New Portrait Ad

Mimi Ledo Creator of BoAime

Mimi Ledo, the brains behind Bohemian luxury label BoAime is one of my favourites. Here's my portrait and text on what she loves and what inspires her. Look for it in the October issue of Travel+Leisure SEA!

Bangkok Street Style in Tiger Tales Asia

I roamed around Siam Square in Bangkok where one is always guaranteed to spot some of the most stylish in the city. In fact, the first posts of this blog featured some then teenagers who readily showed their style. Get a closer look here: Tiger Tales Asia. Also in the same issue is my feature on Taipei's rock scene including American singer Christine Welch, a Fulbright scholar of Chinese who writes and sings in her adopted language, The Chairman, Taiwan's biggest and longest running band, Tank the aboriginal singer who's stealing girls' hearts with his ballads and Trash, the up-and-coming alternative band.

Bohemian Lux Label BoAime

I'm hooked on Bohemian lux label BoAime. If you like bamboo, silk and cashmere, take a look at the autumn/winter cashmere cardigans that drape beautifully on the FB page here or on their website here for the spring/summer 2013 collection that's mostly silk. Mimi Ledo, the founder and creative director of the label also gives a percentage of her profits to UNICEF each year.

Stylish Sixties

My stylish mother who is always willing to let me experiment. Here she's wearing a linen top by Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, linen trousers and shawl by H&M, bag by Coach, and shoes with vintage finish at the tip by Vera Wang. The necklace is mine :-)

Taipei Stylist Ghostwomb Lai

Taipei

Kurt Chen of label Faith inspired by vintage American style.

Taipei

New Project: Vietnam's Pajama Ladies

I started this project a few years ago when I first started coming to Vietnam. It was obvious quite early on that Vietnam loves its bright colours and bold prints, often several worn at the same time. I started taking photos in Chinatown one day outside a market.

What I found is these pajamas move with the women who quite often are working class women running a street cafe or carrying bundles to and fro. They haven't got time to fuss about with zips, flaps or drawstrings. And as most of these pajamas are made from synthetic fabric, they dry quickly under the hot Saigon sun after a long day's work. There are ones with a scoop neck, a bib collar or a tank with frills added on. While these outfits can be bought at markets, some women make their own adding special touches.

Here is one lady I first noticed from the window of my taxi selling coconuts at a roundabout. After seeing her cherry blossom shirt jacket, I got inspired to walk around the streets the next day for more portraits of pajama ladies. As luck would have it, I spotted her in the same jacket after walking a few blocks, this time sitting on the curb of Vincom Center I, Saigon's first shopping mall.

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Travel+Leisure SEA Taipei Street Style

Here are the tearsheets in the Travel+Leisure SEA story I worked on in December.

Portraits in The Observer Magazine

The story I worked on with the brilliant award-winning journalist Abigail Haworth "From War Babies to Billionaires: Vietnam's Wealthiest Women. Click here to read the online version

Taipei in Travel+Leisure SEA

I was in Taipei beginning of December for several assignments. One of them was to capture and chat with stylish Taipei residents, some in the fashion industry, some not. Here they are. Some appearing in this month's Travel+Leisure SEA. Grab a copy for the full story!