Tropical Fiesta

By Angelene Wong

Tropical Fiesta was one of the most extravagant fashion shows Singapore has seen and a key instance of cultural tourism, held during the 1989 Singapore International Shopping Festival. The show, organised between the fashion industry and governmental institutions, was a fashion spectacle for the Italy-based brand Byblos to raise funds for the new Singapore Dance Theatre.

Introduction

On 19 April 1989, a landmark fashion show was held at Sentosa for the Italy-based fashion brand, Byblos. The gala show was part of the month-long Singapore International Shopping Festival, raising funds for the then one-year-old Singapore Dance Theatre (SDT). It was organised by boutique store Man and His Woman, SDT, Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, and Banca Commerciale Italiana, and sponsored by Singapore Airlines (SIA).

Figure 1. Byblos image advertising the upcoming Tropical Fiesta show, part of Singapore International Shopping Festival ‘89, 6 April 1989 (Taken from: *Timezone Central*)

Man and His Woman was a multi-label boutique store started in 1972 by ex-The Straits Times journalist Judith Chung, that introduced Byblos to Singapore in 1977. Byblos, touted as “one of Milan’s most successful ready-to-wear fashion designer labels,” was designed by Keith Varty, from Ireland, and Alan Cleaver, from London, since the 1979 handover from Guy Paulin. Created in 1973, the brand offered “a more casual look that’s fashionable yet stylishly classic” for young professionals and often presented such designs in upbeat shows that made them stand out among otherwise more serious ones during Milan fashion weeks. The Spring/Summer 1989 collection, catering to both men and women, demonstrated the brand’s affinity for playfulness and colour through a tropical theme: “A riot of colours – fuschia, mango, tangerine, violet, turquoise and deep-sea blue – in giant fruit print, geometric Mexican-inspired fabric, and New-Hawaiian hibiscus and parrot print.”

Chung then opened a standalone Byblos boutique in 1987, catering to a clientele that by 1989 was about a thousand people, which was “twice the customer pool of the average designer boutique” in Singapore. Apart from the spectacularity of their shows and colourful designs, Byblos’s popularity could be attributed to the range of pieces it produced each season and the lower price point compared to other designer brands. It after all also played into the Singaporean clientele’s affinity for European brands which symbolised fashionability on the global scale.

In 1988, Byblos was among at least 56 ‘upmarket’ labels imported into Singapore – an important strategy for Singapore's economy during the rise of its tourism sector. Japanese and European tourists reportedly reserved more than 60 per cent of their spending for clothes during their trips to Singapore. As the Singapore economy prospered, more Singaporeans were also willing and able to purchase such designer clothes.

Figure 2. Byblos designs, 6 April 1989 (Taken from: *Timezone Central*)

Cultural Tourism and Gala Fashion Shows

Figure 3. List of designer labels imported into Singapore, complied by Cheng Wai Keung, president of the Textile and Garment Manufacturers Association of Singapore, 24 June 1988 (Taken from: *Business Times*)

The 1980s was a time of heavy institutionalisation of Singapore’s fashion industry. Governmental bodies such as the Economic Development Board and the Tourist Promotion Board organised trade fashion shows such as Singapore Apparel and supported Singapore designers when they showcased their work overseas, as there was increasing awareness of the importance of fashion as a cultural symbol and economic vehicle for nation-building. Singapore was on the radar of international fashion, evidenced through fashion media. A July 1983 Vogue article “Singapore: fantasy island – in a boom-town state of mind” by Richard Alleman described the cultural diversity one finds in Singapore, followed by a “Vogue Travel Guide” listing hotels for the reader to have an easy choice of accommodation (Alleman 1983). Following this was a report on the introduction of the Boeing 747-300 to Singapore Airlines. In the next issue, a full-page advertisement was published for Singapore Apparel ’84, a trade buyers- only exhibition to be held at The Mandarin Singapore, with an accompanying return travel package deal. Visibly, tourism, shopping and fashion were neatly packaged for the American consumer. Arguably, Singapore had come to recognise that “[f]ashion is no longer an issue regarding ways in which people dress up and ways in which brands are distributed, but the chance for countries to take part in the global exchange, the interconnections marking our period” (Reinach 2011). By 1989, therefore, Singapore had inserted itself into a larger transnational conversation through fashion and Tropical Fiesta was an evolution of such efforts into cultural tourism.

Though only a small wealthy elite could access the luxury clothing market, fashion houses from overseas would organise gala shows in Singapore. In 1989 alone there were at least six gala shows including Karl Lagerfeld, Nina Ricci, Luciano Soprani, and Carven. Despite the unaffordability of haute couture for the masses and the unavailability of the ready-to-wear clothes shown in Singapore, these labels still splurged on shows for several reasons listed by New Paper journalist Brenton Wong. First, shows were staged “for brand awareness and to show the collection to a few select clients,” according to Elizabeth Ong, then public relations manager for F J Benjamin & Sons and organiser of a Lanvin show. Second, gala shows were staged to thank the label’s supporters, such as on the 10th anniversary of the Gianni Versace boutique in Singapore. Third, an extravagant gala show helped a brand stand out against its competition and establish customer loyalty. Last, gala shows were philanthropic endeavours by labels to aid charities while reportedly enabling them to write off their taxes. Thus hundreds of thousands of dollars are poured into such shows, where ticket prices ranged from $200 to $1000 per person.

Sentosa, the island resort, was the “natural setting” for the tropical-themed fashion show. In attendance were guest-of-honour S Dhanabalan, then Minister for National Development, Byblos designers Alan Cleaver and Keith Varty, and president of Byblos, Sergio Girombelli, flown in by SIA. The rest of the audience “sparkled with local luminaries,” “local socialites, and everybody else who had become a ‘Friend of Tropical Fiesta’ because of a generous donation to the coffers.” The evening began at 7.30pm at the new ferry terminal where donors of more than $2000 (tables cost $2,000, $3,000 and $5,000) had cocktails and then dined, with a “tropical menu” coordinated by then Food Paper publisher Violet Oon. Diners would then adjourn to the Sentosa Fountain Gardens for a static display of men’s clothes on tableaux with about 40 live models and mannequins flown in from Italy by SIA. The mannequins and models, who made up “The Hawaiian Club,” “posed in blue and white coordinates” alongside the entertainment of mimes and wandering musicians.

The main show was to follow. Eight international models and 30-60 Singaporean models [1] wore the Spring/Summer 1989 collection on “one of the longest catwalks ever – full 95 metres,” a two-tiered stage built at Sentosa’s Musical Fountain. They were joined by 12 dancers from SDT, putting on a lively display of 200 Byblos outfits. Non-diners paid $40 for a ferry trip, drinks, and to watch the fashion show. The models were choreographed by Dick Lee to perform “a bit of cha-cha, rumba and samba” while the SDT dancers were choreographed by the company’s artistic director, Anthony Then. The audience was then invited to rumba at 10pm. This collaboration between Man and His Woman and SDT began when SDT company manager Hew Yee Min caught wind that Chung would be introducing Byblos for the Festival. SDT, the first professional ballet company in Singapore, was a non-profit public company that needed at least $1 million annually. The Byblos gala show was intended to raise $150,000 for SDT.

While the setting was praised by Business Times journalist Lawrence Tan as “excellent,” he lamented how the models performed: “Sadly, the presentation was far from slick. Over-exuberant models lacking rhythm showcased what was otherwise a young, fun and colour-filled collection.”

Figure 6. Illustration of the flow of events during Tropical Fiesta, 17 April 1989 (Taken from: *New Paper*)

The mixed reactions to the extravagant fashion show is perhaps telling of the significance of Tropical Fiesta in 1989 Singapore. The tone of the news reports range from excitement and celebration of such a big feat of a fashion show, to cynicism at the excessiveness and exclusive price points, and criticisms of the aesthetic expectations that went along with such big budgets. Tropical Fiesta was a landmark fashion show because it logistically involved coordination among key fashion industry players such as Judith Chung and Dick Lee, the upcoming arts industry in the form of Singapore Dance Theatre at its nascent stage, and several governmental bodies including the Tourist Promotion Board and SIA. Such collaboration between industry and state institutions to put on a fashion spectacle operated to draw attention to Singapore as an internationalised fashionable and touristic city, and reinforced Singapore as a conduit for transnational cultural exchange through fashion.