'ND I : photos from behind the scenes

Some background images from our recent 'ND I shoot. We took a bunch of video as well, currently working to get a video out to further support the aesthetic of the collection. If the building looks familiar, it's because you might have had some coffee or eaten there.

Stockist

K.I.N

51 Haji Lane

eclecticism

Paragon #03-08

Retail Therapy
Wheelock Place #03-13

'ND I : our first lookbook

Hello! Our new line 'ND I is officially on racks at various retailers around Singapore! We released some of the test shots about a week ago and now the images you see below captured by Chuck Reyes are the final result of months of work and preparation between sifr, K.I.N, and the lovely Resham from Nocturnal. Growing the idea of 'ND I has been a beautiful dance between all its participants from the beginning with the mood boards to the sample edits to the construction of it's custom rack and till just recently the launch of the line this last Friday. The garments capture the female form in a eloquent understated manner referencing masculine details from menswear tailoring in order to accentuate a almost rigid yet feminine silhouette expressing a tinge of sexuality. The use of a lightweight cotton modal jersey is soft to touch on the skin and more than comfortable in the tropics. All these combined with a sombre color palate come together to produce sifr's and Reshams take on a contemporary basics line for ladies.

Sincerely,
sifr & Resham

A few more words below in the form of our official press release:

‘ND I is the abbreviation of And I.

‘ND I is a contemporary take on women’s ready-to-wear t-shirts. It borrows masculine details from traditional menswear tailoring in the form of darts and tucks to create an almost rigid yet feminine line of everyday garments. This is a structured knitwear line.

The use of a cotton-modal blend was chosen to combine the strong traits of each type of fabric. The modal fabric gives the garment an almost soft, supple feel maintaining a stable degree of drape, while the cotton holds it together with it’s sturdy build. This blend is ideal in maintaining cohesiveness with the overall aesthetic of the label. Sturdy yet feminine, strong yet compassionate.

Inspired by the idea of interaction and exchange of energy between people, couples and lovers, the direction is to create a product for the androgynous woman and man. Be it partners or even same-sex couples, the thought of exchanging these garments with one another is an idea that would like to be explored and conveyed through the development of this product. These notions make up the core of this collaboration.

February 2011 marked the beginning of this contemporary clothing label.
With intentional use of a sombre color pallette, the line evokes a certain sense of calmness while retaining a confident edge. Sleek, youthful, sophisticated and contemporary in it's appeal with styling being crucial in the process of creating (unique) looks.

The 'ND I design procedure starts at the hands of Resham and Suraj Melwani and then filters on down to the photographic and graphic expertise of Daryl Chan and Christopher John Fussner Jr. The inaugural photoshoot was conducted by the talented Chuck Reyes who works under the renowned Geoff Ang from Geoff Studio. Our model was the ideal Linda Hao; student and part-time model.

---

"images from the projection/lookbook for 'Nd I, a structured women's knitwear line co-designed suraj of sifr and kin and his wife resham. it's being model here by linda, who's just a crazy multi-hyphenate and all around awesome chick." -Chuck Reyes

Stockist

K.I.N

51 Haji Lane

eclecticism

Paragon #03-08

Retail Therapy
Wheelock Place #03-13

'ND I : soft release

We recently conducted a photo shoot for our new brand 'ND I; A collaboration between sifr and Nocturnal. The result is a beautifully understated basics line that uses a silky cotton modal jersey geared more towards the beautiful ladies out there. The shoot took place right along Kallang Riverside Park inside the new TURE building that's now home to the famed coffee shop and bean roasters, Loysel's Toy (Papa Pahletas).

Photos are courtesy of Chuck Reyes.

















Sincerely,
sifr

Travel: Door Obsession

All pictures below are doors (except the shutters) I purchased on my travels to Lyon & Paris. The procurement of each door told a different story, some were hard to believe while others droned on with very much wind. I will say however that each story, although hard to hear at times in that terrible Franco-English accent did leave me fully entertained. My favorite story came from a young french couple, the husband came from an old parisian family while the wife had moved to Paris from Bordeaux in the early 80s to study at Sorbonne. The story left me rather unsatisfied and prompted further inquiry that could have lasted for hours if not days (Part of me very much enthralled by the movement of her lips and her poise, even the way she touched the stem of her glass to take in a stream of velvet (C. Haut Brion) got my seat tight). Much of the story fanned out into the building's history and how door came to be prior to the construction of the building in the mid 1850's during Haussmann's urban planning of the city. The family's struggle during the revolution and how his great great grandfather had hidden some of their assets with relatives in an estate just outside of Ghent... Now that I think of it perhaps it wasn't the story at all, but just the idea of her backdoor. With all that said, the cultural significance of a door had not sat with me till I had embarked on this recent trip to France. The doors that I find myself entering most of the time are either glass panes with no depth or consumer fabricated objects that only sit with the interior designer's vision of the space. Up until recently there have been very few doors that I've entered that could stand alone or carry a building's facade. As time continues I can only hope that the craft doors and their entryway facades that join them are not forgotten. Although one may say the result of such aesthetics is a society's opulence and fat, a result of human greed, the idea of looking good, the idea of Versaille, something that sits with vanity and not reality. I say, "If you can, let go of the current reality go on and craft your own."

Craft one with amazing doors!



































The post above is fictitious.

sifr & 'ndi : making custom furniture p.1

D-I-Y has been a growing part of D.E.A.R. time (sifr & kin) collective since we embarked on reworking the second floor of 51 Haji Lane. After working on the upstairs we took on building a custom fixture for our pop-up with Isetan, followed by designing our own fixtures at Tangs. After situating Tangs we only saw fit that we try our hands at constructing our very own 'A-Frame' rack. The photos below capture the journey we took to the lumber mill, Sin Wei Hong Timber, in Sungei Kaduk and the objects we found around their humble container office. Each trip we take to one of Singapore's oldest industrial areas is a journey in itself (We were there in early 2010 working with Clear Channel). The landscape that is within and around these industrial plots casts a beautiful reflection on an unchecked and organic side of Singapore. The imagery in these plots range from scrap metal collection to cement barrier casting to lumber. Each lot contains a very human and uncensored expression of a person or peoples business. A beautiful space to travel through. In our next post we'll be capturing the construction of the 'A-Frame'.

Sincerely,
sifr



















Do you guys have any photos of urban decay to share?