Singapore Fashion Scene

Blueprint is a fashion trade show created in 2004 by local PR and marketing firm, Mercury Marketing & Communications (M&C) as a platform for promoting Singaporean and Asian talents to international buyers and media. But to explain how Blueprint 2010 came about, we have to go back to 2004, when Tjin Lee, managing director of Mercury M&C, had a brainwave.

She says: “We were the organisers for Singapore Fashion Festival (SFF) then, and after doing the flashy runway shows for international brands, I saw an opportunity to use that same spotlight and cast it on local designers. I wanted to help them gain more exposure.”

THE FIRST CUT
Tjin put the collections of local designers such as Desmond Yang of Abyzz and Nicholas Wong of Nicholas on the SFF runway, and launched the Blueprint Concept Shop, a one-year pop-up store located at The Heeren, which featured Yang, Wong and others. Blueprint was born.

It proved to be a rewarding experiment – the designers gained retail experience and established a customer base, eventually opening their own standalone stores. Tjin says: “One lesson I took away from 2004 was that people actually wanted to buy things, and we’re reintroducing that this year.”

Blueprint was put on hold from ’05 to ’07 as Mercury M&C was not the organiser for SFF. But in 2008, the concept was taken up again when the PR company came back on board. Together with Design Singapore Council, they invited five fashion labels to collaborate with five product design firms, creating furniture and apparel. The collections were showcased at the Singapore Fashion Festival 2008, and again at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan. “It gave the designers international exposure, but their time in Milan did not create selling opportunities,” says Tjin.

Then in 2009, Blueprint took the charity route and invited 10 designers to create one-off red dresses that were later auctioned off. Also, as part of the inaugural Audi Fashion Festival, the organisers teamed up with fashion/lifestyle boutique Blackmarket to put on a fashion show, featuring Asian designers such as Gian Romano (Philippines) and Elohim (Singapore).

FORWARD TO 2010
Now, six years later, Tjin is finally about to realise her vision of creating a permanent, full-scale, Asian fashion gateway, modelled on Berlin’s yearly Bread & Butter (a trade show with a streetwear focus).

BLUEPRINT EMPORIUM
Look, touch, and buy from the 60 designers on show.
Here are our picks.
Eugene Lin
His eponymous collection launched at the recent London Fashion Week to critical success. His clothes boast a slim, soft silhouette, with a focus on deconstruction.
72 Smalldive
Milan-based Soh Sze Tiong focuses on discreet, practical bags and simple, organic jewellery using materials such as sea pebbles, Sardinian stones, plexiglass and precious metals.
Marilyn Tan
Mostly one-off creations, her jewellery combines leather, silk ribbon, acrylic and suede with unusual precious and semi-precious stones, such as kyanite and dendritic quartz.