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Organizers of the five-day annual fashion week said they had
tied up this year with the Council of Fashion Designers of
America (CFDA), headed by Furstenberg, to nurture emerging
designers in Singapore and help showcase their talent abroad.
The CFDA has been a treasure trove of new labels in the past,
having produced celebrated international designers such as Marc
Jacobs, Alexander Wang and Phillip Lim.
This year's Singapore Fashion Week (SFW), previously known as
the Audi Fashion Festival Singapore, is the first in its new
avatar. Hollywood star Cate Blanchett and South Korean actress
Yoon Eun Hye are among the celebrities attending.
"Singapore Fashion Week allows us to stand shoulder to shoulder
with all the international fashion labels that we aspire to be
like," SFW Chairman Tjin Lee said on Friday.
"But with the name change also comes great responsibility, and a
greater sense of having to build the industry, by empowering and
training designers."
Less well-known fashion labels Ong Shunmugam, Elohim and
Dzojchen have been chosen this year for the CFDA initiative,
which arms local designers with a seed fund of S$150,000
($108,000) to promote and eventually sell designs to global
retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Harvey Nichols.
The Singapore Fashion Week opens on May 13 with a von
Furstenberg collection and will wrap up with a finale by former
Spice Girl Victoria Beckham.
Singapore celebrity Velda Tan will debut her fashion label,
while Thai-American designer Thakoon Panichgul, a favorite of
U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, features among the line-up of
established designers.
(Editing by Tony Tharakan)
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