1.
They ride in on the dot.com boom of Singapore. Their tri-level penthouse is superbly appointed. Perfect for entertaining. It's got both position and potential and, due to a built in custom made elevator, they never endure the terrible purgatory of escalators. Their slip-on culture has a whimsical approach. Their new Dolce Gabbana T-shirts read L'hip hop c'est chic. They're into American iconography. Technology doesn't phase them. Their spam never involves porn, Viagra or weight loss ads. Tonight they sip Manhattans in the blue room overlooking the harbour Upstairs it's a fresh remix of the seafood platter. Nothing deep-fried. Garfish, kingfish and roasted blue swimmer crab make up the hot ensemble. They order wine, Alsation in style, with high tones and floral aromatics. They advise the waiter that they're into organic and that they age their own beef just the way they like it. This last idea is well received. When they complain that their quince Tarte Tatin is doused in a too-sticky syrup, they are invited into the kitchen to view the souffles. They've forgotten the plot of the film they watched earlier this evening, although they remember the clothes. That darling top she was wearing in pink. His elegant cream cuffed pants. They discuss the idea of foregoing the gym this winter while admiring the huge tangerine plastic beaded chandelier – so playful – an ironic fusion of beauty and functionality. They both agree this establishment really wants to push itself to grow. ?´It's really us' she says, sliding her feet back into her fuck-me-quick shoes as he signals the waiter for the bill.
2.
Dressed in a stylish black suit, and open-necked shirt, he is charming, funny and brutally direct about his career setbacks. In the nineties there was a lot of hype. Everyone wanted a piece of him. He was living the kind of life you live in your early twenties in his early thirties. Today he's not totally averse to glancing at his past. He remembers the first pub he drank in was by the school gates and in sixth form he made his first batch of homebrew. In his first job he was quite shy and worked behind a white curtain and sent messages to his staff via an assistant. He said, in an interview, that what makes people change is a feeling that they are not important. He describes himself as a truncated die-hard minimalist – an unassailable rebel. Intriguingly Byronesque, he's into authenticity. He has a penchant for reworking his influences and knows that most trends exit as quickly as they arrive. Even a cursory glance at his advertising slogans reveals a maturing personal philosophy. He plonks down on a red vinyl lounge for a shot of caffeine and says, We all know the dangers are there. You have to try to put them to the back of your mind and forget. His motto The Fashion Cycle Waits For No Man has been liberally sampled. He has now moved to London and is completely unknown.
3.
She has a natural feel for parody. Her clothes ?± Jackie O is the reference ?± are from Versace, Chanel. She adores tweeds and tartans but works to make them more off beat. She's serious and knows from her research that LA wardrobe stylists have lately been carrying matching fuschia Vernis briefcases by Louis Vuitton. Her wild-child ways have given birth to a number of urban legends. She's modelled for Valentino and flies, from time to time, to Milan for dinner with Domenico. She believes there's incredible poetry in signature materials. Glass, leather, feather, bones. She asks you, what you learnt from Lacroix and Lucien Freud, and appears surprisingly shy fiddling with her drink and apologising. Relinquishing yourself to the dictates of fashion isn't the end of the world, she says. She loves the conquest of shopping. Armani has created a beaded grey gown and it will soon be available at a not-too-skinny price. But she can afford it. She's totally over black and is looking forward to changes. I hope it will make things nicer, more funky chic, she says. Last year she put her name to a fashion chain caf?à, which closed with huge debts. Too European they said. It's become a story in itself. Now there's her website to be launched in the coming weeks. The future holds plenty of promise.
Words and Things (Patrick Jones, ed)
