If you’re wondering what it’s like to combine fashion and furniture, you’ve got to ask this group of fashion designers and product designers who have come together for the first time to collaborate on fashion and… wait for it… product designs!

A first-time collaboration between fashion and product designers, Blueprint is a cross collaboration between product and fashion designers, dissolving boundaries between furniture and fashion.

Dr. Milton Tan, director of the DesignSingapore Council believes that in order to capture new markets, designers must start working in a cross-disciplinary way. He also added that other disciplines such as graphic design and architecture will also be worked on in the near future.

The show also featured award-winning Singapore identity designer, Hanson Ho, the man behind the scenes for the visual communications of the project and Lim Wei Ling, recipient of the President’s Design Award 2007 for Design of the Year. He was one of two designers who designed and constructed the visual landscape of the exhibition.

We had a field day spotting celebrities in attendance, such as 98.7FM’s Muttons Vernon A. and Justin Ang, Chen Han Wei, Carole Lin, Ivy Lee, Patricia Mok, Ashley Isham and Clarence Lee. Too many socialites and designers to name.

 

Following the showcase at Blueprint 2008, the designers will take their work to the Salone Internazionale Del Mobile 2008 (Milan International Furniture Fair) from Apr 16-21.

Introducing the five groups from the runway:

1. Desmond Yang, ABYZZ and Brian Law and Tan Sixiu, CRISPdesign
The combination of Metamorphosis (Desmond’s fashion collection) and In Conversation (Brian and Sixiu’s collection) have brought the concept of creativity to a new level. Metamorphosis allows the wearer to take total control of how they want to look for the day by enabling him or her to wear the garment in any way they prefer. One particular dress in the collection allows the wearer to wear it in 21 different ways! In Conversation was made to defy convention and represent fun and excitement. Inspired by human curves and the ‘lotus position’, the set was made to give the room a more casual setting with low-lying furniture, a concept taken from the Living Room. The set is going to be showcased in the Milan Fashion Show on 16 April.

 

2. Chia Wei Choong, ANTEBELLUM and P.C.Ee, EXIT DESIGN
Complementing each other with their similar design approaches, both designers share a love for things with a slight sci-fi edge and turning ordinary things into objects of interest. ‘Serotine’, Wei Choong’s Antebellum collection theme was based on the idea of disillusionment and belated enlightenment and P.C. translated the idea into his own interpretation of progressive furniture designs. Ori.03, P.C.’s furniture collection comes in the form of a sculptured geometrical shape and multi facets in stainless steel which creates reflections and distortions. Disregarding traditional furniture designs, the whole set also turns into a sculpture when stacked or when not in use. Inspired by the art of Origami, P.C.’s intent is to create 3-dimensional objects from 2-dimensional materials.

 

3. Nic Wong, NICHOLAS and Jarrod Lim,  jarrod lim design
Using the idea of the asymmetric collar from the Nicholas range titled ‘My Favourite Shirt’, the Cuff Chair is an extension whereby two halves combine to create an overlapping structure of an elegant, modern lounge chair. The two-tone upholstery and the irregular shape of the seating cushions suggest the idea of an asymmetric shirt cuff. As each half of the chair is upholstered separately, unlimited variations of the chair is allowed to suit the environment. The Cuff chair is constructed from a sheet metal core with padding upholstered in a variety of fabrics.

 

4. Jay Quek, Madeline Wong, POSSE and Wendy Chua, Gabriel Tan, OUTOFSTOCK
Presenting their first cross-disciplinary project entitled ‘Space Oddities’, Posse Studios and Outofstock have used bright psychedelic prints, a riot of luscious colours and geometric patterns in their designs. Posse’s Spring/Summer 2008 collection is inspired by iconic glam rock star Ziggy Stardust. Outofstock’s design comes in the form of a bold geometric shape, contrasted with a vortex of red threads beneath the shade. The thread detail along the edge of the lamp bears resemblance to the hem line and the red threads are inspired by the back of the dresses from Posse’s collection.

 

5. Ben Wu, TIAN and Jason Ong JIENSHU

Perhaps the most distinct collection out of the 5 (thanks to the headpieces, maybe), Ben Wu’s collection consists of ten distinct garments, all of which portraying sophistication with a touch of sensuality. Reworking wearable feminine fashion with new silhouettes and textural effects, different fabrications and couture techniques were used. The white chandelier used for the runway was used by Jason Ong and Ben Wu to serve as the train of the last dress in the collection. Coming from the idea of a dress, The Bride Chair is one that imitates the design of a long flowing bridal gown. With a shallow seat, narrow backrest and precarious legs, the chair represents anxiety and discomfort, as experienced by a new bride.

 

 

As a national initiative, DesignSingapore is Singapore’s response to creativity and new forms of expression and aims to place Singapore on the world map for design creativity. The initiative also aims to bring design to business boardrooms, new audiences and new markets.

P.S. Check out the beautiful male models and their extremely skinny female counterparts!

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Photos: Ng Huijin