Being in Singapore means being in one of the most fashion-crazed countries in Southeast Asia. And when you ask around for the “it” place for shopping, Orchard Road is the top-of-mind answer. Orchard Road is known all over as a vibrant fashion high street peppered with boutiques ranging from local, independent retailers to big global brands. It’s a favorite of locals and malls can get pretty packed on weekends. Tourists also love the area because of the variety of hotels – there’s 16 of them – along
Orchard. After all, you wouldn’t want to lug several paper bags of clothes and accessories across the city after visiting Orchard’s 23 shopping malls.
When I was doing my internship at Microsoft APAC, Orchard Road was my playground after 6pm. One ordinary Thursday evening, I headed to blackmarket No. 2 in Orchard Central to attend a pop-up store launch. blackmarket is a design company founded by Filipino-Singaporean duo Quincy Teofisto and Jasmine Tuan in late 2008. It is a collective of local and international designers and is currently running two shops in Singapore. The shops feature designers from all over Southeast Asia, and the event that I attended was the launch of Filipino designer Gian Romano’s AW 2011/2012 collection called “C Major in Drop D.”
The event was attended by Singapore’s fashionistas and street style photographers. Everything in the store, including Romano’s collection, was interesting, unique, and definitely eye-catching – my kind of style. Even the interiors of the store resonate the design principles of blackmarket’s founders and featured designers.
blackmarket is definitely one of those off-the-beaten-track places one should visit when in Singapore, especially if you want to experience modern Singaporean fashion and art.
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In case you’re in Singapore…
Blackmarket, 19 Jalan Pisang, Singapore 199084
Blackmarket no.2, 181 Orchard Road #02-10, Orchard Central, Singapore 238896
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