Click and customise

With fast fashion and flash sales tarnishing the lustre of online shopping, e-retailers are offering personalised products for a luxury retail experience.文件倉 Now, shoppers can get creative and own something truly exclusive, designing unique pieces with just a few clicks of the mouse. By May YipSet in stonewww.carriekrocks.comHOMEGROWN jewellery designer Carolyn Kan has been creating handcrafted, artisanal designs since she left her advertising job in 2009. But apart from her label Carrie K's kooky bow ties wrought in silver and oversized bib necklaces, the silversmith has also been offering customisable options on her website www.carriekrocks.com.In 2012, she launched the Word Collection of minimalist trinkets etched with meaningful phrases and terms picked by fans of her Facebook page. The three most popular words - "serendipity", "breathe" and "truth" were then emblazoned on the debut designs."After that, we saw a growing number of requests by our customers to personalise other details in their jewellery, especially among our male customers," says Ms Kan, who developed products like signet rings bearing a customer's initials, and men's bracelets and cufflinks that could be personalised. "We also noticed a general trend towards customising everything, from fingernails to putting one's initials on designer handbags."As a result of customisation options online, customers started emailing the company with requests for bespoke fine jewellery designs. "With customisation, the general designs of the pieces are the same, but some of the details such as words, colour, finish or combination of gems may be unique to the customer," explains Ms Kan.Bespoke designs are completely unique and created specifically for the customer and, unless the customer allows it, that same design will never be reproduced.Named Carrie K Bespoke, the range has been especially popular for wedding and engagement ring designs, and designs are priced from $1,000. There is no premium charged for customisation."We celebrate their individuality and spotlight all the things that make their story unique and interesting, even their imperfections," adds the designer.If the shoe fitswww.xalfdesign.comA PORTMANTEAU of the names of its founders, Xavier Mah and Alfred Hor, online shoe store Xalf allows users to cobble together a unique shoe design from a wide range of materials and details.The Malaysian-based website www.xalfdesign.com was launched last December and has since seen a 40 per cent increase in sales, with orders from China, Singapore, Hong Kong and New York. Users can choose from materials such as fur-printed calf leather, suede or lamb skin for various parts of a shoe, and specify a heel height.For those with different sized feet, gone are the days when they had to buy two pairs of shoes to fit each foot. Xalf customers could choose the left shoe in one size and the right in another. Then, the designs are handcrafted in a shoe workshop in Cheras, Malaysia, in two to four weeks, and each pair also comes with its own "birth certificate"."Alfred and I realised that there?was a niche to be filled with customisable footwear in Malaysia and Asia," says Mr Mah, a public relations consultant by trade from Kuala Selangor. "Our aim is to cater to a clientele that desires to stand out from the pack of mass produced heels and pumps. These heels are yours and yours alone.?"After attending New York Fashion Week in 2011, Mr Mah was inspired by the trends he spotted in the fashion capital and decided to team up with Mr Hor, a Malaysian shoe designer and RMIT University graduate in fashion design, on a virtual存倉shoe boutique. And with Xalf shoes priced from US$200 ($253), who needs designer shoes with four-figure price tags when you could own one-of-a-kind footwear at a fraction of the cost?Guilt-free tailoringwww.menswearmenswear.comIT all began with saving Mother Earth. Online store Menswear Menswear www.menswearmenswear.com was founded when creative director Zin Cattell was seeking eco-conscious methods of clothing production. "We need to be mindful about who we are and what we buy," says the former art director for veteran fashion designer Wykidd Song's menswear label and design agency. "There's a lot of wastage in the fashion industry, especially with fast-fashion labels and mass production. This is why our business plan was created in such a way to prevent us from over-producing - we are 'made-to-order'."The fashion label was co-founded by web designer Gad Tan last November as a platform for men to customise minimalist-looking jackets, shirts, trousers and accessories. Through the site, customers can shop, create and share different looks on social networking sites by tinkering with a plethora of locally-sourced house fabrics and seasonal hues.What sets the brand apart from other traditional e-retailers is its whimsical and playful user interface: A "randomise" button displays, say, a jacket and shirt with pockets, placket, collar, lapel and sleeves in clashing colours. Customers can also create head-to-toe looks, personalising an entire matching ensemble if they wish. When satisfied with their customised creations, a video made by Mr Cattell and Mr Tan demonstrates how to determine sizing with 10 self-taken measurements.With such wacky options available, it's hardly surprising that the store's most outrageous order to date is a full "day-glo" suit. After all, there is no reason to look ordinary when you can go bespoke.Bespoke button-downwww.cyccustomshop.comIT'S best known as Singapore's premium corporate shirt-maker, providing bespoke tailoring services since the 1930s. And while nothing beats an appointment with a CYC tailor at the company's Raffles Hotel flagship for made-to-measure perfection, the company's e-commerce website www.cyccustomshop.com allows tourists, Singaporeans who have relocated overseas, or busy executives who don't have time to visit a brick-and-mortar store, to order customised shirts.Launched in 2007, sales have increased year-on-year with all shirts made in CYC's self-owned and run factory in Singapore. Registered users may request fabric swatches and take their pick from a wide range of materials, sorted by colour, design and fabric. Next, details such as collar, cuffs, hemline and even a monogram can be selected, before customers fill up a measurement form complete with instructions on how to take one's own measurements for the perfect fit."The biggest challenge is managing customers' expectations as we are selling a product which they do not get to see in its exact form at the point of purchase," says Jan Fong, business development director of CYC The Custom Shop."Sometimes customers are not able to visualise the final product, so dealing with their expectations can sometimes be very challenging, especially when it involves complex designs or non-traditional pairings of colours."Despite such issues, the online store still attracts a wide clientele, ranging from PMEBs to expatriates, students and even celebrities. The brand also created a user-friendly Design Your Custom-made Shirt app on Facebook for users to design shirts online and visualise the possibilities of bespoke tailoring without even leaving their desks.btnews@sph.com.sg自存倉