The Man Who Dressed the Stars

We get 'Aquainted' with celebrity fashion designer Ashley Isham.

He's a Singapore boy made good. A local designer who put our little island on the international fashion map. He has dressed royalty and celebrities, including Angelina Jolie, Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue and Zara Phillips, eldest grand-daughter of Queen Elizabeth II.

And if that's not enough, he was approached by Coca-Cola to design their limited-edited Coke Light cans and bottles - the only Singaporean to have ever been invited! It will be launched at the upcoming Audi Fashion Festival so watch out for his 'Jewel in the Hand' cans!

It was a pleasure meeting and chatting with this homegrown talent. He looks a tad intimidating with his blond hair and piercing gaze, but he really is a warm chap who came from a humble background (his mum was a tailor!), who deeply admires his mother, and misses his Mee Rebus when away from home.

Well, Ashley Isham is still based in the UK but he recently launched his flagship store here at the Fullerton Hotel. There you'll find his latest Spring 2009 runway collection, which incidentally will be showcased at the President's Command Performance this Sunday 19 April, on Ch 5.

Ashley says it was inspired by the '70s cult movie, Xanadu, and he almost made the poor models roll down the runway on rollerskates!

Well, he gave us a warm hug before he left, leaving us with a lingering whiff of his greatness, but also his simplicity: He was wearing flip flops!