Min:26 °C Max:30 °C
» Weather Details
November 07, 2009 Saturday

ST Breaking News | Blogs | ST's Home Ground
Fash Hag
Fashion Correspondent
FASH HAG: A breath of fresh air
July 03, 2009 Friday, 06:00 AM
Fash Hag checks out the new Orchard Central Mall and is pleasantly surprised.

OKAY, so who among you is tired of bargain bin diving at the Great Singapore Sale (GSS)?

Because I am – well, a little bit.

So to cure my shopper’s fatigue, I decided to check out one of the newest attractions in town – the Orchard Central mall next to the Somerset MRT station.

Touted as the "centre of new", it is one of Singapore’s tallest malls, standing at 14 storeys high, including two basements. 

What an eye-opener it was.

Although not many shops are open yet, the mall does a good job of advertising who’s in business by displaying wares from various stores in clear glass cases at various locations in the mall. There is also a cluster of mannequins – togged out in clothes and accessories from stores that are open – in the ground floor’s foyer.

For instance, I spotted an uber chic black-and-white maxi dress from Skye and cute tops for clubbing at Glitter Glam – both on the third floor.

Though the corridors look very dark and narrow, as a lot of hoarding is up around unfinished units, a good number of new things will keep even the most jaded of fashionistas occupied.

There are about 11 stores open on the ground level, and brands like Guess, Soo Kee Jewellery and The Hour Glass beckon shoppers with interiors so spanking new they glitter alongside the bling in the display cases.

Desigual, a Spanish casualwear brand on the ground floor facing Orchard Road, caught my eye with banners that said "up to 50 per cent off". I ventured inside and was greeted by cheerful colours and flirty sundresses. Itsy bitsy, cuter-than-polka-dot bikinis were going at a respectable $62 per set – talk about turning up the heat for summer.

Upstairs, I was attracted a mysterious little store called Mika Hayashi, which looked like an hermetic black box with just the words "Japanese diva retro funk store" on the outside.

It is an effective way of drawing curious shoppers in: I found the place crawling with youths pawing over Cosplay-type dresses in psychedelic colours.

Basement one seems to be the most bustling floor for now. Highly reminiscent of Far East Plaza, the stores here are small-sized but plentiful, and appear to cater to the youth market. I found my Louboutins involuntarily tottering over to a store called E2 Lingerie, which sells brassieres, arranged from floor to ceiling, in candy-coloured columns. Better still – some of them are going at 70 per cent discount.

So you see, my daaahlings, you don't need to hang around the same old brands to find good deals this GSS.

Oh yes, that reminds me: One of the best things I found about the mall was its innovative steel and glass facade, which has "super escalators" taking you up more than one storey at a time. The ones that take you to the higher floors give a bird's eye view of the Orchard Road surrounds, which is a breath of fresh air in more ways than one.



Tags: , , ,

 
Total comments: 4
pkp
July 03, 2009 Friday

it's always about being chic and artsy....which by the way are euphisms for being pretentious.

....there is no soul.

It looks nice....but what is new?

It's like hawker centres....different names, different places, different colors....same food.

comment 5711 | Offensive? Report this comment
Hirza
July 03, 2009 Friday

The monetary price of failure is always high for any business but the experience gained and the lesson learnt will be invaluable for use in the future with the hopes of finally creating a business strategy that works. It may be true that not every budding entrepreneur is equipped with sufficient knowledge to prevent the failure of his business but that should not stop him from pursuing his dream of providing a service or a good that will benefit the world. Failure should not stop us but instead drive us on in search for meaning and understanding as to the reason for our failures. Man should be instilled with the moral obligation to always find out the reason for his failure so even though he may choose to leave his dream behind, others may make use of his information to move on in his wake.

comment 5706 | Offensive? Report this comment
dorkedog
July 03, 2009 Friday

Yet another new mall. Yet another ghost town when the dust settles.
The price of failure in Singapore is very high. The graveyard of failed businesses is getting full.
I cannot feel sorry for the shopkeeper who has pawned his life for shopfront space because he/she is not listening or hearing the the voice of doom.
The test of a good shopping centre is NOT the crowds but the number of bags that the customers carry.
Watch out for insolvency notices in the press.
The only winners, as in the 80's will be the landlords, the lawyers and the banks.



comment 5703 | Offensive? Report this comment
ivy lee
July 03, 2009 Friday

I look forward to reading .your articles starting from the ones written by you in the Thurs/Friday liftouts of the Straits Times and now online as I shuttle between Austrtalia and S'pore. You are very witty and I find your artiles informative. Thanks for updating me on the latest mall openings and the great buys. Appreciate if you could give me the website for downloading vouchers for vivio c ity etc.
Will be checking them out when I return in a couple of week. Can't wait !
Cheers'
Ivy

comment 5696 | Offensive? Report this comment

Your comments are welcome. The following rules apply:

(1) Stay on topic;
(2) No abuse, please;
(3) No personal attacks;
(4) No curse words;
(5) Don't SCREAM in ALL CAPS!

To encourage a meaningful and pleasant dialogue, comments may be deleted. We look forward to your participation!

Best viewed at 1152x864 resolution with IE 6.0 or FireFox 2.0 and above Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Co. Regn No. 198402868E | Privacy Statement | Terms & Conditions