It was another case of the "closet full of clothes, nothing to wear" syndrome. And when there's nothing on my side of the closet... I keep on rifling right onto the other side, where I came across an extra-large white men's button down that Andrew left at our place (Ahem, he left in another shirt, I ain't that kinda girl). And in another case of me wearing everything that people leave at our house (Chris' denim shorts, Kuan's Shanghai Tang Chinese jacket, Andrew's dad's argyle sweater...) I decided that it would be a good idea to make a skirt out of it; something I saw on Monoxious. No one really told me it looked weird, but maybe they were all like... "don't talk to the girl who's wearing a shirt as a skirt!" "who does she think she is, Lady Gaga?""I don't know, don't look her in the eye, she might hypnotize you into becoming a follower of the church of the Shkirt."

Anyway, thanks for the shkirt Andrew, and if you too want to join me in the pantheon of regrettable fashion decisions, the DIY tutorial is here; it works better when you're a vampy hot girl.

A couple of years ago, I would never have dreamed that alongside the encyclopedia of celebrity names I keep in my head, fashion bloggers would be added to that database. But lo and behold, it's 2010 and bloggers are THE ones to watch -- so much so that at a Joyce event honouring Donatella Versace, I was starstruck to meet the great Susie Bubble... and didn't even bother staying to see or meet Madame Versace.


So it's a great honour to interview Jak & Jil's Tommy Ton, whose street-style blog is among the most popular in the world (wide web), so much so that Lane Crawford invited him to do their campaign and blog last year (and were nice enough to help hook up this interview). In this exclusive Q&A, we talk to Tommy about his experiences blogging, his fashion favourites and why Mario Testino left him high and dry front row at the D&G show last year.

Hong Kong Fashion Geek: How would you describe the content on your blog?
Tommy Ton: The content on my blog is pretty much all the photos I take during fashion month, and each day I post one to three photos from my month long excursion so that I can celebrate everyday as if were fashion week.

HKFG: How did you promote your blog initially?
TT: I only really told fellow blogger friends like Susie Bubble and Rumi Neely from Fashion Toast and it was word of mouth that really attracted new readers to my blog.

HKFG: When did you realize that you had become an online phenomenon?
TT: I'm only still realizing that to this day. I guess it really occurred to me when one of my personal twitter photos was reposted on Refinery 29 and I was surprised that someone found me fascinating.

HKFG: What other major industry attention have you received?
TT: Being acknowledged by big industry figures is all the attention I could ever want and need. Just the fact that Carine Roitfeld, Anna Dello Russo or even Anna Wintour knows about what I'm doing or who I am, that's just something I never thought I could achieve through a blog.

HKFG: What do you think you have gotten out of starting Jak & Jil?
TT: Respect and the encouragement to continue doing what I love to do.

HKFG: How much time do you invest in your blog?
TT: It basically takes over your life. You have to invest a great deal of time developing content that is newsworthy to your readers and then you have to edit what you post and monitor comments as well.

HKFG: What do you think has been the impact of the fashion blogger movement on the fashion industry?
TT: I think fashion blogging has certainly brought democracy in the industry. You don't have to work your way from the bottom to make it to the top. You just have make your voice heard and from there it's those who have a point of view that will stand out.

HKFG: One of your biggest commercial projects is the campaign you did with Lane Crawford earlier this year. How did that collaboration come about and why do you think they chose to use a blogger to represent their campaign? What has been the impact of that project on your own career?
TT: Well, in December of 2008 I received an email from Lane Crawford asking if I'd be interested in photographing their Spring/Summer 2009 campaign. I thought it was a joke because I didn't think anyone ever would ask me to photograph a campaign. Within a month, I was flown to Paris and we shot the campaign during couture fashion week. The team at Lane Crawford liked the aesthetic of my photos which I took during fashion month and they wanted to translate that into their campaign. In addition to shooting the campaign, I blogged directly from Milan and Paris. It was definitely my breakout moment and it certainly validated why I should continue blogging.

HKFG: You were also invited to sit front row and blog at the Dolce & Gabbana and D&G shows -- could you share a little bit about that experience? Your twitter also mentioned a little run-in with a photographer at the show -- would you mind sharing that story?
TT: It was definitely a surreal experience. I was already shocked when I was told beforehand that I would be sitting front row but I didn't anticipate the laptops or being seated one seat away from Anna Wintour. It definitely was a blogger power boost and it impacted my profile and I was more recognized more after that. At D&G, I was initially seated next to Mario Testino but I don't think he was keen on being seated next to the group of bloggers that were placed next to him. He left but he came back after he noticed he caused a stir and we spoke about his new website.

HKFG: What other big projects do you have lined up, going forward?
TT: Well, I have an ongoing partnership with Style.com and GQ.com. So I've basically become the official street style photographer of Conde Nast. I photographed my first feature for Vogue Paris which is in the February issue. I have a special appearance in a major fashion magazine coming up which I cannot discuss until it hits newsstands.

HKFG: What are your own favourite fashion blogs?
TT: JJJound, Fashionologie, Turned Out.


HKFG: Favourite designer?
TT: Phoebe Philo at the moment. I'm so excited that a woman's perspective in back in charge.

HKFG: Favourite item in your closet?
TT: At the moment it's a Raf Simons neoprene peacoat, which I got at Lane Crawford when I was in Hong Kong.

HKFG: Who is your style icon?
TT: Charlotte Gainsbourg and my friend Maya Villiger. They both wear clothes so effortlessly and make basics look so refreshing and modern.

HKFG: What is the best experience you've gained from blogging?
TT: Being able to contribute something to the industry that is impacting and inspiring to others.




Images: Jak & Jil, Tommy Ton portrait from Hanneli

Normally I wouldn't post a Jessica Simpson shoe here (then again, once you've seen dog-filled crocs on here, who's to say where we draw the line) but it seems this unassuming model, the Dany, has been garnering quite a bit of attention out there. It looks darn ugly in the image above, but as you'll see after the cut, it actually is a lot more elegant once on the foot. Quite a few of my favourite fashion bloggers have sported them in spite of the freezing temperatures in their climates. But it seems the way to go is to pair these babies with socks... yeah, not for me. Thank God it's warm in Hong Kong.




From the top: Fashion Toast, Where Did U Get That, Fashion Chalet

After posting about the Jimmy Choo/H&M collab, I began to consider how very many designers have now collaborated with the topshops, tar-jays and H&Ms of the world. These tie-ups produce results of varying success, depending on the cache of the designer in question, and the quality of translation of said designer's aesthetic into affordable pricing categories. Matthew Williamson, which I've blogged about before, was an easy switch, because the selling point is in the prints. McQueen for Target, however, was rather a failure despite Mr McQueen's immovable hold on the dictation of future fashion, because his leather/bondage/super-draped/almost couture-like looks just don't look the same, rendered in pleather and stretch cotton.

And besides, the collabs are getting a bit snooze-worthy. The designers are getting more and more mainstream (let's hear it for Limi Feu for Zara?... yeah right) and the anticipation buildup less and less. But like any good druggie with a need to reach new highs, the mass-market brands are coming up with new ways to get the fix. And the new breed of celebrity collaboration? The blogger capsule, including the glads pictured above from JAldridge for Urban Outfitters.





If you're a regular fashiontoast reader, you probably already know that Rumi Neely was invited to do a capsule collection for RVCA, who have also collaborated super sexily and successfully with Erin Wasson, she of perma-It girl status. And now we have photos of the trio of quirky shoes designed for Urban Outfitters by the 17-year-old Sea of Shoes author, Jane Aldridge, due out in July. And guess what? While they're "inspired" by her own shoe collection, they're distinctive in their own right as well. And whether they're lace-up flats that could be a coy cousin to her Ann Demeulemeester sandals, or open-toed lace-up boots in mahogany that are an amped up version of her prada mid-calf ones, they're pretty darn cool. And will probably cost a lot less than the shoes she normally wears on the blog, like those sold-out-everywhere YSL cage shoes with the bow (so much better than the black cage booties) or the mesh Stellas we SHOErotica'd a couple weeks back. How a 17-year-old can own and afford these shoes when I, a grown working woman, must instead consider the fast-fashion versions of a 17-year-old's shoe closet, is beyond me... but hey, I ain't hating. As long as she keeps dishing out the shoe porn, I'm still a fan. Hey, Urban, where's my shoe deal?



Images: Sea of Shoes

Swooning for Lane Crawford's new website and campaign, shot by Jak & Jil's Tommy Ton. How awesome is it that this fashion-week street-style photographer has now been bumped up to be a major player in the fashion-photography circuit? His blog photos are always killer, and now so is the LC campaign. We loved their last "Innovators" campaign, shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin showcasing the various sides of China Chow, Emma Pei, Terence Koh, Victoria Tang et al, but this campaign is even more on the money, paying homage to the growing cult appeal of fashion  blogging (don't believe me? Why else would 12-year-old styleblogger Tavi get a pair of tights expressly knitted for her by the Rodarte girls?)