Beach babes

Because the weather has been so hot lately i'm planning a trip to the beach with my lovely friends to the beach for some sun, sand and hopefully surf too.

Kanch has been to a Wedding on Saturday that took place on a yacht and she got the most fabulous tan, needless to say i was a little jealous.

I decided to go on Net a Porter to check out what the designers are doing for swimwear. I was quite intrigued because, well swimwear is swimwear, there are rarely trends for swimwear, and come on, there’s so little fabric to work with what can you do? Well I went undercover on Net a Porter and had a look around. I found some really great pieces, bikinis, reversible bikini tops, wraps, sarongs, dresses, tunics, jumpsuits and maxi dresses.

I noticed there wasn’t really a trend for swimsuits this season, I remember when the one piece blew up and everyone wanted one with the funky holes on the side and the zigzag shaped style. I wasn’t really into them because of the really strange tan lines you would get, those kind of swimsuits were more for show, ya know?

Here are some of my faves!

These coverups are stunning!! I love the draping of the black dress and how the sides are cut out.

The second is just bohemian goddess.

by Mara Hoffman & Matthew Williamson

I love this swimsuit, and it looks amazing as a top too.- Styled perfectly

by Clube Bossa

Kanch would go crazy for these! Gorgeous colours!

by Shimmi

I'm loving colour of the of the first suit, and the funky aztec print of the second and the vintage 50s silhouette of the third

Shimmi, Mara Hoffman & Norma Kamali

Love, Petra

Enquiries: +852 2117 1782 | info@kanchancouture.com

www.kanchancouture.com | www.kanchancouture-bridal.com

Ohh What a Night!

Kanchan Couture has been prepping now for over one month for the ReDress: Forever Better with Miele Fashion Show.

What was it? Well it was a fashion show featuring 15 Hong Kong designers’ reconstructed creations using second-hand clothing sourced from local clothing banks.

We were lucky to be part of this event and create 4 dresses, 2 walked down the runway at Watermark, Upper Deck in Central and 2 will be displayed at Harvey Nichols, Hong Kong next week.

All day we were rushing to get things ready, sewing and putting the finishing touches on our accessories to go with the outfits.
Kanch and Shivani left at about 6pm to prep the dressers while I had to rush to Kwun Tong to pick up some posters and be back at the office before 7 so Annie and I could leave together. It was a race against time, but I made it. All the power walking has lead me to believe I have dropped 10 pounds-ha!

It was 7:15pm and we just made it on time. We got out of the lift and walked towards Watermark, a HUGE; 6 metre mountain of second hand clothes greeted us at the front entrance. When our outfits came down the runway there was a gush of excitement.

Hardly any of the dresses that night looked like they were made of second hand clothes. The construction was impeccable and definitely gave a new meaning to second hand clothes.

We are always interested to participate in events like this because it really works to educate the consumer on how much of a wasteful society we really are. When I talk to Kanch about this she said:

“As a designer I really quite enjoyed the design process of the two deconstructed garments – it seems almost like a game/ puzzle taking of you have and making something new. Taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary.

On sustainability…I think the world is getting more aware that we really do have a problem and we are an over consuming existence, and it needs to change. A lot of designers are getting more conscientious about how they produce their lines and what kind of carbon footprint they are leaving behind. The eco market has developed substantially at a speedy rate and will continue to do this. It is here to stay.”

Thank you to all the wonderful people that came and made it such a special evening, I only hope the future brings an increased eco friendly existence.

Love Petra,

The team

Enquiries: +852 2117 1782 | info@kanchancouture.com

www.kanchancouture.com | www.kanchancouture-bridal.com

Summer Ad Campaigns & Editorials

I’ve been doing some research on banners on successful e-commerce sites and fashion editorials for our brand, Kanchan Couture.

Slowly I’ve been assigned to take over most of Kanchan Couture’s web projects from facebook, to helping create our new shopping website. We’ve almost reached the end of this now but there is still a lot to do, tiring, but exciting.

Because summer is approaching and our website goes live at the end of this month, we need a couple of fabulous summery banners. I’ve been looking for ideas while trying to link editorials to e-commerce.

After the shoot with our models last month we had a ton of photos to choose from. Although they were great we have to think about each market and the types of models that appeal to different countries.
Hong Kong is quite the international city and everything works here because Hong Kong is made up of hundreds of nationalities.
As for China, Chinese models and Chinese mix models are really popular. I remember going to Pan Yu with Kanch and Shivani and seeing billboard after billboard of ads featuring mainly Chinese models & few mixes.

I remember when Karl Lagerfeld used Blake Lively for a Chanel Mademoiselle Campaign and there was some controversy about Ms Lively not being the right candidate for the European market.

I adore summer editorials, the vibrant and contrasting colours and glowing dewy skin, it actually brings to mind the Gucci Summer ad campaign.

I had the ladies of Kanchan Couture pick out their favourite pre summer editorials 2011, check them out!

Shivani's pick

Flavia de Oliveira by Marcelo Krasilcic for Elle Italia

My Pick
Isabeli Fontana for Vogue Paris by Mert & Marcus

Annie's pick

Shelia Marquez by David Roemer for Marie Clarie Spain

I asked Kanch which ads she liked or disliked and she mentioned the Esprit sunglasses ads that have taken over ad spaces at Hong Kong bus stops.
Even though i asked for Kanch's opinion we all agreed that it was super boring, yawn, not surpised that i can't find it online hahah!

Dreaming of summer holidays……

Love, Petra

Enquiries: +852 2117 1782 | info@kanchancouture.com

www.kanchancouture.com | www.kanchancouture-bridal.com