Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2021 i Tatler Malaysia

TATLER HONG KONG On the cover of this month’s issue is Wesley Ng, the CEO and co-founder of Casetify, one of the world’s leading tech accessories companies. Ng discusses his plans to open Casetify stores and offices around the world and introduces his new venture capital fund, IFY. tatlerhongkong.com TATLER INDONESIA Indonesian golfer Danny Masrin, a rising star of the sport, discusses how golf is changing and developing in the country, despite challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. tatlerindonesia.com TATLER MALAYSIA In this year’s style-themed issue, three local brands—fashion label Syomirizwa Gupta, halal beauty brand Orkid Cosmetics and jeweller MYJN—weigh in on how the pandemic has affected their businesses in particular and what it means for the industry at large. tatlermalaysia.com TATLER PHILIPPINES One of the 15 people featured on…

How do you seek an answer to a question? For most of us, hitting the search button on Google is the most natural thing to do. But what if you are an entrepreneur looking for insights into an unfamiliar market? It’s a specific problem Melvin Poh faced when he was deciding on entering his first venture in Hong Kong with a friend. Not one to dive in blindly, Poh tirelessly researched online articles and reports about the local market before he committed to the endeavour. However, after just one year into the venture, the business folded. That failure cost him all of his savings at the time, and left him feeling embarrassed. “In hindsight, I should have spoken with someone who was familiar with the Hong Kong market before I…

PATAGONIA One of the globe’s leading labels for outdoor apparel and sports gear, Patagonia is known for their impressive efforts in reducing their environmental impact. According to the brand’s website, 87% of their product line uses recycled materials and has Fairtrade certification. And as part of the 1% for the Planet initiative, Patagonia had long since pledged 1% of their sales to the preservation and restoration efforts of the natural environment. TERRAE Founded by Azalea Marzuki and Ong Suan Yean in 2020, Terrae is a sustainable, inclusive activewear label made from three eco-friendly fabrics: Econyl (which is 100% recycled fibre made from discarded fishing nets as well as an assortment of ocean waste), organic cotton, as well as deadstock fabric. THE CONSCIENCE OF CLOTHING Filmed in 2020 and directed by…

Born in Taiwan and raised in Hong Kong, designer Samson Shek Yen Leung is a fast-rising sartorial star. Leung is a graduate of the prestigious Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in London and honed his skills at Proenza Schouler, Craig Green and Aitor Throup. He made his debut at London Fashion Week in June, where he presented his gender-fluid designs inspired by films and fine art, including traditional Chinese landscape paintings. When did you first realise you wanted to work in fashion? It all began with my passion for film. I grew up in a family that worked in the film industry and my work is heavily influenced by my own self-directed films. Even as a boy, I was fascinated by the artistry I saw on film…

Emily in Paris leading lady Lily Collins is the star of Cartier’s Clash [Un]limited collection. With audacious pieces that are both innovative and surprising, she shows how you can express yourself without constraints…

Basketball superstar Jimmy Butler is Tag Heuer’s latest brand ambassador. A five-time NBA All-star, the 31-year-old is one of the top players in the league, and earned nearly US$30 million after signing a four-year deal with the Miami Heat in 2019. A gold medal winner for the US Olympic Men’s Basketball team, Butler said of the partnership: “I strongly believe in the brand’s values of high performance, precision and passion for action, and I’m committed to these standards throughout each game and in my everyday life. Above all, everyone knows how much I love watches, and I’m thrilled to be part of a brand with deep history and a trailblazing spirit.”…

Panerai lands multi-award winning actress Dilraba as their first female global brand ambassador. Known for her iconic roles in Miracles of the Namiya General Store and Fall in Love Like a Star, the Chinese actress’ fiery pursuit of her potential has not gone unnoticed by Panerai, a firm believer in overcoming limits. Dilraba speaks of the partnership: “Staying true to the brand’s values while continuously overcoming limits and pursuing innovation, Panerai’s motto is deeply rooted in my heart. With bold creativity and exquisite craftsmanship, the brand continuously explores the unknown. I admire its courage and enthusiasm and it is my honour to become the global brand ambassador. With Panerai, I look forward to becoming a believer and also an explorer in fine watchmaking.”…

The first time I saw Nalisa Amin was at the KL Fashion Week 2018 in Pavilion KL when she opened the show in Min Luna’s collection, dressed in a rust-coloured jumpsuit that flattered her curves. The crowd went wild at the sight of her, as well as the rest of the models of different shapes, ages and skin colours that walked out after her. The show was a resounding success as it showcased model diversity representing real people, with Nalisa herself being the first plus-size model to open KL Fashion Week. It was her maiden debut in professional modelling, although you couldn’t tell as she looked so confident and sexy. She let out a burst of laughter. “Of course I was so nervous, because I never walked a runway before…

Walking through the corridor of Mickalene Thomas’s studio in Brooklyn is like being transported to a mini version of the sort of collection of African American art you expect to see at a big gallery. At least, that’s how it feels as Thomas’s business manager, Susan Grogan, takes me on a tour of the space during a video call in late August. But far from being the servants and erotic figures so often seen in such exhibitions, the Black women in Thomas’s paintings are strong, elegant figures covered in vibrant colours and glittering rhinestones. Draped in fashionable fabrics and at times topless, these models, with their steady gaze and self-assertive poses, exude a confidence which both causes viewers to become transfixed and compels them to shy away. Since her 2009…

In March 2021, the artist Mike Winkelmann, better known as Beeple, sold a non-fungible token (NFT) of his digital artwork at Christie’s auction for a whopping US$69 million. According to the auction house, the sale of the collage titled Everydays: The First 5000 Days catapulted him to rank among the top three most valuable living artists. Before the sale of Beeple’s artwork, the earliest and most notable use of NFT was CryptoKitties, a virtual cat that can be purchased, collected, bred and sold. One of the most expensive NFTs ever sold was a CryptoKitty called Dragon, which was sold for 600 Ethereums (ETH), estimated at US$1.8 million today. Artists in Malaysia have also been quick to catch on to the NFT trend. In August, graffiti artist Katun sold two NFT…

Usually, when it comes to storytelling, we stick to a tried-and-tested formula of beginning with, well, a beginning. However, for Hatta Dolmat’s prolific journey as a fashion designer who’s recently earned himself a spot in the Malaysia Book of Records last year for being the first local designer to ever create a ‘complete sustainable collection’, let’s start somewhere in the middle. It was 2015 when Hatta was working on his ready-to-wear collection for the annual Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week, and at the time, he was one of the very few designers who designed their own motifs—an expensive investment back then, he informs me, which was why he was loathe to simply discard the remaining textile after the show had ended, as not only did it have sentimental value to him,…

A growing number of men are proudly rocking bold, colourful nails in another sign that male grooming is becoming increasingly androgynous and inclusive. Last year, Chanel introduced two shades of nail varnish to its men’s cosmetic line, Boy De Chanel. “Chanel Beauty is not a matter of gender; it is a matter of style,” the brand said in a statement. At Loewe’s spring-summer 2020 presentation, rapper A$AP Rocky’s nails featuring bloodshot electric blue eyeballs stole the show. Michelle Humphrey, a London-based celebrity nail artist who regularly does manicures for the likes of Dua Lipa and Rita Ora, says stars such as Marc Jacobs, Harry Styles, Anwar Hadid and Post Malone are leading the trend, and that she has “more male clients than ever right now”. Men sporting painted nails isn’t…

MADE IN JAPAN Mikimoto’s newest high jewellery line, The Japanese Sense of Beauty, pays homage to the jeweller’s native Japan. Typically voluptuous in form and unapologetic in its liberal use of mouthwatering pearls, this collection is Mikimoto at its very best. These jewels are designed to stop you in your tracks, and thanks to the line’s standout centre stones and diamond-dusted structures, they do exactly that.…

The rules when it comes to men’s jewellery largely depend on the man who’s wearing it. A friend of mine sports an antique, baroque-styled brooch wherever he goes, and he looks absolutely terrific. Another friend is obsessed with stacking diamond-decked pieces. He’ll unapologetically spark up an unbuttoned shirt with blinged-out pendants so gloriously decadent they would have turned heads in the court of Louis XIV. Not long ago, the jewellery worn by these two men might have been considered feminine. Emasculating, even—which couldn’t be further from the truth. Thankfully in recent years, as the definitions of men’s and women’s fashion become increasingly blurred, we’ve seen men’s buying habits move beyond the traditional confines of watches, wedding bands and cuff links—and here at Tatler, we say it’s about time. Men have,…

With No Time to Die hitting cinemas on October 8, we look back at some of James Bond’s most iconic wristwatches 1 Omega Seamaster Diver 300M It’s been more than 50 years since the release of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and, to celebrate the anniversary, Omega unveiled a very special 42mm Seamaster Diver 300M in stainless steel, limited to 7,007 pieces. A ceramic dial depicts the view down the barrel, which famously opens the credit sequence of James Bond movies. 2 Rolex Submariner In 2018, the Rolex Submariner from A Licence to Kill was offered at auction for an estimated US$80,000 to US$120,000. The 1989 picture, which starred Timothy Dalton in his final appearance as Bond, was also the last film in the series where the secret agent wore…

What inspires you? Everything is an inspiration. But I think it’s people that inspire me the most. When I meet people, I go through a lot of emotions and thoughts. I also get a lot of inspiration from observing other people when preparing for a character that I have to play. Would you agree watches can be personal? A watch is like a friend that’ll be with you, always. Have you developed or learned any new skills recently? I have come to love observing nature. Before, I didn’t even know or care about what kind of trees are around my house. But now, when I come across a tree that I have never seen before, I will look it up on an app. And I even have a list of…

In June 2015, Shiva Shabani and Calvin Yu received an unusual email. A stylist had chanced upon their children’s eyewear brand, Sons + Daughters, and found the perfect pair of sunglasses for her client’s niece, Majesty, to wear at her elaborate Flintstone-themed first birthday party in Los Angeles. The client was Rihanna. “We sent the package, but it got stuck in customs,” says Shabani, who at the time was based in Vancouver. “When we explained what happened, her stylist said there was nothing else Rihanna liked for Majesty, and asked if there was any way we could get them to Los Angeles in time.” That’s when Shabani turned to one of her staff and asked what she was doing that night. Within hours, Shabani had her on a flight to…

CAT YONG Cat Yong began her career as a makeup artist at age 21 and has accumulated a wealth of experience in all aspects of makeup such as fashion, television, commercials, feature films and magazines over the past 15 years. She was one of the judges for the International Mastery Avant Garde Makeup Competition 2019 and also worked in Crazy Rich Asians when it was shot locally. For Tatler, she was involved in the Asia’s Most Stylish shoot (p.146) MUGHNI CHE DIN Mughni Che Din describes himself as a multi-hyphenated fashion creative who is no stranger to the Malaysian fashion scene. He has come a long way since starting his career in fashion back in 2010, and has gone from reporting at the major fashion weeks to styling photo shoots…

The buzzword of today is ‘sustainable fashion’—a topic that initially stemmed from an actual environmental movement in 1962, when American marine biologist, author and conservationalist Rachel Carson published “Silent Spring”, a groundbreaking study that not only documented the horrifying effects of DDT, a carcinogenic pesticide harmful to both humans and fauna that ended up polluting the world’s food supply, but had also posed as a grim foreshadowing of what happens when our growing demand for ‘more’ is left unchecked. Fast forward to the 21st century, the industrial system we’ve been coasting on so far is now coming apart at the seams. From the advent of social media to a worldwide pandemic that disrupted our way of life, we are now more informed about the consequences of our actions as consumers,…

‘Cancer’ is a word that many, if not all, perceive as having an automatic death sentence; it’s earth-shattering, and can either make or break a person as they contend with life itself—before, during and after being diagnosed with an illness almost akin to a bogeyman. Globally, as reported by a World Health Organization article written last March, at the end of 2020, 7.8 million women alive have been diagnosed with breast cancer over the past five years, making it the most prevalent of cancer types despite its improved survival rate. Regardless of the many medical breakthroughs as well as the improvement of readily available resources however, the initial impact of getting that first diagnosis always hits the hardest, even when one braces themselves for it. For Surina Shukri, former chief…

According to a study by the World Bank, the informal economy, which includes gig workers, accounts for more than 70% of total employment. With the onset of the global pandemic, there are now close to four million gig workers in Malaysia in 2021 and that number is steadily increasing. However, many gig workers lack access to mainstream financial institutions like banks due to their inconsistent cash flow. Recognising that something needs to be done, Nadia Ismadi and her fellow co-founder Ng Ying Teng started SaphX Technologies and launched their mobile goal-based savings app, Pod, with the aim of improving the financial standing of gig workers. Here, Nadia discusses how her journey as an entrepreneur started and what she hopes to achieve. I’ve known my co-founder for many years. We…

Famed architect Frank Gehry’s latest collaboration with Louis Vuitton—for whom he designed the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in 2006, and Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul in 2019—is a suite of five bottles for a new line of fragrances, Les Extraits Collection. “[LVMH] has become kind of family for me,” he says. In July this year, director of Louis Vuitton Delphine Arnault kicked off Paris Haute Couture Week with a party at Fondation Louis Vuitton to celebrate the new scents. Alongside Gehry, attendees included the likes of Larry Gagosian, Nicolas Ghesquière, Virgil Abloh, Florence Pugh and Bella Hadid. When asked about the difference between designing a building versus a product, Gehry says, “A building is interactive. People use it, live inside it, sleep, listen to music and work there. The object…

BENEATH THE NIGHT Known in horological circles for its breathtaking Les Cabinotiers timepieces, which are crafted by guilloché experts, enamellers, engravers and jewellery setters, Vacheron Constantin’s mechanical movements have long been combined with extraordinary dials. This single-piece edition boasts a delicate guilloché dial and a diamond-set bezel. Powered by the self-winding Calibre 2460 RQP, this piece is unusual because of its regulator-type display, identifiable by its unique layout: one large hand indicates the minutes, while the hours and seconds are measured on smaller sub-dials of their own. Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Regulator Perpetual Calendar—Moonlight Jewellery Sapphire SIXTIES STYLE Piaget made its first foray into jewellery watches in the 1960s, a fabulous era for the maison, which saw its pieces worn by countless style icons, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor,…

You’re celebrating the Historiques American 1921 with a new trio of precious-metal models. Tell us about this collection. We can trace the reintroduction of the Historiques American 1921 back to 2008. This was the year Vacheron Constantin decided to debut the Historiques American 1921 as a tribute to the original driving watches. Why has the Historiques American 1921 become so popular among collectors? As we added to this collection throughout the years, it became an icon because these models were produced in very limited quantities. The first one we released in 2008 was astonishing. It was a perpetual calendar and only a few were ever created. Tell us about the movement in these watches. When we reintroduced this collection back in 2008, we introduced the now-famous hand-wound Calibre 4400 AS,…

BACHDIM Founded by Bali United footballer Irfan Bachdim and his wife Jennifer, Bachdim was founded out of the couple’s love of coordinating outfits with their two children, Kiyomi and Kenji. Jennifer says: “We always wanted to be in sync with one another but found it very difficult to find matching casual but smart streetwear for the whole family, so out of that, we knew that one day we would like to start our own family label.” The collections are often a mix of athleisure and cool, comfy staples in neutral and pastel hues. All of the pieces are made in Bali and use packaging made from recycled materials. LITTLE ISLANDERS This charming brand introduces a touch of heritage to stylish tots. Working with artisan weavers in the Philippines and expert…

A rare positive outcome of the pandemic—and one that seems likely to last—is our prioritisation of comfort. Comfortable clothes, shoes, hairstyles, homes and above all comfort food have helped make these difficult times a little more bearable. One concept I have not really heard spoken of, though, is “comfort wines”, perhaps because of some (warranted) anxiety around recommending an alcoholic beverage as a means of solace. However, the comfort I know wine to be capable of delivering derives from more than its alcohol content. There are a few things that “comfort wine”, at least as I conceive it, is not. Although their definitions probably overlap, comfort wine is not a “guilty pleasure”. It is also not quite the same as “everyday wine”. If you’re trying to figure out what your…