international audience,” described Tina.

Raoul, though deceptively Latin-sounding, is a 100 percent Singaporean label. It was founded and designed by Odile and Douglas Benjamin, part of the FJ Benjamin family who owns the Singapore franchises for Givenchy, Gap, Goyard and Celine. Raoul has both a women and men’s line. It started with office wear then it quickly evolved to include more on-trend pieces, the kind that would sit nicely at New York Fashion Week. It is now sold in the US, Europe and Australia as well as on e-commerce sites like Matches, Saks Fifth Avenue and Luisaviaroma.

“When we started, it was to cater to the need of the local market where we felt that products of our price and quality were lacking, However, after a while when we sat back and looked at all the work we were doing, we asked ourselves why we were not using our efforts to sell to the world instead of just the markets of South East Asia,” said Odile adding, “when we sell in overseas markets, most customers are actually intrigued by the fact that we are an Asian brand selling to the West, which is the opposite of what has always happened, and when we say we are from Singapore to them, this has all kinds of positive connotations.”

Then there are the fashion designers who have truly conquered the industry. Singapore-born, New York-educated and Paris-based fashion designer Andrew Gn is the biggest fashion name Singapore has ever produced. He is a favorite of international socialites and royalty. “I’ve gone back to Singapore many times and it is heart-warming to be recognized in your own country,” Andrew confided to me once. In Gn’s footsteps is Ahsley Isham, the Singapore-born and -raised designer who has carved a name for himself in the London fashion scene, dressing everyone from Kylie Minogue to Florence Welch to Erin O’Connor.

Is Singapore then better at producing labels that can compete internationally than China? What has contributed to the success of alldressedup and Raoul? “They are focused on who their respective women are and they stay true to this vision, maintaining consistency and a strong point of view. They are at very good price points. They were clever to choose to infiltrate the contemporary market internationally. I think this is a gap that still needs to be filled. Both labels are using every channel necessary to push their labels in the global market: from being represented by showrooms in Paris and New York and presenting their wares at Fashion Week, to getting picked up by major international retailers and e-tailers and garnering press coverage in influential international media. It’s important to note too that both brands have this know-how because they are both helmed by very established names in the fashion industry (here),” said Giselle Go, editor of Harper’s Bazaar Singapore.