SARTORIALISTS

All images were taken in accordance with Covid-19 regulations with subjects’ masks removed only for photography. For the full Q&A and more street style by FEMALE, visit www.femalemag.com.sg

- KENG YANG SHUEN

JOANNE CHEAH, 29, RETAIL ASSOCIATE

What are you wearing? “A Comme des Garcons jacket, an Issey Miyake top, and a Molly Goddard dress.” Describe your sense of style.“Boy wearing girls’ clothes; girl wearing boys’ clothes.”

BEFORE STREET STYLE BECAME THE INFLUENCER-DOMINATED, DO-IT-FOR-THE-’GRAM FASHION WEEK SPORT THAT IT’S EVOLVED INTO, IN THE PAST DECADE, IT WAS A MORE SPONTANEOUS, LESS SPLASHY AFFAIR. THE LATE GODFATHER OF THE SCENE, BILL CUNNINGHAM, AND HIS STYLISH DOCUMENTARY OF WHAT NEW YORKERS – CELEBRITY OR NOT – WORE AS THEY WENT ABOUT THEIR DAY-TO-DAY LIVES IN THE ’70S THROUGH TO THE EARLY AUGHTS. THE NOW-DEFUNCT JAPANESE MAGAZINE FRUITS AND ITS IMMORTALISATION OF ’90S HARAJUKU SUBCULTURES AND THEIR INDIVIDUALISTIC FASHION TASTES. EVEN THE HOTSHOTS OF THE BLOGGER GENERATION – NAMES LIKE TOMMY TON AND SCOTT SCHUMAN OF THE SARTORIALIST FAME WHO HAVE SINCE LARGELY TRADED STREET STYLE FOR COMMERCIAL WORK – CAPTURED A VERY DIFFERENT SIDE TO THE INDUSTRY AND ITS FOLLOWERS IN THEIR EARLY YEARS: MODELS OFF DUTY, CAMERA-SHY EDITORS ON THE GO, THE PASSER-BY WHO GENUINELY LOVES DRESSING UP. SO WITH THE GLOBAL FASHION WEEKS MUCH QUIETER THAN BEFORE SINCE THE ONSET OF THE PANDEMIC, WE THOUGHT: WHY NOT POUND THE STREETS OF SINGAPORE AND BRING BACK THAT CELEBRATION OF REAL STYLE?