DIARY: Zouk Wardrobe 2012 presents Blackmarket feat. Joe Chia and AMEN
Since 1999, Zouk’s Wardrobe series has aimed to push budding talents of the local fashion industry out into the spotlights and eyesights of club kids and tastemakers alike. This year, local cult boutique Blackmarket was invited to showcase two brands from their stable of designers, Joe Chia and Amen.
I was asked to choreograph the show, and this is my diary.
9 August 2012, Thursday.
Sat down for the first of many production meetings to take place with the Blackmarket team. When I was showed Joe Chia’s collection, I immediately knew I wanted a mix of professional models with a cast of faces off the streets. I wanted spunky looking individuals who were eye-catching and unorthodox to the generic look of a model. After some persuasion, I managed to negotiate for five spots in the show for the street models.
Right after the show, I met a guy named Bealson. I knew he would fit into the show well. He was tall, slightly awkward, but that only contributed to the “un-model” likeness of his demeanour. I gave him my card, and asked that he think about walking for the show.
11 August 2012, Saturday.
I began walking around the streets of Orchard to look for the faces I wanted to see in the show. After some two hours or so, I met a girl who was working at Leftfoot, and I knew I had to ask her to walk. Pixie-like features contrasted by a fully shaven head and an arm of tattoos, Sheila was exactly the type of face I was looking for. Beautiful in an unconventional manner. Throughout the day, I walked from Bugis down to Far East Plaza, and back up to Dhoby Ghaut. I handed out casting notices to some 20 odd people who I wanted to cast for the show. It was an exhausting day.
18 August 2012, Saturday.
We had our casting session today. Clinton, one half of the design duo behind Amen, was also on-hand for the casting. It was fruitful, and I was able to identify my five faces that I wanted to walk in the show, along the professional models. I was very happy when Sheila came in. Casting her was a no-brainer, I knew what I wanted her to do for the show right away: walk as the closing model.
28 August 2012, Tuesday.
We had a mild heart attack when a professional model we booked pulled out from the show at the last minute. So prior to the fitting that was to happen that night, we had a bunch of girls come by the shop for a casting.
The fittings were manic. Clothes were hanging everywhere, shoes strewn all over the shop floor. Yet despite all the confusion, we got everyone fitted and all the looks tagged within an hour and a half. The cleaning up of the place, however, took a good hour and a half too. In a few hours, it would be show day.
Photos by John Tan of Streetpeek.
