DEC 4th - An artistic delight

We are finally moved in our new space ....

Today we love Stefan Strumbel’s prints approx 3800 HKD up at ufoArtgallery - http://www.ufoartgallery.com/

BE ONE OF FIVE TO visit us at our NEW BOUTIQUE, 108 Wellington Street on the 4th Floor from 11:00am to 7:00pm and get a 10% off Strumbel’s print.

Exhibition opens this evening (Fri 4th)
ufoArtgallery
G/F 39 Graham Street
Central
t: 2151 3772

With love this Christmas
www.kanchancouture.com

An Adventurous Advent Calendar

Traditionally the advent calendar consists of two pieces of cardboard on top of each other. Twenty-four doors are cut out in the top layer, with a number ranging from one to twenty-four on each. Beginning on the first day of December, one door is opened each day, counting down the days remaining until Christmas Eve, from one to twenty-four where the 24th door often holds an extra surprise like an extra large piece of chocolate.

Till today I love opening the doors on the calendar to find out what the surprise behind the door will be, often in life we forget how the simplest pleasures are the most exciting – occasionally its nice to be a kid again. So this year we decided to share the fun and excitement and have put together our own calendar with a ton of goodies behind each door, making Christmas shopping less stressful for all of us.

Each day we will be giving you a uber fun Christmas gift you could get for your friends, family and loved ones….off course each trendy item is hand selected by us at Kanchan Couture.

So pop by our new shop – at 108 Wellington Street 4th Floor (We are so excited to have moved to a brand new space) or visit our website or blog to learn what the adventure of the day will bring. Feel free to tell us what you like or are looking for and we’ll try and get it on there.

If you do pop by our store and spend over 500 HKD, you'll get the mentioned gift for free!! For more details ring us: 2117 1782

Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la….



www.kanchancouture.com

An exercise in re-branding

They say time flies when your having fun, and that is definitely true when running your own fashion business. This September will mark a big 2 years for Kanchan Couture, but it feels like yesterday when the first collection was launched.

With lots of sweat, love and labor Kanchan Couture has build up a reputation for designing luxurious women’s wear, participated in fashion shows around the globe, worked with high profile media / corporations and played an active role in the Hong Kong’s fashion scene….what an exciting two years its been. People tend to ask about the experience of running a business. And boy all I can say it that it is an incredible journey - no matter how much experience you have, I don’t think one can ever fully be prepared for the ride.

Before taking the brand to the next level, we have decided to do a bit of re-branding of ogo, website, printed materials etc so that the third year starts off with a big bang. Holger and Jane from uforepublic (www.uforepublic.com) are working on giving Kanchan Couture an awesome new look!

Apart from all the difficult decisions on what text looks best, what logo best represents the brand, it been a great exercise for me to reflect on what Kanchan Couture really stands for and what I want the world to see. After an intensive interview with Jane she came up with different ideas as to what it will all look like.

A creative brainstorm lunch and its all moving ahead in full steam…..I cant wait to the whole package together. That’s the beauty of the creative process….never static, always changing, wonderfully surprising!

Left: Jane from uforepublic

Watch out for Kanchan Couture this Septemeber!!!

A big thank you to uforepublic

www.kanchancouture.com

Lake Blue Reeboks

Being a high heels kinda gal who has not seen a gym in years, sports shoes and sportswear are not really my forte. This summer has hopefully seen a change in me as I decided it was time to hit the gym and get fit. The next obstacle was what to wear to the gym…as you look around you see all these women pumping iron, holding a tree pose for several minutes yet looking like they could put on their heels and go out to a club. Looking chic in designer gear from Stella McCartney to Lulu Lemon seems to be a trend these days.
So my question is does designer sports wear actually make you perform better?

Experts believe that when women look good, they feel good thus giving them more confidence to push them selves harder and perform better. Agreed that this would work in all scenarios, if you feel sexy in that little black number you're wearing you’ll be more confident to go up to and talk to the cute boy in line next to you or at the bus stop.

What one feels good in is very subjective – my dear friend LT loves Fendi bags and feels superhot when she carries one, thus this would make her perform optimally in all situations, gym or no gym. Whereas another near and dear - SS she loves her Zara dresses more then life it self. It is not really about the “designer sports wear” but rather about the feeling one gets when they put on the shorts, top or sneaker.

In life I believe in always trying to perform at my optimal, thus finding out what gives me that “great” feeling, putting a smile on my face, and on the faces of those around me…. not sure if I’ll ever make it to the gym or not, but you’ll definitely see me running around feeling magical in my Lake Blue Reebok’s - putting those stilettos on hold for now!

www.kanchancouture.com

Thanks to Jeff for taking the images (www.jeff-hahn.com) and to Louise for the inspiration!

Momentous Mumbai

Returned from a dear friends wedding in Mumbai some days ago feeling overwhelmed but absolutely in love with the city.

Being inspired by the architecture, people, colors and just the smell of life…Wanted to share some images I took on my Black and White camera:



<There is so much Italian in Indians, and so much Indian in Italians. They are both people of the Madonna – they demand a Goddess, even if the religion does not provide one. Every man in both countries is a singer when he is happy; and every woman is a dancer when she walks to the shop corner .For them food is music inside the body and music is food inside the heart. The language of India and the language Italy , they make every man a poet and make something beautiful from every banalite. These are nations where love –amore, pyaar- makes a cavalier of a Borsalino on a street corner, and makes a princess of a peasant girl , if only for the second that her eyes meet yours.>>

-- Shantaram



www.kanchancouture.com

Our dear Hong Kong...in the fast lane

My perfect Sunday morning is spent lounging in the sun with a croissant in one hand and the Weekend Financial Times in the other. Although this Sunday there was no sun I did get to read one of my favorite columns in the FT – its called The Fast Lane by Tyler Brule. This week he chats about how different cities are taking on the economy crisis.

This is what Brule says about “Hong Kong: there’s always a bustle about Hong Kong, and, if outdoor media space is anything to go by, then all the world’s major luxury goods companies are counting on HK to help them through the storm. A hotelier friend of mine still had his sense of humor about him, so occupancy rates couldn’t have been too terrible.”

…this left me thinking and excited to step into a new week.

www.kanchancouture.com

That Spring Summer Feeling calls for a Wardrobe Cleaning….

…. approaching the end of February brings muggy days and warmer temperatures (well with global warming these days you cannot guarantee it will not snow tomorrow); hopefully spring is in the air. And with this comes a change of wardrobe, its time for that wardrobe clean out!!!
Not only with this help me to see what it is that I really will be wearing, what does not fit anymore but also how many hours need to be spent working off all those inches put on during the season of eating also known as Dewali, Christmas, New Year and Chinese new year.

On my latest project, Kanchan Couture has collaborated with Miele, yes that’s right Miele the German luxury home appliance brand. At first a lot of people seem to look confused at the collaboration but once explained it makes perfect sense. Miele have come out with a “Perfect Garment Care” concept, which can be used to wash very delicate silks and printed fabrics.

It is a two-week exhibit to promote fashion and wardrobe for real people, am giving some talks thus have come up with a few tips I thought worth sharing

5 tips to recession proofing your wardrobe

_Start by doing a WARDROBE STOCK TAKE, it is said that women only really wear between 20 to 30 percent of their wardrobe. Set aside everything you love, have worn recently and know you want to keep. Everything left should be tired on and examined. Classify your wardrobe into sections – Basics, Classic pieces, Fads, Evening wear what ever is convenient to you

_Pump up the power of the accessories, use your scarves, jewelley and pieces differently, buy small but impact full items. Try a new lipstick color

_Think like a fashion editor, mix and match high street with designer pieces, look on-line and in fashion magazines for inspiration

_Try layering items in a way you normally would not and look to dress your classic pieces up using a fresh eye

_Learn how to properly care for your garments (Miele has launched a great product which can use used to wash silk, for optimal results to be used on a miele washing machine)

5 key trend for Spring / Summer 2009

_Recession chic ~ dressing easy, ankle crop pants, the classic summer dress in a bold color, its all about how your accessorize this summer

_Butterflies and bold prints ~ butterflies symbolize many things hope of resurrection, reminder of ethereality of life, symbol of beauty, femininity and the ability to be ever changing

_One shoulder ~ sensual look to your back and shoulders and indulge in back-less fashion or the one shoulder trend

_The Sophisticated Trench ~ not only is it a trench for the rain anymore but it has now been upgraded to a trench dress, worn both as a dress and as a trench in a luxe silk and satins

_Color, Color, color ~ with all this talk of recession and depression color plays a big role this year bringing freshness and a new beginning so put on some color, color, color.
Some images from our session and opening night at Miele Studios:




…I’ll leave you with fond memories of that spring summer feeling, it reminds me of spring in London and waking up to my roommate blasting Jill Scott.
For more details to sign up to a session:

http://www.kanchancouture.com/200903Events.aspx



www.kanchancouture.com

Mellow Yellow

Being in the world of fashion I regularly like to be in-the-know for what the trends of the next season will bring and what my fellow designers are sharing with the world…more often than not, it’s quite inspiring. Recently it feels like every article I pick up talks of “Yellow” being the color that’s going to take us through 2009 and no it did not stop as being just yellow but rather a specific shade – mimosa (Named Pantone’s color of the year). In line with the depressive times, the reason being that this is the color that’s going to save us by expressing hope and reassurance like no other…

Suddenly a blurry picture conjures in my mind, of men, women, children walking the streets of New York, London, Hong Kong all dressed in Mimosa. Personally I think it would look like the world has been struck by a wave of jaundice, thus am not quite sure how this is suppose to reassure us that it is going to be alright.

At some point last year I remember another brighter shade of yellow being the “in” color, from H & M to Club Monaco to Gucci all had a range of cloths and accessories in a Sun flower yellow. One would think if they were going to choose a yellow that at least it would be this “happier” shade.

All this yellow talk had me wondering what history had to say about yellow and interestingly enough…to the ancient Greeks, yellow denoted air. Leonardo Da Vinci wrote that yellow represented earth. To the Navaho, the western mountains are yellow and bring the twilight. To the Hopi, yellow is north. In India it is the symbol of the merchant and farmer, although at one time it was considered the dress of the ascetic. For many cultures yellow is the color of hope and renewal.

By the looks of some of the fall 09 collections thankfully the world will not be dressed in Mimosa, certainly Kanchan Couture will not partake.

Today, Christmas day… I am going to leave the mellow yellow behind in exchange for a Christmas palette of red jeans, a tree green blouse and a Santa hat spreading strength, health and passion.

…Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!!

Santa's Suprise

A lovely surprise …this year it looks like Santa heard my wishes early and brought my creative soul mate and best friend back from London to surprise me. As he casually walked into the studio the neighbors heard me scream “Jeffie!!.”

We speedily caught up on the happenings of the last four months and both hungry to create something new chose a date for our next photo shoot…here we go again models, hair, make-up, lights and action!! Before we get carried away we both decided a brainstorm for concept etc was important.

My three favorite ad champagnes For the moment:




Mixing all our ideas together creating a new world, our world, a world where we have no boundaries and are free.

Planning ahead we moved on to how we would promote this shoot around Hong Kong and which magazines we would both love to be a part of. I continued to ramble on about Vogue China, Tatler etc as Jeffie excitedly started talking about our first billboard located on the escalator on Wellington Street.




I definitely owe my life to Alex, billboard maestro, a dear friend and director of TCOB Media, they are the most creative media agency around, if you saw that giant rugby ball around town during the Bledisloe cup…yep that was them. Recently they have come up with a great concept of a billboard “share” where more than one company can be displayed, this is great for the smaller companies out there who don’t have a gazillion dollar advertising budget.

Back to gossiping with Jeffie about being famous together, who we would invite to our parties and our penthouse in Paris, l’atelier in Berlin and yacht in St. Tropez.

Simply cheesy….but at the end of the hours filled with banter on love, life and London town my heart felt warm and cozy just to know that there will always be some friends whom you pick up just where you left off and that sparks of creativity and inspiration fill the room as soon as you connect….watch out, we’re brewing up a storm, Untitled Stories II, coming summer 2009!!!