Singapore - The overcast sky threatened rain and many of the guests were unfamiliar with the new location, but opening night of Audi Fashion Festival 2013 still saw a full house at the Tent @ Marina Promenade with the front rows filled with local celebrities like Oli Pettigrew, Rosalyn Lee and Sheila Sim.
The show kicked off with CH Carolina Herrera, which featured plenty of textured fabrics.
Tweed was a key fabric for Autumn Winter 2013, and it was done in a peplum pantsuit, a houndstooth skirt suit as well as in a cropped jacket.
Luxe brocade in a chili red hue was also a recurring fabric on dresses, from a knee-length flared gown to a floor-sweeping backless number.
Pencil skirts with a kick-flare ruffled hem offered a touch of fun to the girly, demure and elegant collection which would not look out of place on a young working woman in a very stylish office setting.
Next up was the mainline, Carolina Herrera, that pushed the sophistication of CH Carolina Herrera to the next level. It was clearly a collection meant for that young working woman's superior; her older, wiser and more affluent boss.
If fur meant glamour and luxury, the Carolina Herrera FW'13 showed it in spades, there was fur everywhere, on collars, on sleeves, as cropped coats, on skirt hems and as coat trims...the list goes on.
A hint of the 40s came through too, with the preponderance of nipped waists and silk dresses.
The hero print of the season belonged to the peony flower, which was used on silk pyjama pants, dresses and tops in three different colour iterations; brown, black and turquoise.
There were plenty of gowns too - some were silk dresses that were cut simply around the model's svelte physique, accessorised only with a splash of fur, others had sequinned embellishments all around the torso and arms and some others were trimmed in velvet.
The standout piece of the night went to a gown that was sexy- the neckline was cut to the spot just above the navel - as it was bold, the fiery red shade made it quite the stunner.
The models seemed to have some difficulty walking in the floor-sweeping gowns, a couple faltered on the runway while others tread somewhat awkwardly along but that didn't matter to the audience who gave a rousing applause to Mrs Herrera when she walked out onto the runway.
Day one of Audi Fashion Festival is certainly off to a good start.
The Audi Fashion Festival 2013 is held at The Tent@Marina Promenade at Marina Promenade Turn, behind the Singapore Flyer from May 15 to May 19, 2013.
Photos: Plush, Royston Neo
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