Hi guys,
So, Andrea, Joyce and I were invited by Carlo Rino Singapore for a trip down a fairy tale yesterday morning- no, im not being some cryptic prick, one of their new collections is literally called Vintage Fairy Tale, and believe me when i say it’s to die for. Certainly though, I’m getting ahead of myself. What i meant to start off with was, we attended Carlo Rino Singapore’s Fall Winter 2012 Digital Influencer’s Preview event yesterday morning, although really it was just an excuse for girls to get together and squeal over bags. I know, i know. Girls.
1953: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
“I might as well warn you, flattery will get you anywhere.” / Dorothy Shaw
Well played.
Some of the other bloggers, + the gorgeous tea party set out for us. This was in keeping with their rad rebranding initiative to present Carlo Rino as a younger, girly brand rather than one catering to the older ladies, and the entire set up reminded me vaguely of the Alice in Wonderland tea party.
Just a bit of background, Carlo Rino is under the Bonia Group: Bonia caters more to the mature working crowd. I dont know if you’ve noticed, but Carlo Rino has recently changed their logo to a more playful and lilting font as well. Essentially, their Fall Winter 2012 collection features both new designs and pieces from their Spring Summer collection reintroduced in darker and more elegant colors. The entire Fall Winter collection was inspired by European architecture and is dubbed Carlo Rino’s Eclectic Enchantment. Personally, i think there are very few job perks better than travelling around the world for inspiration- i mean, can you imagine?
Old Logo:
New Logo:
Oh yes- i didnt know before this that Carlo Rino was a Singaporean brand. I always see it in KL- turns out they’ve expanded to ten countries, with many more to come. Im thinking something along the lines of #supportlocaltalent, to be honest i legitimately thought they were some European brand before this.
ok time to check out the bags
featuring bags from A Tartan Tale, their new series.
I like this one, especially in the shape that Andrea’s toting around, but i dont quite know where a 19 year old would wear it to. It also vaguely reminds me of Emma Watson’s Burberry feature, with the same regal feel.
All the bags here are classic designs, except the brown and white one in the picture above where im manhandling a load of bags. That one’s the new reintroduced fairy tale bag i was talking about, and the rest of the bloggers really loved it. Here, a close up:
It balances vintage nicely with weaved in connotations of the word ‘fresh’ i am thinking, especially with the unexpected pink stitching running along the edge of the brown leather trimming. It’s probably going to be one of the more popular ones this season- coming in six and five different shapes for bags and purses respectively.
Here i couldn’t help but go ONE BAG TO RULE THEM ALL because of the way Joyce is holding up the Midnight Dreamy Links mini here. On hindsight, maybe it wasnt such a great idea to compare the bag to something from Mordor. But you get what i mean. Personally i liked the Midnight Dreamy Links series more than the Vintage Fairy Tale one, particularly the #5 featured in the bottom right picture above. Maybe it’s got to do with my personal obsession with various shades of dark blue these couple of months, or the huge gold locket (always had a weakness for the incorporation of gold metal into wallets and bags), but either way this one is one i’d keep my eye on.
Felt like the Rebecca Black of bags re: Which one should i take???
I actually read that in the sing song RB voice my goodness.
Joyce marking her territory with CR bags and Andrea looking on very disapprovingly hahahaahahahhahahahah
The Carlo Rino girls also very thoughtfully offered us an instant freeze frame of our memories, sitting there watching our moments develop from black i thought to myself ‘wow this sure looks like lust’ so, i dont know, i might go back and get a bag for myself.
Besides the three collections i mentioned above (Vintage Fairy Tale, Midnight Dreamy Links, A Tartan Tale), the last one featured in the FW collection is the Enigmatic Dainty Ditty.
It’s a reinterpretation of the Jacquard print in darker shades, something like the arbitrary classic CR print that always has to be prominently featured with each season, though it’s still fun seeing how the designers play around with color and texture.
Here are the rest of the invited bloggers
As well as the gorgeous ladies from Carlo Rino (left) and Ryna (right) from ACCESS Communications, the comms company managing the brand. The entire event was pretty well planned and seamlessly executed- it felt cozy without coming off as too informal, and pleasantly professional without stepping too far into the realm of corporate and consequently coming off as too promotional. I suspect it’s in part because Ryna herself is a blogger, and has attended enough of these events to know what would go down well, and also partly because she was previously interning at Wild! Interactive which manages the FRANK by OCBC account (which was actually where i first met her) and Wild! is great at handling PR events too. I say this in the most objective manner possible: i honestly feel as though FRANK by OCBC and Sony events are always some of the best i’ve attended.
Oh yes, check out how our door gifts were packaged!
Very Tiffany and Co, no? They gave each of us one of their classic wallets, as well as a press kit in white and pastel pink, and i was all like tres to the bien.
Ok we’re at the end of the post now, and since CR was generous enough to bestow a flurry of gifts on us, I’m conducting a personal giveaway- a $50 Carlo Rino gift voucher. All you have to do is tweet me @jemmawei telling me which your favorite collection is with the hashtag #CarloRinoSG, and one week from now i’ll randomly select one and mail the gift voucher to you. Remember, i cant see your tweet if your account is locked/private. My personal favorite is the Midnight Dreamy Links tote and the bright red classic with yellow handles that im carrying in several of the above photos. 🙂 Might go back for that because i’ve wanted a bright red tote for the longest time.
eg. ‘@jemmawei my favorite is the dainty ditty collection! #carlorinoSG’
but of course you could also be more creative and say things like
‘@jemmawei the midnight dreamy links collection has chained my heart <3 #carlorinoSG'
or
‘@jemmawei im a princess and i need my own fairy tale #carlorinoSG’ / @jemmawei i need the fairy tale #carlorinoSG bag for my queen (if you’re a guy. HAHAHAHAHA that would be cute.)
Or, you know. Whatever floats your boat. As long as the message is clear which series it is exactly that you like.
Carlo Rino is available at all leading departmental stores, but i think you can only spend the voucher at the various Carlo Rino boutiques:
Changi Airport T2, #026-037
Jurong Point, #02-30,
Northpoint, #01-11.
Lastly,
You can and should like their facebook page here and follow them on twitter here.
Joyce’s polaroid with stickers of all our cats. Cartoon Athena :’)
Thank you for the lovely morning, Carlo Rino Singapore + Access Communications!
x
♥jem