Episode 56: Traditional "Costumes" in Contemporary Southeast Asian Fashion

Expanding from a talk that Nadya gave for the UNSW ASEAN Society Cultural Immersion programme recently, we think about how contemporary fashion labels such as Kaarem (Vietnam), Sejauh Mata Memandang (Indonesia), Ghostboy Club (Malaysia) and Randolf Clothing (Philippines) reimagine traditional silhouettes such as the ao dai, kebaya and the cheongsam, and fabrics such as batik for the consumer today.

Ep 56 | Traditional "Costumes" in Contemporary Southeast Asian Fashion

Episode 60: In this two-part episode, we welcome guest speaker Kae Hana, fashion educator at MDIS Singapore. She shares with us the organic materials she and her students have been experimenting with to make "fabric", including nettle and banana peel. Tune in to view delicious, mesmerising examples of kombucha scoby leather and (almost) edible bioplastics.

Ep 60 | Kae Hana and Kombucha Scoby Leather at MDIS Singapore Part 2

Episode 62: Dress and the Body in Three Recent Exhibitions

We talk about two works relating to dress and the body by Hamkah Latib and Chok Si Xuan in the group exhibition 'only losers left alive (songs for lovers for the end of the world)' at Yeo Workshop. Nadya considers gaps in writing on Singapore photography in the 1960s that could be filled by looking at the body, in her presentation for the show 'Yip Cheong Fun: Common Interest' at Art Agenda @ 63 Spottiswoode. Similarly, Daniela reflects upon potential connections between dress and the body with Singapore history through the public lecture by Dr Loh Kah Seng on women working in factories in the same decade, in accompaniment to the showcase 'Modern Women of the Republic: Fashion and Change in China and Singapore' at Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall.

Ep 62| Dress and the Body in Three Recent Exhibitions

Episode 63: Athletic Fashion at the Tokyo Olympics

In this episode, we talk about the Tokyo Olympics 2020 where uniforms not only convey national identities but also build brand identities, such as Team Liberia’s wardrobe beautifully designed by Telfar. We consider the equal importance of aesthetics and function in designing uniforms for athletes at this international event, and ruminate on the unconventional, such as diver Tom Daley’s knit-a-thon.

Ep 63 | Athletic Fashion at the Tokyo Olympics

In this episode, Dani and Nadya speak about how Singapore magazines Female, Her World and Men’s Folio celebrate the nation’s birthday by highlighting efforts in the local fashion industry. Dani highlights the front cover fashion choices and stories in Female that look back at the early 2000s. They also discuss the publications’ heartening inclusion of the work and viewpoints of fashion educators and fresh graduates.

Ep 64 | Happy 56th Birthday, Singapore: Female, Men’s Folio and Her World

The Digital Multilogue on Fashion Education took place from 1 to 2 October, and we speak about Daniela’s presentation, ‘Situating Fashion Studies in Southeast Asia: Practical Methods’ in the ‘Towards Inclusion’ panel. We then contemplate the new Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTL) that Singapore has opened up with 11 other countries (and more to come!) and what post-pandemic packing and travel will look and feel like. And we remember our favourite travel outfits we cannot wait to bring in our carry-on luggage once again.

Episode 66 | The Digital Multilogue on Fashion Education and Carry-On Luggage

Dani and Nadya catch up on what they have been doing in the past couple of weeks: a talk that Dani gave with A Stubborn Bloom about home economics at the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, looking at artist Ian Tee’s reworking of textiles to make his works as a part of the initiative ‘Walk Walk Don’t Run’ by Grey Projects and an exhibition titled ‘The Tailors and the Mannequins: Chen Cheng Mei and You Khin’ at a new project space ‘Dalam Southeast Asia’ at the National Gallery Singapore. They find fashion discourses popping up in spaces that do not cater strictly to fashion, and dream about how that might change in the near future.

Ep 67 | Encountering Fashion in Other Spaces

chatter, and wonder about how the democratisation of fashion has affected the business of heritage luxury brands. They also discuss art student Zou Yaqi’s ability to gain access to freebies in Beijing using a counterfeit Hermès bag, and Telfar’s working model to redefine the consumption of a luxury bag.

Ep 69 | Redefining Luxury: Chanel’s Advent Calendar, Zou Yaqi and Telfar

Dani speaks about setting up a mending station at Super Freak Boutique, and the conversations she had with the owners of clothes that were brought to her. Nadya muses about the connections that the act of mending can engender, and Dani talks about the existence of mending cafés elsewhere, where one can teach or learn the skills to prolong the life of a garment. Bonus! Dani shows a beautiful example of visible mending onscreen.

Episode 70 | Super Freak Boutique and Mending Cafés

Nadya and Dani talk about two exhibitions they visited recently which they had looked forward to, and made them think. Nadya went to ‘Queer: Stories from the NGV Collection’ at the National Gallery Victoria in Melbourne, where she learnt a lot from looking at the exhibits in multiple mediums, including dress, and reading the rich accompanying texts. And Dani unpacks her experience of ‘Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear’ at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, bringing us through the choice of mannequins, the role of Asian menswear and even a section dedicated to drag. They conclude by thinking about the pros and cons of big-scale exhibitions, and the power of curation to tell stories.

Episode 79 | ‘Queer’ & ‘Fashioning Masculinities'

Dani and Nadya reveal a new photo taken at Sajeev Photo Studio to commemorate 80 episodes of In the Vitrine! They then talk about three exhibitions they visited together: 'The World is Flat After All' at Supper House, as well as '#SGFASHIONNOW' and 'Batik Kita' at the Asian Civilisations Museum. What did they discover at these shows, and how did they make them think about fashion and curation? Watch to find out!

Episode 80 | The World is Flat After All, #SGFASHIONOW and Batik Kita

Watch Nadya try to articulate her observations from people-watching at Art Jakarta and Frieze Seoul! And Daniela talks about incorporating somatic practices into the design process with her students. Hear about both the visual and the haptic in our first episode since the new academic year begun.

Episode 81 | People-Watching and Somatic Practices

Dani has worked with Josiah Chua on CAPSULE 2009, an exhibition of garments and other materials from Singaporean designers and brands in the 2000s, who launched their labels at or around the time of the fashion incubator Parco Next Next. Nadya reflects on the key takeaways from the accompanying talk between Dani and Josiah, moderated by Weiqi Yap at Fashion on Display, and how the project as a whole advances the conversation on Singapore’s fashion identity. CAPSULE 2009 runs for a final weekend, on 22 and 23 October 2022, from 1pm to 7pm.

Episode 82 | CAPSULE 2009 and Singapore’s Fashion Identity

Bodybuilding conjures up images of well-defined muscles slick with oil. We talk first about why it’s been on our mind, from Dani seeing models in a Shushu/Tong photo story to Nadya watching Killer Sally on Netflix. Nadya reflects on exercise culture in the 1980s and thinking about how hard bodies can be echoed in the artificial forms of mannequins.

Episode 83 | Bodybuilding, Killer Sally and Shushu/Tong

Nadya and Dani welcomed 2023 by plunging headlong into the whirlwind that was Singapore Art Week 2023. In this episode, they focus on ‘The Salesgirl who Became Boss’, a video installation and window display by Dani for ‘Pictures in the Mind’ with DECK, and Nadya’s participation in the UBS ‘Silent Insights’ series at ART SG. Wishing everyone a 🐰appy Year of the Rabbit, with good health and an abundance of wealth!

Episode 85 | Singapore Art Week 2023

Dani and Nadya chat about two fashion shows they recently attended in Singapore. The first is Tirados 01 - ANINO by Josh Tirados (@__tirados) supported by @An_Asylum at Figment (@figment.live) Club House. The second is Transition, the first in-person fashion show featuring the work of graduating students from the School of Fashion (@1mcnallyfashion) BA(Hons) Fashion Design & Textiles programme, which took place on the sky bridge at LASALLE College of the Arts (@lasallesingapore). They talk about the unique performative experience that is the fashion show, and what it can mean for participants behind the scenes, on the catwalk, and in the audience.

Episode 89 | Show me Fashion!

Dani talks about visiting The Original, an exhibition at 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT in Tokyo. Together with Nadya, they talk about the subtle nuances among terms that describe being “influenced” by the original, based on thought-provoking wall text at the show, from referencing to paying homage, and from reproducing to copying.

Episode 90 | The Original

Dani talks about developing concepts for the costumes for A Closed System, an animated short film by Ken Kwek. She shares the process, from research to concept board, and her thoughts on the role that costumes can play in driving the plot forward. Nadya reflects on participating in the first Singapore Independent Media Fair, where FAM Marketplace was launched.

Episode 91 | A Closed System, and FAM Marketplace Open

It’s been two months since our last episode! We talk about how we wrapped up the summer, and started the new semester, including exhibitions we visited! We chat about ‘Andrew Gn: Fashioning Singapore and the World’ at the Asian Civilisations Museum (@acm_sg) to ‘Her Kebaya’ at the Peranakan Museum (@peranakanmuseum), and ‘along the lines of—‘ by Berny Tan (@bernytlm), curated by Kirti Upadhyaya (@keyr_tea) at HEARTH by Art Outreach (@artoutreachsingapore). We also preview The Digital Multilogue on Fashion Education (@fashionmultilogues), in particular a walking tour of Kampong Glam to explore fashion beyond malls and skyscrapers by Daniela (@a_dna_lie), Weiqi Yap (@weiqi.yap) and Pixie Tan (@pixieinspace).

Episode 92 | Andrew Gn, Her Kebaya, along the lines of — and A Fashion Walk through Kampong Glam

Nadya recently read 𝘈 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘯 by British Vogue editor Edward Eninnful, and Daniela has been reading 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺 by Amy Odell, about American Vogue editor Anna Wintour. They discuss the texts, including the impact that an individual can have on the fashion system. In addition, Nadya has binge-watched 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘴 on Apple TV. She shares her takeaways, centred on enduring friendships and busting myths.

Episode 93 | Of Editors and Models

Dani and Nadya reunite to talk about a few regional fashion brands that they enjoy. They reflect on how their love for fashion, especially for niche brands, brings them to cool places/neighbourhoods when they travel. They also discuss the differences between shopping online and in physical stores. Dani wears @ngaiofficial and Nadya wears @whimsigirldsgn.

Episode 94 | Ready to Go/Wear

Daniela and Nadya chat about all the things they have been to and seen in the past couple of weeks, which turned out to be quite a lot! They include Next in Vogue in Singapore (@voguesingapore), 'Gaba Kebaya' by @kebaya.societe, ACM (@acm_sg) Conversations: Fashion as Business, the PHx Fashion Conference (@phxfashiongroup) in Manila, and the 'Madame Song: A Life in Art and Fashion' at M+ (@mplusmuseum) in Hong Kong. As they talked, they considered the importance of telling one's stories to pave the ways for others to do the same.

Episode 95 | Storytelling, Representation and Visibility

Daniela and Nadya reunite in the vitrine, and realise it has been a full two months since the previous episode. Here, they speak about Daniela taking part in PRESSPLAY with the National Library Board and Nadya working during Singapore Art Week. They ponder future identities, and Daniela introduces the idea that the future is already here; the futurists tell us that we only have to look for signals of what will be ways of the future. What is traditional can also be contemporary, even futuristic, and what is avant-garde can eventually become the norm. Time is relative! Wishing everyone a good Year of the Dragon.

Episode 96 | Press Play! (The Future is Already Here.)

Dani and Nadya talk about their recent exercise routines, and what they have worn over the years to move their bodies. From shorts to leggings, and from cotton to polyester, they look at the various options available to facilitate — and encourage — movement. They also look at athleisure offerings from smaller, niche businesses in Singapore, such as GLOWco (@glowco.shop), with the tagline "modesty in action" and Ika Dancewear (@ikadancewear),  and compare them to similar product categories from bigger, more established sportswear companies.

Episode 97 | Move Your Body: New Athleisure Wear

Dani and Nadya ask ChatGPT for "help" to record this episode, and ruminate on the advantages and potential pitfalls of using artificial intelligence in thinking through, talking about and working in fashion. They discuss the use of data to artificially—but effectively—drive virality. They also consider the continued, even heightened value of human intelligence to navigate artificial intelligence.

Episode 98 | Artificial Intelligence in Fashion

Five years and 99 episodes later, Dani and Nadya reflect upon the journey of In the Vitrine. They reminisce while scrolling through the Instagram posts that document each recording, recalling the scripting of early chats, and observing a few themes that have re-emerged. They think about the value of talking with each other regularly, especially through the pandemic, and how their time in the vitrine has supported, in one way or another, their research interests in fashion.

Episode 99 | 99 Episodes!

Episode 2: We discuss the “Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture” show at the Asian Civilisations Museum, what the number of hours taken to create an haute couture dress really mean and the general fashion exhibition landscape in Singapore.

Ep 2 | A Visit to the Guo Pei Exhibition

Episode 33: We speak about Lanvin’s quattrocento blue and Schiaparelli’s shocking pink, and segue into how the colours blue and pink have historically been gendered. We talk about Korean artist Jeongmee Yoon’s “The Pink and Blue Project”, and exhibitions that have focused on singular colours and their meanings, such as “Black in Fashion: From Mourning to Night” at the National Gallery of Victoria. We marvel at rare, naturally occurring colours in the Forbes Pigment Collection, and meander to think about signature packaging colours in the form of Tiffany and Co. blue and Hermès orange. We end off where we started: speaking about Millennial Pink, our favourite Pantone Colour of the Year (2016) in recent memory, and this year’s Classic Blue. 

*We recorded this episode from our homes during Singapore’s lockdown. Do excuse the background noise!

Ep 33 | Pink for Boys, Blue for Girls, and Other Colour Stories

Episode 37: Lenne Chai is a photographer and director who has been based in New York for the past year and a half, and is now back in Singapore in 'lockdown' due to the COVID19 pandemic. Lenne is known for dreamy, female-centric and romantic photography with a beautiful eye for composition and whimsy. We ask her about shooting AI influencer Lil Miquela, putting Singapore on the cover of Grazia Croatia and more personal projects such as "A Singaporean 377A Wedding" and her ongoing "People I Miss" series shot over FaceTime.

Ep 37 | Lenne Chai in the Vitrine!

Episode 38: As we move to "Phase 2" in Singapore, we think about what fashion  will be like after lockdown. The uncertainties persist, but we are reassured by the points in Vanessa Friedman's essay "This Is Not the End of Fashion"  in The New York Times. In addition, Dani talks about her presentation "Making Replicas: Open Source Resources and the Potential for Remote Fashion Research' in the aptly titled digital fashion conference "The New Normal”: Sartorial and Body Practices of the Quarantine Era" organised by Russian Fashion Theory editor Liudmila Aliabieva, which explored the effects of the pandemic on fashion and fashion studies.

Ep 38 | What's Next? Fashion After Lockdown

Episode 39: We talk about the wonderful projects of our graduating students from the Diploma in Fashion, BA(Hons) Fashion Design and Textiles and BA(Hons) Fashion Media and Industries programmes at LASALLE College of the Arts, discussing them under four broad categories: inclusivity/diversity, Singaporeanness and other localities, retrofuturism and creative sustainability. Congratulations to the #classof2020!

Ep 39 | Class of 2020: LASALLE School of Fashion Graduates

Episode 42: In this episode of In the Vitrine (ITV!), we talk about Music Television (MTV) and how it has given us important ideas about identity and dress. Did "video kill the radio star", as the first MTV music video by The Buggles purported in its title in 1981? How have visual realisations of songs encouraged experimentation with one's identity, and in what important ways have the music and fashion industries influenced each other, such as through the Video Music Awards (VMAs)? We discuss all this and more through our favourite music videos offered by a varied group of artistes from Cyndi Lauper, Boy George and Annie Lennox to TLC, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears.

Ep 42 | MTV on ITV: Video Killed the Radio Star

Episode 46: Hanging out IRL with friends since the pandemic has taken on new meaning! A recent outing to the new gallery ART NOW at Raffles Hotel offered the material for this episode, where we talk about students’ final-year projects on display, the challenges of mounting a fashion-meets-art exhibition, and recent fashion-meets-technology wearables that we have encountered, such as for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip (#notsponsored!) and the Apple Watch.

Episode 46| Fashion X Art, Fashion X Tech

Episode 47: What is it about logos that we love? From Calvin Kleins to Chanel to Gucci, we dig beneath the surface of names and monograms to figure out why people shell out the big bucks to be branded, so to speak. From Dapper Dan’s pioneering sartorial ways to the rise of cult streetwear labels such as Supreme, we think about how logos can by turns be used for establishing one’s status to making an ironic statement. And we round up the dialogue with a look at the complexity and allure of the counterfeit brand-name goods market.

Episode 47| Mad for Brand Names: Logomania Explained

Episode 50: Or the one where we do a vodcast! We talk about our visit to the new(-ish) permanent Fashion and Textiles Gallery at the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore, and what we learnt from our tour with curator Jackie Yoong. From the evolving motifs on the imperial robe to the changing cut of the qipao to the contrast between shoes worn by Han and Manchu women, we give you our highlights on what we loved.

Episode 50: Fashion and Textiles at the ACM

Episode 52: Take a trip down memory lane with us through the work of photographer James Van Der Zee working in Harlem in the 1920s, the rich @myanmarphotoarchive, and 'Rediscovering Forgotten Masters of Thai Photography', a project by Manit Sriwanichpoom. We also discuss the important matchmaking work of Sanjeev Photo Studio in Singapore and the provocative images of contemporary artist Hassan Hajjaj.

EP 52 | Identities and Fantasies: Taking Pictures to Commemorate and Dream

Join fashion researchers Dani and Nadya in the vitrine, where they chat about the business, culture and pleasures of historical and contemporary fashion in Singapore, Asia and beyond.  Hear their views on fashion in the region as both an industry and a part of everyday life, and its place within the global fashion system.

daniinthevitrine@gmail.com
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