Beautiful Escapes

Published in Harper’s Bazaar Malaysia, June 2012 (Click on images to read the article).

Asia’s rocking fashion group: Club 21

You may recall sometime ago I wrote a post about French fashionista – so what about Asian fashion I hear you ask? Well, what could be more fitting than to talk about Asia’s fashion queen, Singaporean-born Christina Ong, owner and managing director of the wildly successful fashion group, Club 21. We know Christina and she is a lovely, elegant lady with impeccable taste.  I recall having dinner in Paris during Fashion Week with Suzy Menkes (yes the Suzy Menkes, fashion icon writer from International Herald Tribune) who spoke admirably about Balenciaga, Lanvin, Balmain etc. – all of whom feature in Club 21. So you know that the company must be on the right track!

We adore Club 21 in Asia – men and women alike – and it’s impressively present in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, UK and USA with a huge range of fashion and accessories from the well-known to the funky to the hot up-and-coming designers such as Kriss Van Assche, Dries van Noten, Junya Watanabe, Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake, Neil Barrett, Peter Pilotto….

So here’s just some of the designers we find at Club 21 that we Asians love to rock out to.

Donna Karan, DKNY

Dolce & Gabbana, D&G

Emporio Armani, Giorgio Armani, Armani Collezione…

AX Armani Exchange

Balmain Homme

Paul Smith

Marc Jacobs, Marc by Marc Jacobs

Alexander McQueen

Mulberry

Balenciaga

Comme des Garcons

Lanvin

Calvin Klein, CK for Calvin Klein

Jil Sander

Oscar de la Renta

So the next time you’re in any of these cities, don’t forget to join the Club.

PZ.

Luxury Fashion at a Click

Published in THE EDGE MALAYSIA, June 2009:

To read this article, click this link: Luxury Fashion at a Click

Exclusive with Jose Levy

José Lévy - a Parisian with many talents, Jose Lévy is a designer in fashion, furniture, home furnishings, art, decorative objects… He created his own men’s fashion label, José Lévy à Paris; he collaborates with big names like Holland & Holland, Nina Ricci, Cacharel and Emanuel Ungaro. In addition, Lévy designs bed linen with Garnier Thiebaut, curtains for Robert Le Heros, decorative objects with Deshoulières and the list goes on. As if that’s not enough, he also launched his collection of scented candles and designed fragrance packaging for Nickel, men’s skincare. He is now marking his name in art and design with an exhibition at the Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin. This man is a true artist, establishing his vision on any form that he can find to express himself.

Frog&Princess: What is your favorite boutique/shop?

José Lévy: John Derian,  6 East 2nd Street NY 

F&P: Your favorite hotel?

JL: Auberge du Tingaro, between Marrakech and  Essaouira, Morocco

F&P:  Your favorite restaurant?

JL: Waly Fay in Paris and Woseley in London

F&P: Where is your dream holiday destination? 

JL: Anywhere in the sun, for two and in love

F&P: Your favourite activity? 

JL: Working

F&P: What are you watching and listening to right now?

JL:  France Inter (radio) and the Genius of my i-Tunes

F&P: Who or what inspires you?

JL: What surprises me

F&P: What do you not like?

JL: Stupidity added with self-importance

F&P: What is your most recent extravagance?

JL: Starting Entree Payante

F&P: Who is the person to follow in the next few years?

JL: Barack and one-self

Merci Jose for your participation! Find out who is our next…

Exclusive with Donald Potard

Donald Potard, a Frenchman with lots of flair, was the former CEO of Jean-Paul Gaultier until 2005 having spent 25 years in the group. He then joined British luxury group Marchpole Holdings to become CEO of Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and CEO of Emanuel Ungaro for Men. He was also President of the prêt-a-porter fashion designers union and member of the French Federation of Couture. Since 2006, he created the first artistic agency for fashion designers, Agent de Luxe.

Frog&Princess: What is your favorite boutique/shop?

Donald Potard: The internet. 

F&P: Your favorite hotel?

DP: Rajvilas Palace hotel, Jaipur 

F&P:  Your favorite restaurant?

DP: Grand Véfour, Paris

F&P: Where is your dream holiday destination? 

DP: Rajasthan, India

F&P: Your favourite activity?      

DP: Listening to opera

F&P: What are you watching and listening to right now?

DP: I listen to Jeanne Balibar “Slalom dame”

F&P: Who or what inspires you?

DP: Fashion designers

F&P: What do you not like?

DP: Homophobia

F&P: What is your most recent extravagance?

DP: Buy a crazy new dog

F&P: Who is the person to follow in the next few years? 

DP: David C.Barrot, a young movie Producer whose movie has been nominated for Cannes’s Festival.

Thanks Donald for your participation! Find out soon who is our next….