A NEW fashion fiesta is expected to set Orchard Road abuzz when it is launched tonight.
Called Fashion Season @ Orchard, it features a gamut of fashion events, workshops, parties and shopping deals.
Ten shopping malls and more than 120 retailers are taking part in the event, which is organised by the Orchard Road Business Association (Orba) and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board.
To get things moving, six malls, including Paragon, Tangs and Mandarin Gallery, will be simultaneously holding launch parties tonight starting at 7pm.
Shoppers will enjoy jazz performances, fashion shows and special deals at some retailers.
The six-week event coincides with the inaugural Asian Fashion Exchange, a series of conferences and events for the Asian fashion industry, to be launched at the end of this month.
The Exchange is a renewed attempt by the Government and industry players to transform Singapore into a centre for Asian fashion, and replaces previous attempts – the Singapore Fashion Festival and Singapore Fashion Week.
Capitalising on the buzz, Fashion Season’s organisers hope to take high fashion to the masses while encouraging more spending in the famous retail belt.
‘We want to make fashion accessible to everyone,’ said Mrs Sng Ngoi May, chairman of Orba.
But with the Great Singapore Sale starting just a month after Fashion Season ends, would the new event cannibalise the Sale’s lure?
Mr Andrew Phua, the tourism board’s director of tourism shopping and dining, does not think so.
‘It is comparing apples with oranges. The Sale is more about discounts and sales, while Fashion Season is more about fashion trends,’ said Mr Phua, who declined to reveal the event’s budget.
The organisers were unable to give the estimated overall attendance for the event but they anticipate that at least a fifth will be tourists.
Mrs Sng is also confident it will pull in more shoppers, thanks to the previous success of a similar smaller-scale event.
Last April, to celebrate Orchard Road’s million-dollar makeover and the launch of its new branding campaign, Orba organised a three-week fashion-themed event called Orchard Reloaded that featured an outdoor fashion show and makeover sessions.
Mrs Sng said the mall owners saw a significant increase in their shopper traffic and sales during the event.
Other key highlights of Fashion Season include an outdoor fashion photography exhibition which starts today, and an outdoor runway show on April 10 where 125 models will strut the new season’s wares along a 100m catwalk that begins inside Paragon and extends to the pedestrian walkway outside the mall.
There will also be workshops, make- over sessions, a window display contest, a modelling contest and MasterCard shopping and dining promotions. More details can be found at www.fsoorchard.com
Source: Straits Times, 2 Apr 2010
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