If you’ve ever walked into a Benjamin Barker store in Singapore, its woody interior, racks lined with crisp shirts and jackets, display cases peppered with handsome leather wallets and lapel pins, no doubt peg the local brand as a purveyor of the modern man’s armour — the suit. This is accurate down to a T, until late last week when the Singapore tailoring name launched their first womenswear collection, a decade after founder Nelson Yap started the label.
They’ve forayed into kitting out the ladies due to sheer demand; women on the hunt for well-fitted jackets and shirts were walking into their stores despite Benjamin Barker having established itself as a menswear brand. And presto, the newly-minted womenswear line Red Label, is almost the spitting image of their men’s fare. Jackets are executed in power double-breasted silhouettes in navy and white (perfect for a boost in confidence at crucial meetings), but too come in beautiful, check and speckled wool-blend fabrics if you’re gunning for some flair. Meant to be paired with matching narrow-cut trousers for the former, and easy-going shorts for the latter.
And then the shirting. Of which the offering of classic button-downs were stitched to become your every day go-to for a corporate office, but it’s the shirt dresses that offer a little something else entirely. Unlike the soft — and sometimes, shapeless — variety you’d get at high street stores for casual Fridays, the Red Label collection’s are spun from a thicker blend — allowing for robust structure in the garment and, a more striking form (and presence) when worn.
Shop Benjamin Barker Red Label for women at #01-01, 8 Grange Road, Cathay Cineleisure Orchard.
