Celebrity Life

Frustrated with the lack of tailoring options for women, Frederieke van Doorn decided to throw caution to the wind and start her own brand – Frey was born from a desire to dress women to fit their bodies, not the other way around.

It was certainly a bold venture, tailoring was – and still is – a male-dominated sector in the fashion industry, but van Doorn hopes to change women’s mindset towards tailoring and offer better fit and better quality for all. Nothing boosts confidence more than a perfectly fitted jacket or suit, and at FREY the options are endless.

A visit to its flagship store on Ice House Street starts with a digital body scan (this could also be done at home) to get your precise measurements before you take your pick of the many looks available. There’s a wide range to choose from, power suits for a boardroom meeting, to flowing skirts for a long saunter by the beach. Every clothing option is fully customisable, you can pick and choose from a range of patterns and fabrics available in the store. Each order takes about three weeks to create, and fittings are arranged back at the store to refine each and every outfit.

Name: Frederieke van Doorn
Profession: Tailor / Womenswear Designer
Industry: Fashion Design
Company Size: 7
Startup since: September 2020

Read on below to see how Frederieke van Doorn started Frey to bring our attention to women’s tailoring.

When was Frey started and how much has the team grown?

I started Frey in September 2020, the first thing I did was hire a designer, Yulia Tlili. The store opened at the beginning of September 2021, we are now seven, including myself.

What is your own background in fashion design and what led you to tailoring?

I studied Fashion in Amsterdam and I worked in men’s tailoring for the last 20 years. I lived and worked for 12 years in China where I produced high-quality men’s tailored suits.

When did you have the idea to start your own women’s tailoring brand?

I was always a bit annoyed by the fact that there isn’t a good woman’s tailoring brand available for women. Jackets and suits are a side business for a lot of brands, so the options are quite limited, and the quality level is mostly poor. Men have much more options in terms of tailored designs and better quality. Since we couldn’t travel anymore in 2020 the idea of starting a tailoring brand grew on me and I decided to go for it.

What are the challenges in your industry?

To expose and grow the brand socially, tell my story, tell what I do. The world is so fast now, you only get a few seconds of attention, you need to tell the whole story in just a few seconds when there is so much more to tell and show.

Describe a normal day for you.

I usually get up very early to do my workout, then I can be back in time to bring the kids to school. I am in the office around 9 o’clock where we do all kinds of things. We are a very small company, so I am involved in all aspects, design, marketing, sales, merchandising, finance, so my days are very different from one to another.

Tailoring has been the domain for gents for so long, how do you make it less intimidating for women to get into it?

I think it is a bit new for us women, which is strange since we do wear jackets and suits since the 40s and 50s, and it is required for many jobs nowadays. We offer pieces which fit very comfortably, in the best fabrics and in classic styles. In Hong Kong, men have their own preferred tailors, they go there for fittings to find the perfect fit, unfortunately, these tailors are not attractive for women. We would like to become known for the perfect female tailoring place with a modern flair and exquisite fit.

Is it quite different when designing for a female body versus a male body? Do women look for different fits and details?

Designing for the female body is more complicated but this is not only for my brand, but this is also for all the brands. Apart from the body, we have more options and choices out there, as well as more fashion orientated desires.

Your collection is also designed in a much wider range of sizes beyond what’s standard in the industry. Was this important for you?

The industry is slowly changing but I still cannot understand why you would have a sample size EU 32, and you grade that up till EU 42, that just doesn’t work. Especially in Hong Kong, the stores here hold such a small range of sizes, and so many women say I cannot shop in Hong Kong, they don’t have my size.

Frey’s personalised tailoring service is done digitally. How accurate is the technology and is this the future of tailoring?

I have been working with this app for a long time now. After doing some tests measuring by hand versus the app, sometimes the app was more accurate.

Can you tell us about the sustainable measures at Frey and why that is important for the brand?

It has become clear to all of us that whatever we do, we need to think about sustainability. This doesn’t happen overnight, but all decisions should be made with this in mind. We need to shift away from fast fashion and make better choices. That is why I choose natural materials because they are just better for life and last longer.

Using dead stock is sustainable but does it compromise design or style?

Not at all, we see this challenge as an inspiration. The design process starts with fabrics, it often dictates the shape, silhouettes, and design details, which together makes the collection.

What is your own personal favourite look for every day?

I really like to wear a good jacket that is tailored or a nice, oversized piece.

Are tailoring and suits for business only or do you dress women for different occasions?

Not only for business, but we also think of the process from day to night. Why not have dinner after a workday in a powerful suit, kick off the heels and put some sneakers under it?

Do you think owning and wearing a well-fitted suit can be empowering for women?

Absolutely, nothing is more annoying than wearing clothes you are not comfortable in. If you feel good in your clothes you feel freer and more empowered.

What advice would you give to other people who want to start their own business, especially girls and fresh graduates?

Be creative in finding solutions, never give up. Never stop learning, remember everyone’s path is different. Invest in good relationships with manufacturers and suppliers.

The post Startup Life: Frederieke van Doorn of Frey on Championing Women’s Tailoring appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

The Carlyle hotel-inspired bolthole -- slated to open on the uppermost floors of Rosewood Hong Kong later this year -- will offer a blueprint for the eponymous group's vision of "a new kind of international members' club". We venture north of the harbour to discover just what that entails...

Hitherto, the Hong Kong ecosystem of private members' clubs has been split broadly between two camps: at one end, you have venerable institutions catered to the needs of the city's professionals (the FCC) and those who surround them (the KCC); at the other, a burgeoning array of social haunts meant to profit from the growing number of Silicon Valley types -- hawkers of crypto, CBD cafes, and other speculative investment opportunities -- who reside here.

Call me Debbie Downer, but neither feels like an especially glam place to visit. After all, such clubs justify their patronage by way of mostly pragmatic considerations: a convenient location; access to business networking opportunities; affordable gym membership; and so forth. This, as Rosewood Hotels CEO Sonia Cheng well knows is where Carlyle & Co. can break the mould -- by conjuring a little glamour into Hong Kong's mostly comatose members' club scene.

Best thought of as a kind of pied-à-terre to the Rosewood Hong Kong (spanning the 54th-56th floor of the hotel) Carlyle & Co. is, in effect, Cheng's answer to the boutique members' clubs that have dominated pop culture these last 20 years. In Hong Kong -- where bureaucratic red tape is frequent; and decent-sized real estate scant -- her hotel group's latest venture feels especially impressive -- if for no other reason than the sheer audacity of it all.

In recent weeks, the first details of the club's leviathan 25,000 sq. ft. premises have begun to emerge, inspired in broad strokes by the "intriguing, inimitable and ultimately indefinable" style of The Carlyle in New York (incidentally also a brand owned by Rosewood Hotels). To orchestrate this vision of Hong Kong-via-Manhattan, Rosewood turned to British designer Ilse Crawford, whose approach has imbued the club's many rooms with a light, playful sensibility -- affording each a healthy dose of individual personality.

For fusty decadents like yours truly, the gentlemen's spaces -- including a barber, shoeshine, and capsule store by an award-winning haberdasher -- hold immense charm -- even though they espouse just one of many eclectic visual styles members will enjoy each time they navigate the club. The aforementioned differ significantly from spaces like the Cabaret Bar and Sitting Room, both of which employ the medium of painting (by artists Jean-Philippe Delhomme and Christina Zimpel respectively) to celebrate The Carlyle hotel's legendary Bemelmans murals.

Supper & Supping

In the spirit of its progenitor, the various dining venues at Carlyle & Co. seem to be accompanied by an august sense of occasion. The crux of the action happens at the brasserie, which (like any decent club restaurant in Hong Kong) serves a medley of Western, Chinese, and all-day delicacies. Here, the focus is on simply cooking the freshest produce the club can source -- various of the small plates are smoked, cured, or otherwise preserved in-house -- yet it's hardly the most theatrical outlet. That honour belongs to Café Carlyle, an intimate supper club intended as the local chapter of the eponymous tippling destination in New York. Members can expect this to be the repository of the club's live musical programming, which (consistent with the historic acts that have taken to the stage at the Carlyle hotel) will include an assortment of uniquely American artforms like jazz, funk, and blues.

Members craving a dose of sunshine can also take a selection of food and drink on the club's 55th-floor terrace, which (much like the Rosewood property at large) enjoys the sort of view that's conducive to sonnet writing or spontaneous tears of joy. Flanking one end of that terrace, you'll find the local chapter of Bemelmans Bar. Like its namesake, the menu here is split roughly equally between fine wines, punchbowls and classic cocktails; though, at the weekend, you can expect a certain frenetic atmosphere to take hold, as the space merges with the terrace for live DJ performances against the backdrop of Victoria Harbour.

Cosy quarters, brimming with personality

Though Carlyle & Co. members can easily book themselves into one of the 400-plus rooms at the surrounding Rosewood property, the entire 54th floor of the club is given over to eight themed suites -- all of which celebrate the history of The Carlyle hotel. More or less equal in size, each offers an inviting and distinctive interior personality. If you're retiring following an evening spent drinking (one too many) Martinis for instance, the 'Tommy' seems an apt choice -- named for and inspired by the legendary Bemelmans bartender Mr. Tommy Rowles. Other known personalities include Dorothy Draper, the original 'modern Baroque' decorator of The Carlyle's interiors; and Eartha Kitt, the renowned actress and Broadway musician. For dedicated students of café society, a stay in every single suite would seem like money well-spent.

A variety of membership packages are available at Carlyle & Co., with or without health club membership. To learn more about rates (or inquire about eligibility) visit Carlyle & Co. online.

The post Alber Elbaz Passes Away at 59 to Covid-19 appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Ahead is an exclusive interview with Angela Missoni on how the world of fashion is changing and what it takes to stay relevant.

The post Angela Missoni on the State of Fashion and What It Takes to Keep a Fashion Brand Relevant appeared first on LUXUO.

Pierre Cardin, who died Tuesday aged 98, was an aesthete with a head for business, and a futurist now associated with retro.

The post Pierre Cardin, fashion’s savvy futurist appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Pierre Cardin, who died Tuesday aged 98, was an aesthete with a head for business, and a futurist now associated with retro.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

Another four years, and another designer rotation at Chloé. The French fashion label announced that Natacha Ramsay-Levi is stepping down as Creative Director. Ramsay-Levi came to the brand from Louis Vuitton, where she worked under the tutelage of Nicholas Ghesquiere. Her brand of runway-to-street chic was a high note for the Chloé brand, with a youthful, cool-girl edge and realism injected into the label’s core DNA codes established by founder Gaby Aghion.  

“Over the last four years, I have had the great privilege, with the support of Chloé’s teams, to express my own creativity, while refocusing the Maison on Gaby Aghion’s commitment to intellectual freedom and to fundamental values that unite all of us,” said Ramsay-Levi, whilst praising the brand’s representation of “meaningful and powerful femininity.”

Ramsay-Levi’s time at Chloe came after Clare Waight Keller, who left the brand to head up Givenchy. It seems that Ramsay’s departure might have been a by-product of the fallout and existential quandary fashion has been thrown in since Covid-19. She explains in a statement that:  

“Over the last months of health, social and economic turmoil, I have thought about the changes I want to see in our industry and how to better align them with my own creative,  intellectual and emotional values. It is this reflection that makes me consider my future differently and my desire to pursue new opportunities.” 

[caption id="attachment_212826" align="alignnone" width="819"] Chloé Fall/Winter 2020 look[/caption]

Whilst the brand says that it plans to appoint a new creative director in due course, this will no doubt be a significant blow. I wonder how many other designers are having similar thoughts. How many of these creatives, many sensitive by nature, have been questioning their own paths or the future path of the industry? 

Fashion’s growth has been shaken to it’s core this year with the pandemic. Retail is disrupted, income security has dropped as has luxury spend in many markets (with perhaps the exception of Mainland China) in the later half of the year).  

Perhaps it is more the case that the fragility of the industry means that more “big name” designers will be more conservative about moving labels, and that fashion’s recent merry-go-round will slow down for the time being.  

The post Natacha Ramsay-Levi Exits Chloé in Wake of Covid-19 Turmoil appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Another four years, and another designer rotation at Chloé. The French fashion label announced that Natacha Ramsay-Levi is stepping down as Creative Director. Ramsay-Levi came to the brand from Louis Vuitton, where she worked under the tutelage of Nicholas Ghesquiere. Her brand of runway-to-street chic was a high note for the Chloé brand, with a youthful, cool-girl edge and realism injected into the label’s core DNA codes established by founder Gaby Aghion.  

“Over the last four years, I have had the great privilege, with the support of Chloé’s teams, to express my own creativity, while refocusing the Maison on Gaby Aghion’s commitment to intellectual freedom and to fundamental values that unite all of us,” said Ramsay-Levi, whilst praising the brand’s representation of “meaningful and powerful femininity.”

Ramsay-Levi’s time at Chloe came after Clare Waight Keller, who left the brand to head up Givenchy. It seems that Ramsay’s departure might have been a by-product of the fallout and existential quandary fashion has been thrown in since Covid-19. She explains in a statement that:  

“Over the last months of health, social and economic turmoil, I have thought about the changes I want to see in our industry and how to better align them with my own creative,  intellectual and emotional values. It is this reflection that makes me consider my future differently and my desire to pursue new opportunities.” 

[caption id="attachment_212826" align="alignnone" width="819"] Chloé Fall/Winter 2020 look[/caption]

Whilst the brand says that it plans to appoint a new creative director in due course, this will no doubt be a significant blow. I wonder how many other designers are having similar thoughts. How many of these creatives, many sensitive by nature, have been questioning their own paths or the future path of the industry? 

Fashion’s growth has been shaken to it’s core this year with the pandemic. Retail is disrupted, income security has dropped as has luxury spend in many markets (with perhaps the exception of Mainland China) in the later half of the year).  

Perhaps it is more the case that the fragility of the industry means that more “big name” designers will be more conservative about moving labels, and that fashion’s recent merry-go-round will slow down for the time being.  

The post Natacha Ramsay-Levi Exits Chloé in Wake of Covid-19 Turmoil appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

A look at the standout pieces from the legendary Japanese designer's final works.

The post Kenzo Takada’s swan song is a home accessories collection for his furniture line K-3 appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

A look at the standout pieces from the legendary Japanese designer's final works.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

By now, your bosses and colleagues have probably seen more of your abode than you would've ever expected to show them.

With many of us working from home these days, meetings held over video conferencing apps the likes of Zoom and Microsoft Teams have become the new normal. Inevitably, this means letting colleagues into our residences — albeit virtually — and having them catch glimpses of it via our backdrop. Depending on where your workspace is located, this view could range from a boring blank wall to windows or cluttered bookshelves.

Your makeshift office may not be the most glamorous, but there are several easy interior design tricks that you can employ to quickly jazz up the background of your Zoom calls.

Textiles and cushions

If your workstation of choice is the couch or bed, all it takes is a few snazzy throw pillows wrapped in eye-catching fabrics and prints to provide visual interest in the space behind you. Consider dressing your cushions in the Armani/Casa Exclusive Textiles by Rubelli collection, which is inspired by modern art — specifically works by Henri Matisse, Vasilij Kandinskij and Paul Klee.

It showcases striking colour blocks embellished with embroideries, ikat details and intertwined motifs. These are available in various patterns and shades ranging from pastel to neutral hues. More details here.

Houseplants and greenery

Adding houseplants to your home office will help the space look less spartan and bland. Smaller plants like cacti, succulents and spider plants can be displayed on shelves or tables, while larger ones such as philodendrons, snake plants and ZZ plant (Zanzibar Gem) can be placed on the floor to break the monotony of blank walls.

Online plant retailer Flora Houses offers a wide variety of houseplants that will thrive indoors and are generally low-maintenance. Its range includes Japanese fir, fiddle leaf fig and Bird of Paradise. The store provides free doorstep delivery with a minimum spend.

Artworks and paintings

Perhaps houseplants may seem like too much of a commitment, or you simply don't have green fingers. This is where paintings and art pieces make an easier alternative. You can simply hang a couple of them on the wall that constantly forms your video call backdrop.

An Andy Warhol or Basquiat will certainly impress your co-workers, but your art doesn't necessarily have to be expensive or by big name artists. Consider procuring artworks instead from indie galleries such as Odd One Out, which boasts an array of creations by local and international printmakers and illustrators. We can't take our eyes off the above acrylic painting by Micke Lindebergh, which is titled 'Small Yellow Flower Pot' and features colourful blooms accented by quirky squiggles and bright hues.

Statement ornaments and furniture

Inject a dose of quirk into your meeting setup by peppering your background with assorted decorative items and statement furniture pieces. These can be anything from figurines to colourful tiles and dramatic room dividers.

Our go-to is Lala Curio, which is a whimsical wonderland of objets d'art such as brass monkey sculptures, cloisonné birds, and, one of our favourites — an adorable trio of cranes adorned with rock crystal feathers and perched on crystal balls.

Wallpaper

Why settle for one specially curated work area, when you can turn your whole room into an Instagram-worthy space? Wallpaper is a bold and easy solution — if every wall in your room is clad in beautiful prints, you can essentially park yourself in any corner and still have an envy-inducing Zoom backdrop.

Designer wallpaper has seen a resurgence in recent years, and we're obsessed with Christian Lacroix's exquisite Oiseau Fleur vinyl wallpaper, which depicts vibrant botanical and bird motifs against a silk effect embossed base. It comes in two colourways of pink and grey.

(Main image: Brina Blum/ Unsplash; Featured image: Christian Lacroix)

The post Jasmin Pang of JSMP on Authenticity in Fashion appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Fall Trends 2020⇒ Discover what’s trending this Fall. Let us introduce to the best of fashion, home decor, design, and lifestyle for this new season. Stay tuned to find out more.

Fall Trends 2020? There are all out by now, and it’s time to get to know them all when it comes to color palettes, home decor ideas, and fashion styles.

Continue reading Fall Trends 2020: A Millionaire Trends Report at Luxxu Blog.

Exclusive Collection: Beirut, The Sacred Source by Elie Saab⇒ The Lebanese designer launched an exclusive Haute Couture Collection to pay homage to the 4 August explosion in Beirut.

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Get to know this exclusive collection

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Courtesy of Executive Bulletin

Last Thursday, 10th September, Elie Saab released an haute couture exclusive collection to pay tribute to the terrible explosion that took place in Beirut on August 4.

Continue reading Exclusive Collection: Beirut, The Sacred Source by Elie Saab at Luxxu Blog.