Summer Is Calling With Burberry’s Playful Pieces For The Season

What does it mean for Burberry – progenitor of gabardine and the iconic British maker of trench coats – when the sun is high? Punk-meets-preppy polo shirts and coated canvas accessories stamped with the house’s vintage check – pieces that inject a playful jolt of cool into warmer days. And for Singapore’s coolest creatives? Five of them tell us what’s in store for the months ahead.

1. Nicolette Yip, Designer

Operating within the global design and underground party scene has long kept designer Nicolette Yip at the forefront of culture. In the past year, however, the co-founder of cult streetwear label The Salvages has added another layer to her preternatural cool: that of an It-girl DJ. Besides getting booked for just about every major fashion event in town, she played in London for the first time earlier this year – at the iconic Koko, no less – before heading to Hong Kong to spin at the progressive Minh for an Art Basel after-party. Little wonder all she wants to do next is spend time with her loved ones and chill. “I want to be on a beach listening to some really good Balearic tunes,” she says. “I want to get a tan.”

2. Bryan Kang, owner of botanical design consultancy

As the founder of botanical and landscape design consultancy Pudica, Bryan Kang creates leafy panoramas he describes as “a bit wild, a bit apocalyptic”. Far from disorderly, however, each expressive display is underpinned by a meticulous eye and careful planning. “We operate as an ecosystem – just like the one plants live in,” he says. “Every little thing affects what comes next.” It explains why his growing list of clients includes buzzy, Instagram-perfect lifestyle destinations such as Nowhere Baths and the luxury tempura restaurant Tenshima. The same tension between the primitive and the polished anchors his budding accessories label, Knotty Knotty Nice Nice, where he hand-assembles keychains and charms using paracord and industrial hardware. Seeing the best of two worlds is likewise on his mid-year wish list. “I want to experience more of Europe again during the summer – hopefully Amsterdam, Germany and Poland,” he says. “And, for work, countries in the region that have a lot of nature… I love identifying plants in the wild and looking at how they grow in their natural habitat. The forms and growth patterns are always so different from the human expectations we impose on them.”

3. Shye, singer

The moment has finally arrived for Shye: the launch of her second full-length album, The Doves Came Home, in May – a ’90s-inflected, shoegaze-leaning fever dream about “coming home to yourself and finding yourself in this big world”. Written, performed, mixed and mastered by Shye herself – who was also behind its charcoal portrait-like album art – the atmospheric, deeply personal 14-track release is her most confident yet. “I’d say I’ve finally found my sound,” she tells us. It’s the perfect follow-up to her well-received guest performance at alt-rock legends The Jesus and Mary Chain’s concert at the Esplanade in April. More travel is already on the horizon, including joining Canadian grunge duo Softcult for its Southeast Asian tour, and possibly her own in August.

4. Manfred Lim aka DJ Myrne

This summer, Manfred Lim – better known as the DJ Myrne – will be playing not one, but two dream festivals. On May 22, he’s part of the line-up at Lane 8 presents TNH TEN – Summer Gathering London, a feel-good electronic affair in scenic Barking Park where cameras, including the one on your phone, are strictly off-limits. About two weeks later, he heads to a similar show in the postcard-perfect lakeside town of Dillon, Colorado. “Even as a performer, you’re encouraged not to take any content,” he says. “What people do is bring sketchbooks to draw instead… I’m really on board with this concept.” This is not quite the Myrne who burst onto the scene over a decade ago, making headlines with performances at flashy EDM festivals like Tomorrowland and Ultra Miami. The pandemic, he says, was a turning point. With mainly himself for an audience, he began exploring more progressive sounds – the ones that now feel most natural to him. That shift also led to Beam, a movement studio he co-founded nine months ago with two friends, where yoga classes are set to live ambient DJ sets.

5. Alia Ballout, owner of olive oil brand Beit Ballout

Alia Ballout takes matters into her own hands. Three years ago, she launched Beit Ballout – Singapore’s first olive oil brand – as a creative outlet for her crushing corporate job as a lawyer trainee. Her family owns an olive grove in Lebanon, where her father is from, and producing olive oil the traditional way – handpicking the fruit, then cold-pressing it within four to six hours without machinery – was already part of their lives. Why not make it available to others, as a way of sharing the beauty of both craft and land? These days, the 27-year-old runs Beit Ballout full-time, overseeing everything from marketing to retail. In the months ahead, she’ll be spending more time at the brand’s new office on Alexandra Road. Furnished with works by local artists – including a verdant olive tree mural by digital illustrator Kenneth Seow – it houses Singapore’s first olive oil processing facility (the oil is air-flown from Lebanon and bottled in small batches here). Says Ballout: “Since I decided to do something creative and that I love, every day feels like summer.”

This article first appeared in Volume 8 of F ZINE, in collaboration with Burberry.

TEXT NOELLE LOH PHOTOGRAPHY HUBERT HOON STYLING TOK WEI LUN

Styling assistant Kevin Tew Hair Eng Chong Tan/Kizuki + Lim Makeup Keith Bryant Lee & Wee Ming, using Burberry Beauty Location Special thanks to Temporary Unit Production assistant Pang Jia Wei