Through the Grapevine: October 2026
Caro Chia, Aijek, Art & Bali, Fashion Week Asia, Palengke and sarr.rai
From Malaysia, Caro Chia presented her SS27 collection, Full Circle, at a Paris showroom. In Singapore, Aijek has returned after a seven-year pause with two collections made in plant-based fibres. In Indonesia, What The Body Remembers at Art & Bali brings together 26 designers and makers from India and Indonesia. In the Philippines, Fashion Week Asia holds its first edition in Manila, and Palengke takes its SS27 collection, Uwing-Uwi, to Shanghai after showing in Milan. And in Thailand, sarr.rai’s new jewellery collection, Tong ๑๑๑, draws on the banana plant.
Through the Grapevine is a monthly round-up of fashion events across Southeast Asia, from collection launches to exhibitions, showcases, pop-ups, and more.
Malaysia
Looks from Caro Chia’s SS27 Full Circle collection. Images taken from @caro__chia on Instagram.
Caro Chia
SS27 Full Circle collection
Caro Chia is a Malaysian womenswear label founded in 2020 by its namesake designer, who graduated from the University of Brighton in 2019. She uses found materials and textiles, cut and shaped into sculptural forms in soft colours. Her patterns begin with arcs, unplanned lines and uncertain forms. The label’s SS27 collection, Full Circle, was presented at a Paris showroom from 2 to 6 October. Full Circle starts from the view that people come back to the same ways of thinking, like a line that curves to make a circle. Similarly, the collection revisits details from her earlier work and layers them with circular gathering.
Singapore
The Thea dropwaist mini dress from the Unfold collection. Image courtesy of Aijek.
The Kaia strapless midi dress from the Becoming collection. Image courtesy of Aijek.
Aijek
Relaunch and new collections
Aijek is a womenswear label founded by Danelle Woo in Shanghai in 2010. After a seven-year pause, it has returned with two new collections. Unfold launched on 24 September, and Becoming will arrive in early November. The pieces are designed in Singapore and Bali and made in small batches with artisans and family-owned workshops. Woo now makes fewer garments, all in plant-based fibres such as pure cotton, linen and ramie. Both collections carry a lotus motif in Kerawang, a centuries-old cutwork embroidery practised by Balinese artisans.
Thailand
sarr.rai’s PLEE ear cuffs from the Tong ๑๑๑ collection. Image courtesy of sarr.rai.
sarr.rai’s PLEE rings in yellow and red, from the Tong ๑๑๑ collection. Image courtesy of sarr.rai.
Tong ๑๑๑ collection and exclusive edition
1 to 15 October 2026
Loft Eyes Siam, Bangkok
The Bangkok label sarr.rai works with Thai silversmiths and stone cutters to create sterling silver jewellery with upcycled glass instead of mined gemstones. Its new collection, Tong ๑๑๑, is drawn from the banana plant. Tong means banana leaf, and it also sounds like the Thai word for triple numbers, written here as ๑๑๑. The collection carries a wish that hard things become “gluay-gluay”. The phrase means easy, and gluay is the Thai word for banana. The label usually cuts its stones from glass bottles, but for this collection it also used glass ashtrays and vintage plates, which gave it yellow, red and purple, the colours of the banana and its blossom. From 1 to 15 October, Loft Eyes Siam carries an exclusive edition with blue and brown stones.
Philippines
Rajo Laurel for Fashion Week Asia 2026. Image taken from Fashion Week Asia’s website.
Fashion Week Asia
20 to 24 October 2026
Get tickets here
The inaugural edition of Fashion Week Asia gathers designers from across Asia on one platform. The event aims to encourage collaboration across borders and to promote each country’s crafts through runway shows, exhibitions and forums. The runway shows run from 20 to 22 October at Newport World Resorts, with 12 designers from across Asia, including KILOMET109 from Vietnam, TOTON from Indonesia, Prince Padilla from the Philippines and Sophie Hong from Taiwan. On 24 October, the week will close with a gala where Rajo Laurel will present ARCHIVO, a retrospective of his 33 years in fashion.
A look from Palengke’s SS27 Uwing-Uwi collection. Image courtesy of Palengke.
Puk-puk toe caps on Palengke’s SS27 shoes. Image courtesy of Palengke.
Palengke
SS27 Uwing-Uwi at Sepia Showroom
8 to 13 October 2026
Xintai Warehouse, 3F, No. 77 Shanxi North Road, Jing’an District, Shanghai, China
Palengke is a label that turns everyday Filipino objects into clothing, shoes, bags and scent. Its SS27 collection, Uwing-Uwi, is named after a Filipino expression for an urgent longing to go home. It starts from things found inside the home, from photo albums and lampshades to faucets, shower curtains and dust. Sheer pieces such as the Gripo top and Shower Curtain skirt use piña-seda, a blend of pineapple fibre and silk. Made in Marikina, the Bunot Thong Heels take their domed wooden heel from the bunot, a coconut-husk tool used to polish wooden floors. Buttons, charms and toe caps are hammered by hand using puk-puk, a Filipino metalwork technique related to repoussé. The collection was shown at Fondazione Sozzani in Milan in September.