TrendWarriors

You need to know one thing before visiting Singapore for the first time: You won’t want to leave.

For a colorist, this place is heaven. No one shies away from color here. Taxis are painted a loud citron yellow. Buddhist temples show bright Chinese reds and colorful silk flags. The colors of the Hindi shrines are white-washed pastels in blue, white and pink. Architecture in the old British colonial neighborhoods boast bright yellows, greens, blue and lavendar–it puts the Miami Art Deco district to shame.

People had told me I would like Singapore. I envisioned a streamlined place, lots of cold, hard rules and structure everywhere. And to a certain extent, this wealthy port city has a clean efficiency like any modern city in the 21st century. A well-developed highway system and good public transportation. Lots of tall skyscrapers. The names of huge multinational corporations and banking institutions around every turn.

However, Singapore has a heart. Good-natured people and soaring temperatures keep it from getting too serious. The sun can be oppressive here at the equator, the sky is white with heat. Cool shading trees and plants maintain a green, garden-like surrounding. Water features are everywhere. The largest free-standing fountain in the world is in Singapore.

This is Tan Soo Ling’s home town, and he did it justice by showing me the highlights in just two days. The first morning we had a traditional Singaporean breakfast at a little diner in the heart of the city. This place was famous for its runny eggs and thinly sliced toast. I took a pass on the raw eggs flavored with soy sauce, but ate a whole pile of toast slathered with butter and a local sweet marmalade made from egg, sugar, butter and some kind of local fruit.

The culture is vibrant–Indian, Chinese, Malay and Euro-Asian influences mean that diversity is widely accepted here. Hindi and Buddhist shrines rub elbows with Christian cathedrals. At the Mid-Autumn festival Sept. 25, dragon parades, colorful lights, and the smell of wonderful street-fare energized the area around the Victorian open market. We sampled chicken and shrimp satay in spicy dipping sauce, roasted sting-ray filets, savory noodle dishes and iced rose-milk drinks that will drive me to diet when I return home.

Much to my disappointment, I did not get to sample durian, the famous King of Fruits that grows here in Malaysia. There are two landmark buildings in Singapore that are meant to represent this very prickly, pungent-smelling fruit. Apparently, it is so smelly that Soo Ling will not allow it in his car because the odor can linger for weeks. Hotels will not allow you to bring it to your room because the odor permeates everything. I am immediately intrigued, and no definition in Wikipedia is going to give you the experience of this fruit first-hand. Everyone loves to eat it even though it smells so bad. Hopefully I’ll have another chance!

The hotel and hospitality business are doing well here: lobbies boast soaring heights, mesmerizing chandeliers, and blends of texture-color-pattern-artwork energize the most world-weary business traveler or the most jet-lagged tourist.

The Malay Village and Little India were hotbeds of activity, even at 10:00 at night when people filled the sidewalk markets; shopping, dining and visiting friends. We strolled past the stalls where hundreds of colorful silks were on display. We entered a Bhuddist shrine and took pictures of the rooftop garden overflowing with orchids. Orchard Road is the famous shopping street in Singapore, and at night it was lit up with all the famous brands.

Take note: Color is on the radar in China.

Color is an important part of the Chinese fashion apparel scene. Now that awareness and importance of it is spreading, and build in importance for the future.

It was my honor and pleasure to be invited to speak at the 4th Annual China Color Forum, hosted by the China Fashion Color Association. The event was held in Wuxi, China from September 20-22. It was attended by nearly 400 designers, architects, urban planners, historians, personal color consultants, textile designers, printers, product developers, marketing experts, educators and university students from China, Korea and Japan.

I was the only cowgirl from the US.

There workshops are held in different locations every year. There are color workshops for members to forecast color two years out. Educational seminars and speaker forums feature speakers from all different industries. During these sessions, the audience and media interacts with experts. Translators for four different languages allow all attendees to hear the messages delivered in their own language through channel head-sets. Many of the speakers were Japanese, coming from high profile companies such as Toyota, Nippon Paint, Nissan, LG Electronics, and Sony ensure that Chinese design will be influenced by their neighbors to the East.

Although there is a strong Japanese presence now thanks to the support of the Japan Fashion Color Association, I would anticipate one day soon these forums will be dominated by speakers from China. The Chinese are investing in education of the next generation by allowing the attendance of many young designers and university students at this event. I estimated 60% of the attendees were under 30 years old, which was an overwhelming presence. They are passionately eager to learn anything about color marketing, and unencumbered by language as many of them multi-lingual.

The atmosphere at the evening banquets was festive. The audience was entertained by local singers and talented dancers. As the night went on, color celebrities went on stage to award honors, give toasts, and sing kareoke with the crowd. It was indeed a very colorful event that will keep people coming back for years to network, learn and dream about the future of the color industry in Asia.

My experience with the CFCA began when I met Mr. Yifu, the Secretary General of CFCA two years ago at a press conference in Beijing. His staff were well organized and terrific to work with, and I would encourage anyone doing business in the Asian sector to contact them for more details about upcoming Forums in 2008.

I have always considered Tokyo the style mecca not only of Japan, but for all of Asia. The moment you step into the airport in this cosmopolitan city, you know you have reached a destination where Good Taste is a national passtime. At the moment, there is a trend towards lots and lots of long layers: belted shirts over lace trimmed leggings, empire waisted dresses with tall, spike-heeled boots. Jewelry was long necklaces, dainty earrings. Hair is long, loose and messy. Silver, gold, bronze and copper metallics reign in over-sized handbags.

In Japan, while young men and women often wear tight-fitting clothes, I was struck by the fact they do not show as much skin–no plunging necklines and bare midriffs.

And definitely not nearly as many tattoos as what we see in the US or Europe!

The first night I arrived, Chiemi and I dined at a a place called Hajime. My nickname for it was the secret restaurant because it was nearly impossible to find unless you were a local! Off the main streets, we wound through narrow alleys and down flights of narrow stairs to find the hidden entrance to the underground restaurant. Several years ago Wallpaper* magazine posted an article when it opened, crediting it for its sleek black and white minimalist interior. 500 sq. feet contained a bar with 12 stools, the kitchen and one booth where Chiemi and I enjoyed Japanese tapas and a really good white wine.

Fall 2007 in Tokyo showing purple and dark blue to be the Number 1 fashion color in Tokyo. From the Ginza to Roppongi, we saw shades of purple in Franc Franc, Beams department store, Wako on the Ginza and in the store fronts at Gaultier.

My second night in Tokyo, Chiemi took me to the beach house she and her husband recently purchased in the bay area south of Tokyo. This two-tiered house sits upon a windy hillside, overlooking a wild, undeveloped forest valley. The sound of wind, birds and insects filled the air as we toured the spacious villa.

I was impressed as I always am, by how multi-culti our homes, fashions and lives have become. Although in this house there are rooms with sliding shoji-screen paper walls and traditional tatami floor coverings, there is also an international cocktail of deco products: Colorful textured paint comes from the US. Hand-made Farrow and Ball wallpapers come from the UK. Furniture from Ikea has been designed in Sweden. That evening we eat cheese from Italy and drink wine from France while I listened to the sing-song cadence of the Japanese language. Later people went outside to sit in the hot tub and look at the stars (we were far enough from the night lights of Tokyo to see them!). For as far from home as I was, the whole experience felt familiar.

In an earlier post there is an interview with Reiko and Akiko, owners of Cafe 8 and Pure Cafe in Tokyo. I was lucky enough to have dinner with them one night, and sample some of the best vegan food in Japan. Check out the tiniest tomatoes I’ve ever seen–the size of peas, I swear! The size did nothing to minimize the taste. Another testament to the Japanese love of miniature things…