Couture On A Budget
By May Lin Tang
When you think couture, you would be reminded of John Galliano’s madcap creations accentuated with Egpytian headdress and the increase in makeup and handbag sales. When you think about it not every person none can ever really afford to be able to purchase a couture masterpiece by Lagerfeld; et al unless you are married to a Saudi prince.
Enter 21-year-old fashion maverick Selphie Bong, who hails from Indonesia and is looking to create a storm in the fashion industry. She dropped out of high school and enrolled in a computer programming and business IT course before studying fashion at Raffles University Singapore in 2005. A year later, she joined Ms. Indonesia Earth as their In-house Designer and was encouraged to join competitions. Her ability to garner a spot as one of the 10 finalists for Silhouette International Awards New York Spring 2007, brought to attention her beating 1,900 other contestants from the continent. Even though the Bong left college without any qualifications; she has gone on to huge success holding runway shows of her collection at Nolcha London Fashion Week and Bali Fashion Week.
Her collection is filled with couture meets party-ready pieces, all of which would look right at home at an atelier in Paris if designed by Nicholas Ghesquiere for Balenciaga, proving she’s more than ready to hold her own against the big guns in the fashion industry. Her inspirations for each collection run the gamut from traditional Indonesian batik to virginal diatribes and *gasp* cocaine for its pure white colour.
Most of her collection consists of dresses rich in jewel tones, some with delicate ruffles and Laura Ashley-esque florals. Also included are carefully detailed embellishments whether it’s a huge silk bow or black punk grommets adorning the straps and collar of a particular dress; perfect in fitting the East meets West design sensibilities. Fret not on this note however, for Selphie isn’t just another Asian designer sporting qipao collars; always the kiss of death for an Asian designer hoping to break onto the international fashion scene.
You won’t be seeing this girl designing basics anytime soon as Selphie seems to shine in this arena. Her creations are available by emailing sales@SelphieBong.com.
Photos credit to SelphieBong.com
