Galaxy magazine, Fall 2015

Galaxy magazine, Fall 2015 cover shoot.

 

Play List: David Elliott

5 things about fine art photographer David Elliott

What I’m listening to: music is usually playing when I’m working, so the likes of Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Andrew Bird and James Blunt, among others, are on a loop. My favourite male singers include Frank Sinatra and his modern counterpart, Michael Bublé, and my favourite females are Sarah McLachlan, Eva Cassidy, Alicia Keys and Norah Jones. Plus, doesn’t everyone love Adele?

What I’m reading: over the years, I have enjoyed Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. Photography books such as Genesis by Sebastião Salgado, The Earth from the Air by Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Manufactured Landscapes by Edward Burtynsky.

What I’m watching: I liked Birdman, Chef and even the soppy The Fault in Our Stars. The last great TV series was Breaking Bad. One of my favourite films is The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

What artists I’m following: Christoph Niemann has a unique ability to visualise and create. He can take something simple and transform it into something inspiring. Steve McCurry is also inspirational. I like illustrator Tanya Piratay and painter Simon Birch, whose vision and drive are a great model for aspiring artists.

Where I’m surfing: apart from the obvious Facebook, I’m often on Instagram to see what the creative folk are doing, and on YouTube for music and comedy stuff like Jimmy Fallon. I’m a massive sports fan, so I regularly log on to ESPN.com to keep up on basketball, hockey, American football, tennis and golf.

As told to P. Ramakrishnan. Portrait by Jesper McIlroy   

Play List: Thomas Ng: Hong Kong Actor and Model

Portrait: Dino Busch Photography
Outfit: Calvin Klein Jeans
Accessories: L. Luminous, at Joyce

Hong Kong model turned actor Thomas Ng. Chat with South China Morning Post for the column. Set q's each week. 

  Below: Outtakes from the shoot. 

Play List: Reanne Moe

5 things dance entrepreneur Reanne Moe loves right now

What I’m listening to: music is a constant inspiration for me as a dancer, instructor and playlist mastermind at the bar Rummin’ Tings. My top three albums at the moment are Currents by Tame Impala, Winter’s Diary 3 by Tink and The Beyond/Where the Giants Roam by Thundercat.

What I’m reading: I enjoy anything by David Sedaris (Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, When You are Engulfed in Flames) and Paul Coelho (The Alchemist). Tales of Ordinary Madness by Charles Bukowski is fantastic. Recently, I’ve been reading books on finance and accounting, start-ups and business plans.

What I’m watching: on TV there’s Orange is the New Black, Power and Masters of Sex. My favourite film is Best in Show – I can recite the entire movie. I love all of Christopher Guest’s films.

What artists I’m following: It was awesome to see Misty Copeland become the first black principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre and I follow her on Instagram. I’m no ballerina, but ballet is the foundation that lays the technique for all dance, so I appreciate the fundamentals. Oddisee, a producer/musician/MC out of Brooklyn, is a worthy artist and someone I admire. His music is quite special. I enjoy Hong Kong artist Peter Yuill’s work. It is Illuminati-esque.

Where I’m surfing: SoundCloud, 22tracks, BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post, YouTube and Spotify. And, of course my own site (dance-pass.com).

As told to P. Ramakrishnan. Portrait by Dino Busch. 

Met Reanne Moe at Rummin' Tings and she's bril! This amazing portrait by Dino Busch.

Brief Encounters: Narcisa Pheres

Hong Kong men's fashion designer Narcisa Pheres talks expansion, Asia, and her big career switch

Romanian-born Pheres went from trading in jewellery and art in Japan to launching an eponymous clothing brand, moving to Hong Kong and now moving into womenswear and online retailing

Sartorially savvy gentlemen everywhere know about her eponymous bespoke Italian menswear brand. Now Pheres is diversifying into womenswear, fine jewellery, online retailing and more, as she explained in a recent interview. P. Ramakrishnan writes. Portraits by Dino Busch.


"I was born in Romania into a family of mixed origins. My mother has Greek heritage and my father is Romanian - and people always find it amusing to learn that I'm from Transylvania - but I have spent more than half my life in Asia, including more than 13 years in Japan.

My formal education was in arts, literature and linguistics. And I later studied fashion design in Milan at the Instituto di Moda Burgo and fashion marketing studies at Central Saint Martins in London.

I read so much about the history of art and did lots of comparative literature studies at school, but ended up as a twenty-something trader in Tokyo, dealing with vintage jewellery, rare wines and fine art.

Travelling the world and dealing in exceptional art and jewellery pieces taught me a lot and introduced me to a special clientele. Some of the collectors were fascinated by the large, centre stones in the vintage jewellery pieces I was buying for them and asked me to redesign them and make them more modern or give them a personal touch. I became passionate about it and studied to become a certified jewellery designer.

The inevitable next step seemed to be fashion - so I returned to Europe [Milan and London] to attain the proper technical skills [fashion design, fashion marketing, branding and communications]. Already with a design background from the jewellery side, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

Around 2006, I launched my first collections. I did a few evening gowns and menswear. With my experience in Milan, London and Tokyo, it made sense to do men's fashion - even though I studied mostly womenswear design. I found it fascinating to see men's fashion from a woman's point of view and pretty much this became a very strong value for the brand. I was personal designer and stylist for a lot of celebrities, and all those men would trust my sensibility and instinct and they let me design and make personal collections for them for each season.

With my experience in Milan, London and Tokyo, it made sense to do men's fashion - even though I studied mostly womenswear design. I found it fascinating to see men's fashion from a woman's point of view

Narcisa Pheres

I launched the brand in Japan - not only because Tokyo has been my home for so many years but it was the most sophisticated market at that time where consumers were aware of brand propositions and values. Five years ago, I moved to Hong Kong with my husband and our children. Asia has always been my base. I love living in Hong Kong, which I think is the centre of Asia. It took me a bit longer to establish the brand in Hong Kong. I wasn't really concentrating on the market here, but instead I was doing exhibitions and trunk shows during fashion weeks in Europe and Japan.

Most of the past five years, I've been busy travelling around the world doing Pheres trunk shows in London, Milan, Florence, Venice. I didn't concentrate on retailing or developing business locally, as my scope was to get the brand recognised globally and reach a wider audience. That's also the reason why we have launched our ready-to-wear line and the new Pheressentials online store.

I am the creative head and chief executive of Pheres and have a team of designers based all over the world. Without my tailors and team in Italy, we would be nothing. But as any designer will tell you, it's all about teamwork.

We recently launched our first womenswear capsule collection. We had been creating couture gowns over the years - for celebrities and VIPs - but this is the first time we've had a ready-to-wear line for women. Being one of the few women who design mainly men's fashion and with my background in jewellery design, I love playing with fabrics and textile designs, so the most fun I have is when deciding prints and colours for each silk collection.

I remember my biggest investment when I was studying design in Milan was two antique books with swatches and silk prints from the late 1800s until the 1950s. Every now and then, together with our silk manufacturers in Como, I restyle one of those designs and put it in the collection.

And one of our new offerings is a bespoke service for silk accessories where clients can make their own design."

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PUBLISHED : Thursday, 15 October, 2015, 6:17am
UPDATED : Thursday, 15 October, 2015, 6:17am