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ABOUT
Ethan Lai is a photographer, videographer and co-owner of ThereIsA Studio. His portfolio spans London Fashion Week street style coverage, editorial work for such publications as Vogue Singapore, Men’s Folio and Pansy Mag, and personal work about style, tribes and identity. In life as in his work, Ethan is interested in the relationship between the body and dress as well as the psychogeography of the local fashion scene. He credits his time at Central Saint Martins for motivating him to push the boundaries of fashion image-making - beyond photography, Ethan has made fashion films for the likes of Marques Almeida, created immersive 3D realms to best deliver his vision, and directed the celebrated CSM White Show. Ethan's goal is to demonstrate that fashion can be so much more than just beautiful; in his expansive vision, it is academic, light-hearted, dark, funny, sometimes all at once.
Shell
(Fashion on Display x The Soul Of Things)
Comissioned by fashion curator and owner of @fashionondisplay Yap Weiqi and fashion designer Lilia Yip for The Soul Of Things Exhibition from 19 Aug - 23 Sep 2022.
Shell is a series of photographs exploring Lilia Yip’s garments as protective armour. Upon first encounter with Lilia’s pieces, Ethan was interested in how they can be presented without a wearer. Taking into consideration the ethos of Yip’s collection which covers themes of magic, protection, and ritual, he reimagines her garments as a type of armour. By removing the presence of a body, Ethan wanted the garments to be as confrontational as body armour on display. Through a laborious and almost ritualistic process of preparing the garment to be suspended and laid out mid-air, Ethan interprets her garments as shells—shield as well as sanctuary.
Asian Civilisations Museum: #sgfashionnow 2022
As the lead student curator that won the pitch to propose a local fashion exhibition at the Asian Civilisations Museum Singapore, Ethan worked with the museum to curate an exhibition that not only introduces new ideas of local fashion like more conceptual pieces by younger designers. Referencing Brandley Quinn’s essay on “Fashion Space”, his theories helped Ethan to interprete the given theme “Architecture of Drape” more conceptually- seeing fashion as architectural sites where bodies navigate.
Aside from the being a curator, Ethan planned a programming aimed at expanding the vision of featured independent fashion spaces and creatives outside the museum and public’s common knowledge. Wrapping up this whole curatorial project was a visual campaign shot and edited for the exhibition’s e-publication and marketing collaterals.
N3U
Year 2 college project, shot and edited by Ethan.Phantasm (LASALLE)
Year 2 college project, shot and edited by Ethan.
Style Tribe: Deliveroo Men
Looking at the everyday style of food delivery servicemen, Ethan investigated and observed the distinct styles they carry themselves with in a highly urbanised landscape. He documented and presented the Deliveroo men's pedestrian style in a way that showcases the stylistic details of their workwear that define their jobs. What fascinated Ethan the most is that these men actually represent the dawn of a new era where by a city's accessibility has been improved by the use of services like Deliveroo and UberEats. Through this project, he wanted to challenge the common idea of what is considered a "style tribe", as usually people associate it with a specific fashion or cultural style, by showing these men who have become an omnipresence in a urban lifestyle but tend to be invisible to us as a style tribe.
CSM Whiteshow 2018: Initiation
As part of the first year course cirriculum, Ethan and his classmates had to organise a fashion show for the first year fashion design students. Ethan’s main role was to help take lookbook photos, arrange the runway lineup of looks, organise the backstage area and manage models.Lookbook:
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Jerry Chu (Menswear Designer)
Worked with CSM Menswear designer, Jerry Chu, to photography this Tailoring Project and produce a zine featuring his concept and the images. Taking his concept inspiration from a children’s book called “The Tower To The Sun” by Collin Thomson and his personal interest in David Lynch films, Ethan was able to produce a series of images and a zine that encapsulates his work.
