In full bloom

MANILA, Philippines - In the Garden of Eden, we are all flowers and greens of different species, origins and names, of petals blooming in different hues and shapes, of leaves gathered as different fronds, all outstretched to the heavens. No two flowers and plants are alike, but all are flowers and plants, all beautiful and vibrant in their differences just the same.

This harmony in diversity can also be said of the Southeast Asian fashion market. “The idea that the Asian market is all about luxury is not correct. At least, it’s over. Asia is very diverse. Now, it is more about each country wanting to flaunt their uniqueness from the other. Each one wants to shine,” points out Charles & Keith regional operations manager Arlène Scherwey during the exclusive media presentation of the brand’s summer 2017 collection at The Playground in Bench Tower. Her experience includes starting up Charles & Keith in the Philippines, the first footwear brand under Suyen Corporation.

Charles & Keith is one such brand in the retail landscape, a Singaporean brand that is both experimental yet integral to any fashion woman’s wardrobe with its contemporary shoe aesthetic which has grown into a full accessories line comprising bags, belts, shades, key chains, tech accessories, and costume jewelry. In the advent of e-commerce (which they do have at charleskeith.com), however, Charles & Keith remains available in strategically located brick-and-mortar stores at prime shopping districts around the world with an emphasis on customer service and merchandising. “From the store lighting, our staff, to the moment you first try on the shoes, the experience has to be irreplaceable,” Scherwey says.

In line with the overarching idea of exploring creative processes for spring/summer 2017, Charles & Keith launches #CharlesKeithCurates, a digital campaign that seeks to document fashion through creativity. The campaign localizes each market’s idea of inspiration springing from creation by highlighting the works of artists representing their home country across Asia and Middle East through their interpretation of art meets fashion.

The collaboration debuted in Asia with fashion illustrators: Grace Ciao and Sun Lee from Singapore, Charly Rodrigues from Portugal, and our very own Krizia Chan, all paying homage to the work-in-progress (through a series of perspectives and experimentations with techniques and tools and its documentation) as an art form.

“We took into consideration the different art scenes in each market,” says Scherwey. “There are markets where more traditional mediums like painting are more popular while some are more unconventional. In the Philippines, in a lot of fields, not just the visual arts, digital is very strong.”

 For summer, its Philippine leg features a collaboration with illustrator and graphic designer Raxenne Maniquiz. Around Southeast Asia, she joins celebrity stylist Kelbin Lei from Vietnam who had handwritten slogans painted onto the bags, urban street artist Lisa Mam from Cambodia, and graphic designer Fajar P. Domingo and illustrator Justine Kusuma from Indonesia.

“We chose Raxenne because she is based in digital and she is also fashion-forward. Our collaboration with her is a success. We are now looking at more digital collaborations because we learned through working with her that there is so much more to digital than still images,” says senior marketing executive Elise Lim.

“Fashion and art are inseparable,” Maniquiz agrees. She fuses both art disciplines by creating relatable art compositions with digital enhancements as an added dimension to her illustrations. For the collaboration, Maniquiz applied complementary touches of parrot tulips, freesia flowers, eucalyptus green and monarch butterflies to her interpretation of the artwork from the summer 2017 Peasant Charm and Garden of Eden series. With Charles & Keith Philippines, there’s a video presentation of how each illustration progresses from black-and-white sketches into a bouquet coming to life with textures and colors.

Charles & Keith Philippines demonstrates this domino effect of flower power inspiration through a collaboration with cake artist Yumi Castrillo for an edible art installation inspired by Maniquiz’s take on the summer collection. Castrillo and her team made 230 cupcakes, 60 24k gold butterflies, and 50 triple-dusted gumpaste leaves. The challenge was in fashioning 100 poppies. “That means no floral wires for stamens,” she points out. Instead, she used Chupa-Chups lollipops covered with black fondant textured with gelatin crystals to make 100 poppy centers and made 400 extra-thin free standing frilled individual petals to float around the poppy centers, held down by chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. Castrillo herself is inspired by the artistry of cake-making, which has led to her taking the leap from her law practice into cake-making as both a passion and a profession.

Looking back, Scherwey exclaims, “These are all inspired by the magic of our Charles & Keith shoes!”

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A cutout is tipped in the brand’s spring/summer magazine available in stores, encouraging you to create your own piece of “fashion art.” Submissions through Instagram with the hashtag #CHARLESKEITHCURATES are not limited to the cutouts. You can upload your illustrations, photography or animations that best represent what fashion means to you in the medium you command. Those submitted by using the hashtag will be curated and featured on the campaign microsite, www.charleskeith.com/curates.

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In the Philippines, Charles & Keith is exclusively distributed by Suyen Corporation nationwide. Visit www.charleskeith.com/us/storelocator/ to find a Charles & Keith store near you.

The campaign extends to a limited edition, exclusively designed tote bag inspired from the romantic color palette and floral touches available with a minimum of P5,000 spent at select Charles & Keith stores all month.