Frederick Lee once again showed his designs overseas. This time, in Korea. As is his usual fashion, he did not play down the drama

With no fashion week runway on our island to show his collections on, self-proclaimed couturier Frederick Lee has taken his creations abroad, once more. Recently, to South Korea, specifically the sea-fronting city of Busan. It was for the 2023 Asean-Korea Fashion Week (AKFW), staged over two days last week. This was Mr Lee’s second overseas showing in three months, after Aquafina Vietnam International Fashion Week in July, where he presents his bespoke collections regularly since as far back as 2013 (or earlier). In the past years (including during the pandemic), he has even participated in obscure shows, such as Pacific Style Week in Vladivostok, Russia (2014) and Harbin Fashion Week (2021) in 哈尔滨 (haerbin), China. He is probably the only Singapore-based designer who has presented his garments that far north. His recent appearance in Busan came hot on the heels of #SGFASHIONNOW, this year decamped to Busan (and later in Seoul), helping our nation score more fashion points in South Korea.

Gathering glory for our city, too, was Frederick Lee’s glorious fashion. AKFW pitched him to the Korean audience as “Singapore’s most sought after designer”, whose “avant-garde designs often spoken of as windows into the future”. That sounds suspiciously like Asian Civilisations Museum-speak. In fact, we hope ACM was on a buying mission. Theirs are archives, we suspect, wanting such dramatic future-informed clothes. On Facebook, Mr Lee shared his thoughts on his design process with regards to the collection for AKFW (we quote verbatim): “When i Create i allow my mind to become empty, and surprise myself with the fascination and imagination that begins to flow from my soul. I guess I was born with something inside me that refuses to settle for average . I don’t know what it is , but I’m grateful I have it.” It is fascinating and imaginative that Mr Lee feels so sure of himself and what he was born with, but “average” is not something one chooses to settle for. Sometimes, it chooses you, and just sticks to you, like duct tape to itself.

It is fascinating and imaginative that Mr Lee feels so sure of himself and what he was born with, but “average” is not something one chooses to settle for. Sometimes, it just sticks to you, like duct tape to itself

Just as he has the tendency to bloviate, he is partial to designing for shows, as if every runway is a Miss Universe pageant—an event at which he has flown the SG flag several times. His runway clothes, therefore, have to be worthy of the national costume and evening wear segment of the competition. (Interestingly, Mr Lee will not be designing the costumes for whoever will represent our nation this year. In a Facebook post last month, he wrote, “Im (sic) afraid to say I will not be designing this year (sic) Miss Universe Singapore . No designers (sic) want to creat (sic) the Miss Universe Singapore National costume and Evening gowns more than I do. My professional and work commitments were just too full.”) Whether he is showing in Ho Chi Minh City or in Busan, he presents as if he is selling himself as a pageant gown maker—a master of dresses with immoderate surface treatment and of crazy volumes.

His 15-piece collection for AKFW was classic Frederick Lee (another way to look at it is, one-note). He loves feathers, so there were feathers. He loves sequins and there were gleaming encrustations. He loves applique, and there were thick plaques. He loves puffy parts, there were awkward protuberances. He loves layers of tulle, and there were floaty piles. There, too, was a (curious) love of the top-heavy. Feathered all-manner of tops were strangely paired with fitted pants (leggings?) that came with saggy crotches—an item of clothing even Kim Kardashian, lover of tights, would reject. It isn’t clear if some of the clothes were damaged during shipment, but one orange number with fringed shoulders had a skirt that looked like a misshapen mini-crini. Mr Lee, in case you didn’t know, is also a milliner. Surprisingly, his over-the-top headwear did not crown every head. But one did frame the entire face, and it had more than a whiff of Valentino.

Inspired by other designers is rather a part of Mr Lee’s oeuvre of thirty-plus years. What is truly amusing is his online posts. Off-stage, on social media, he loves to make proclamations and offer maxims, often not crediting his source (they appear without quotation marks, too). Accompanying one photograph of a staffer unpacking his clothes, shared on Facebook three days before the start of AKFW, he wrote: “I creates (sic) from my heart and the ability to dream is all I have to give. It’s not where you take things from[,] it’s where you take them to”—the second part not attributed to the French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard. Days later, he shared a photo of himself posing in front of a publicity poster (with a picture of him on top of the poser). The accompanying comment read: “You create your own universe as you go along. The stronger your imagination, the more variegated your universe.” There was no mention of Winston Churchill. And closer to the show, he offered a video of the runway before a rehearsal, he captioned the short reel: “Starve your distractions, feed your focus” without referring to the American footballer/punter Steve Weatherford. It was as if Mr Lee consulted a book of quotations before hitting the keyboard.

As a designer, Mr Lee is old-school, and is still drawn to the old. It is laudable that he frequently sees himself brimming with creativity. And that he has been able to declare: “What a pleasure it is to live a creative life”. Despite the keenness in his own abilities (and the frequent boasts of the hours he spent on a gown or the unimaginable details packed into it), Frederick Lee’s approach to design is an act of access—pile on, rather than strip back. He is, without doubt, not Demna Gvasalia. His “couture” has to look couture, from a mile away—exaggeration being the defining mark. He is, of course, in good company. There are many designers who express themselves in similar fashion. How does he stand out then? In a 2019 article in The Business Times, Frederick Lee said, “Being original is the key to your craft.” Who could he be quoting?

Screen shots: BTFA/YouTube