THE FRONT ROW RETURNS! PRESENTING #FASHTAG X RAFFLES CITY SINGAPORE, A #SINGAPOREDESIGNWEEK TAKE-OVER FROM 16 TILL 25 SEP 2022.

A key event of the Singapore Design Week 2022, The Front Row takes fashion to the people by transforming a public space into an interactive phygital gallery.

 

THE FRONT ROW (TFR) returns for the third year bigger and better than before! This year marks two firsts for TFR: first, by presenting a trans-digital world where virtual events cross over into physical space and intermingle with reality and second, by collaborating with Singapore Design Week, one of Asia’s premier design festivals which is making its return after a two-year hiatus to showcase the best of design from Singapore and beyond.

 

The Front Row 2022 is set to demonstrate its beliefs in:

• Design With a Conscience, where TFR embraces the pillars of sustainability, eco-consciousness, seasonless and cruelty-free fashion and beauty in our journey towards being a more responsible creative and consumer. All creations presented in TFR 2022 do not use leather or fur at all, while our sets and décor are made only with upcycled materials.
• Celebrating Unique Concepts that were created through pivoting during Covid lockdown. These concepts form the foundation for creative, design and fashion events of the future. Barely out of the pandemic, TFR had already stepped into NFT and the digital art world with MIRL’s showcase.
• Celebrating the Solidarity of cross-border designers and creatives who created an international (digital) brother-and-sisterhood during the lockdown and continue to create ground-breaking new works. Sometimes, we produce our best work in times of adversity!

 

• The Front Row spearheaded a digital fashion revolution during the pandemic and proved that fashion can adapt and thrive in digital spaces – with the right collaborators, forward-thinking presentations, correct curation and relevant messaging. The future of our mission is promising with two significant milestones attained this year: we are accorded national recognition as a key event of Singapore Design Week 2022 and given commercial recognition by Raffles City Singapore who gave us full creative control in the takeover of their mall,” enthused Daniel Boey, Founder and Creative Director of The Front Row. 

 

 

• Daniel added: “For our third year, we are partnering with exciting and, sometimes, unexpected local, regional and even international creatives consisting of designers, photographers and content curators, as well as the brightest students from Singapore’s fashion schools. We are showcasing NFTs and the metaverse, which are rapidly shaping the future of design and fashion. With such an impressive lineup, we are immensely proud to present The Front Row in a hybrid, phygital format that blends the best of both worlds to deliver a fresh and unparalleled fashion experience to consumers!”

 

• “We are thrilled to partner with Daniel Boey and The Front Row for Singapore Design Week 2022, which continues our Project Green narrative on sustainable and cruelty-free fashion, and shares our belief that industry stakeholders are imperative vanguards to champion eco-awareness and responsible consumerism for the present and the future. We believe this collaboration will cement Raffles City Singapore’s position as a forward-thinking fashion mecca in Singapore and the region,” beamed Mr Steve Ng, General Manager of Raffles City Singapore.

 

• “Singapore Design Week (SDW) returns this year with a brand-new vision distinguished by three defining pillars – Design Futures, Design Marketplace and Design Impact. From forward-looking experiences that unveil the future of fashion and design, to cross-border collaborations and design with a conscience, #Fashtag truly epitomises the spirit of the new SDW. We’re excited to work with The Front Row to give established and emerging local and regional designers a platform to show how inclusive, diverse, sustainable and future-forward fashion can be,” says Mr Mark Wee, Festival Director, Singapore Design Week 2022.

 

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

 

#METAMATTERS A phygital exhibition of fashion X photography X artworks. Content Creators include CHUAN DO and FREY (Singapore), MIRL INCUBATOR (Singapore), FILBERT KUNG (Philippines) and a special cruelty-free collaboration between photographer RUI LIANG, fashion designer THOMAS WEE and former Singapore top model PAT KRAAL.

 

 

#FASHIONAVATARS A phygital showcase of sus4tainable, eco-friendly, responsible underground Asian fashion labels. Labels showcased include COVERMENOT (Indonesia), SEAN SHEILA (Indonesia), Tube Gallery (Thailand), Jude Ng (Australia), Ki Lee (Korea), and couturier Michael Cinco (Philippines) as well as fashion upstarts Outdwell (Malaysia) and A-Jane (Malaysia).

 

 

#COVIDCREATIVES A showcase of virtual runaway shows and fashion films created by fashion producers during the pandemic, as a tribute to their ingenuity to create ground-breaking work despite the limitations of pandemic restrictions. Featuring MAX TAN, Nuboaix and Shirt Number White from Singapore; JESUS LLOREN, PVR – PAOLO RAYMUNDO, EXTA COUTRE, BEATRICE SAMSON AND AMATO from The Philippines (directed by ARIEL LOZADA).

 

#FASHIONFUTUREFACES This is a showcase of works created by fashion students from Raffles Design Institute, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and LASALLE College of the Arts, with a strong emphasis on upcycling, eco-conscious and cruelty-free creations that are leather and fur-free as well as the use of XR to create fashion content.

 

VOID DECK #CONVERSATIONS An open discussion platform where Singapore fashion schools, such as Raffles Design Institute and LASALLE College of the Arts, share their inspirations and respective journeys in creating upcycled or digital projects. Look forward to special sessions, helmed by Susanna Jaafar of Zerrin.com on being a sustainable, responsible fashionista, and Daniel Boey, who discusses ageism, racism and size bias in the fashion industry. 

 

As part of Void Deck Conversations, #USEYOURHANDSCAMPAIGN is a unique and meaningful sharing session by three creatives who have made recycling, upcycling and sustainability the cornerstone of their business: Irene Kusuma (the creative behind IKV, a cross-border collaboration), The Kang and Becky + Rosie.

 

 

 

 CABINES WITH A #CONSCIENCE Curated cabine runway presentations that showcase responsible fashion consumption, such as small batch production, circular economy shopping and the like, featuring an inclusive fashion cast that includes former top Singapore models aged 50 and above as well as streetcast talents handpicked by creative director Daniel Boey at Raffles City.

 

SPECIAL FEATURE

 

#REDUCE #REUSE #RECYCLE This is a collaboration with young Singaporean spatial designer Aaron Lim who will take over an existing Raffles City festival set and upcycling it for #FashTag. This set is used to host the exhibitions and shows on levels 1, 2 and 3 at Raffles City. Held in conjunction with Raffles City Singapore’s ‘PROJECT GREEN” initiative.

 

CAMPAIGN

 

The #FashTag campaign and spatial aesthetics are conceptualised and created by Singapore Design Agency Black Mongrels and photographed by Rui Liang. 

 

Our campaign models include Singapore’s top models (and former The Front Row campaign faces) KAIGIN YONG, DIYA PRABAKAR and SRRI RAAM. They are joined by former Singaporean top model, PAT KRAAL, who is now based in Paris, and new fashion face ALYSSHA HANNAH.

 

The models are wearing pieces from Singapore designers Thomas Wee and Max Tan and upcycled fashion pieces (made from discarded sneaker samples) from RDI graduate Eva Huang (BA Fashion).

 

THE FRONT ROW TEAM: SINGAPOREAN TALENT & COMPANIES

 

Daniel Boey: Founder and Creative Director of The Front Row

AP Media: Co-creator of The Front Row

Black Mongrels: Creative agency

Aaron Lim: Artist and architectural designer and cross-disciplinary collaborator

Word of Mouth Communications: Boutique lifestyle PR agency