FashionValet News

Crazy busy!

mzariaz — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 15:50:26 +0000

Ok. So I wrote this awhile ago but it’s still (sort of) relevant!

——

Phew! So many plans for the future! So many past events and activities!

Loads have been done and we’ve had a blast with all of them! So much so, that we neglect our cameras because we’re so focussed on the task at hand. Or maybe I should just be speaking for myself. I’m not very good with capturing every single moment.

The Hari Raya season was especially busy for us because we know how important the celebration is to most of you. Everyday was exciting and we were all in high spirits. There were new arrivals of traditional wear almost every single day and being able to watch the garments roll in to our office was the best part of it all! The collection we had this year was gorgeous and most of them exclusive to us so we were all mega excited! And then the holidays came and it was the first time being apart for more than the duration of a weekend! I think we all had withdrawal symptoms!

Raya lasts a whole month and open houses are spread out within that time frame. Nani, our Operations Manager had one just for us, saying she was going to do the cooking herself so we all loaded ourselves into cars and drove all the way. I don’t even need to tell you how good the food was, but I will! It was a spread and I had two helpings of chicken rice! We all asked for recipes thinking we were going to attempt them ourselves. As if!

Hovering over the good food. Took a second to smile

Vivy in a Mimpikita cardigan and Eltii necklace. Asma’ with a… bib.

Fadza and Vivy had an open house too, inviting us to their new home. We went after work, tummies growling and in typical Fadza and Vivy fashion (uh, more Vivy really), they weren’t home when we arrived!

Bored. And sad. LOL.

I managed to capture this moment though! Bored. Asma’ and I even decided to take pictures of our shoes! Yawn.

We didn’t have to wait long before Vivy came rushing to the door with plastic bags of food. Yeah, she tapau-ed. But of course.

It was so good to be able to relax together. Ex FV members like Afzan and Zaahira came as well so it was nice to catch up! Before the end we took “family photos”. Set the camera on timer mode and gathered at the couch. I don’t have the pictures with me (you’ll have to harass Vivy) but they are too funny! I think you’ll love them! We are such a good team and we know how to have fun and make each other laugh

The 3^rd open house we went to was Fadza’s at his parents’ house. Food was in abundance as usual and it was delicious! There was apam balik and durian and something quite out of the ordinary… Deer meat! I had to try that.

Here are some photos:

Gangnam stylin’! Kurungs and all.

Meanwhile in the office, photo shoots are conducted as normal. We still goof off on a regular basis, listening/watching YouTube videos and teasing each other in general. We know too much about each other I think! Sometimes it gets a little TMI! But I’m glad we’re like this. The working environment would be totally different otherwise!

Another moment I managed to capture was this one of the girls watching a YouTube video suggested by Kim. This was what we were watching – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNF4siu5vAo. Tell me what you think! We watch the weirdest stuff!

Bewildered?

It’s late at night so that’s all for the moment. We promise to update more often. I’ve been chasing the team for blog posts, trust me! It’s just that we have so many plans. Promise. Hope you enjoyed this Signing out.

A family of random faces

Fadza — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 18:55:16 +0000

This year, the office has been so different compared to last. Until the end of last year, we only had 5 people working full time in the office. It becomes almost natural for the 5 of us to feel so tight-knit and family-like amongst ourselves and work was nothing short fun and laughter. Of course we’d have the occasional she’s-so-annoying-I-hate-her moment, but it wouldn’t be a family without it (plus the other 4 are girls so it’s bound to happen sometime during the month). It was great and everyone basically did all the jobs around the office.

Now it’s a whole different story. The team sort of looks like this (it’s not complete):

There are now 12 full-timers at FV and 2 or 3 interns at one time. I always get worried that when the team grows bigger the family-like culture will dwindle away and clicks around the office will start forming up and the tightness will go.

I was wrong, this ramadhan I saw these 12 random faces grow closer together. We had our annual buka puasa together at Double Tree. Some of us brought our other halves. Vivy and I were so worried at the start when no one was talking to each other, but it turned out that they were just focused on filling up their stomachs before the jokes started rolling. They had so much fun that they even stayed after Vivy and I left. We felt so left out, like they didn’t need us to have fun. But hey, we’re happy they’re happy together.

I really hope our family-style office stays the same even when we get to 100 people!

mouth tapes 2

vivyyusof — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 16:26:08 +0000

Well guys we’ve been super busy at the HQ but the fun is still rolling. More Mouth Tapes recently by the FV team. Not a day goes by without us goons making each other laugh.

“Can you imagine if I wore it? I’d look like a freaking umbrella on steroids.” – Marissa on puffy skirts.

Asma’ told Lisa she saw Lisa coming in late today. “Umm yeah…. but did you see how late Kim was today??” – Lisa trying to save her butt.

“Is that why your hair is red?” – Marissa after Sarah walked in the office and told us she almost got electrocuted last night.

“Liz wanted to try a skin product so I helped try it for her…” – Lisa came in all peeling-red-faced on morning. (Liz is a genius).

“Weekends are for babies.” – Vivy trying to convince everyone to work on Sundays.

“You know what a funny word is? Foreskin.” – Lisa and her brain.

“EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP! I’m trying to listen to my husband!!” – Afzan getting stressed when listening to Michael Buble on repeat.

“Did you know that the army was the first to use the Internet? They used it to track stuff. Then only they introduced it to the world.” – Marissa giving useless information.

“Ugh…selfish pricks.” - Vivy in reply to Marissa.

“Don’t worry guys… I’ll wear industrial-strength make up tomorrow.” – Lisa after her fourth day of peeling-red-faced.

Moral of this Mouth Tapes entry: Never ever try a facial product for a colleague.

The Headless One

lisaaminuddin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 02:06:40 +0000

It’s not my intention to bore you guys with my writing so I’m going to be super quick alright. The purpose of this article is to properly introduce myself since I’m well,headless..

Let’s take a quick stroll through my amazing journey as the in-house model. It started a while back when I received a random phone call from our now Mrs. Boss. I was doing modelling as a side job because obviously it wasn’t my career choice. Anything with an expiration date is never a good choice. I hesitated at first, but I couldn’t say no to Vivy’s cute ultrasonic voice. Fast forward to a few months later, Vivy and Fadza with their serious faces, called me into the lounge for ‘the talk’. I was worried at the beginning, thinking that Amber (our mannequin) was going to take over my job. She’s cheap like that. Haha! And without a soul, she doesn’t ever complain! However, it turned out that they wanted me to work full time at FashionValet as their official in-house model.

Speaking of work, being passionate about what we do is a requirement for success. But what exactly is passion? To me it’s being surrounded by positive colleagues who inspire me every step of the way. I feel privileged instead of obligated to come to work everyday and we have so much fun together! I’ll continue to feel passionate about my job for as long as we are all a team.

I may be headless but if you tilt the camera upwards you’ll see me smiling my biggest smile or munching on Koko Krunch (heyyy.. a headless model’s gotta eat!).

The best thing about my job is I get first look at all the new products that come through our doors and I get to “test drive” them too! Off to my next photo shoot now!

Neelofa Is In The House!

mzariaz — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 06:42:40 +0000

I’m sure most of you would know by now that we elected Neelofa, one of Malaysia’s most popular actress/host/presenter to be our Brand Ambassador. Now, we’re not here to judge. Whatever is going on in the the tabloids, remain in the tabloids. From what we know from a business side of things is she’s professional and really easy to work with. No complaints, no attitude. We know there are some who are less than happy and some of the feedback we’ve gotten were quite harsh in a sense where it could potentially hurt people’s feelings so we would appreciate if comments were to be kept friendly. It’s different if it were constructive criticism but the adjectives used against Neelofa were really not nice at all. You know the saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”

Anyway!

We had a photo shoot with her several weeks ago and had a good time dressing her up in FV products. She looks good in everything! We decided it would be nice to do an outdoor shoot and the end result turned out amazing! Among all the hustle and bustle, I only managed to get a few photos with my phone.

The high-res photos will be uploaded some time in the near future and believe me, they are gorgeous! Just a short one for now. Have a good day and keep checking FashionValet for new arrivals! Peace.

BTS: Working on a Sunday (WHI)

Kim L. — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:10:19 +0000

Did you catch us on Wanita Hari Ini (WHI) this arvo? We watched it in the office today. Asma’ cringed watching herself on TV earlier, HAHA! But we think she did just fine!

Last Sunday, Marissa and I rocked up to our HQ bright and early to prepare for our Wanita Hari Ini feature on TV3. I know, we just couldn’t get enough of work! (NOT! ) They wanted us to talk about statement bib necklaces so we gathered all of our best statement necklaces and displayed them prettily on our table.

We also coordinated 4 styled outfits to go with the necklaces. Some made it on tv, some didn’t. Here are the flat lay of the outfits:

1) Janelle Dance with Me Necklace

Janelle Necklace, Jas.C Ombre Dress, Kiss & Tell Belinda Peep Toe Shoes

2) Antyk Butyk Fitrop Statement Necklace

Antyk Butyk Necklace (coming soon), Innai Estee Top (coming soon), Zaza Printed Pareo Skirt in Mixed Dot

3) Matahari Kora Necklace in Gold

Matahari Kora Necklace in Gold, alex[a]lexa Floral Pants (coming soon), Tri-Os Peplum Top in Orange (coming soon)

4) Cucito Cassiel Necklace in Red

Cucito Cassiel Necklace in Red , Kiss & Tell Waterfall Jacket in Navy (coming soon) , MONDAY TO SUNDAY Pants

5) Antyk Butyk Zelda Necklace

This was a last minute coordinate we came up with featuring Azoria’s asymmetrical skirt. It was our favourite outfit of the day!

Antyk Butyk Zelda Necklace (coming soon), Mimpikita White Shirt (coming soon), Azorias Asymmetrical Skirt in Pink

In between the shoot, we decided to take a break and goof around with photo booth on my MacBook. It’s a Sunday after all right?

We tried to include Asma’ but all we got was her bumbum while she was arranging the statement necklaces.

Because Asma’ wants to be involved in everything, she decided to come and photo bomb us!

Ok back to the serious stuff. Below we have Asma’, Lisa and Intan (our latest addition to the FV family, isn’t she gorgeous?) working the print trend with a simple top and loud statement necklaces.

Prints, prints and more prints!

That’s me pretending to be a photographer and snapping away.

Asma’ doing some styling work for the shoot:

Close up of Lisa’s ensemble:

Asma’ during the shoot:

Here we have Lisa, Asma’ and Nabiha from WHI, who was so easy to work with :

Lastly, pictures of our models wearing the outfits we’ve have laid out for them:

Do you remember what I said about Asma’, how she wants to be involved in every thing? Here we have Asma’ again, doing her usual. I gave her the cue to LAUGH and these are the poses she gave me:

Then she got Lisa involved :

There is never a dull moment working at FVHQ, even on a Sunday.

We hope your Sunday was as fun as ours.

p/s: Asma’ doesn’t know I uploaded the above pictures of her. Let’s hope she doesn’t kill me after she reads this!

Workwear Reworked

asmanasa — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 05:36:04 +0000

If there’s one outfit category that designers can always bank on getting their “cha chings $ $ $”, it’s workwear.

I don’t know about you but I totally enjoy getting dressed to go to work. Maybe it’s because i’ve never worked in a serious corporate environment where straight cut trousers, frill-free shirts and black blazers walk about the office floors. The thing is, when it comes to the office, sartorial choices can be such a headache and a bit of a bore. So I love how these ladies have reworked workwear to look uber chic and elegant with prints, silky blouses and A LOT of attitude….

Left: Meryl Streep in Devil Wears Prada. Right: Angelina Jolie looking ridiculously hot in an editorial shoot.

Alternatively you can wear it with pants. Layer your crisp white shirt with a neutral or bright coloured sweater. Chic central ladies

Left: Suit up in this season’s skinny suit trend. Right: Wide leg jeans are great paired with a feminine blouse for relaxed Fridays.

Cameron Diaz keeping it simple at the premier of What To Expect When You’re Expecting.

I think you can never go wrong with a classic monochrome ensemble like how Cameron D showed us. But if I could, I’d add one of these accessories for a little colour. Oh by the way, all of these are exclusively available on FV

Left: Lux+Bu. Right: Dua by Marshella

Left: Matahari. Right: Antyk Butyk

Since we’re on the topic of workwear, I thought I’d share what we all wore to work a few days ago. But please don’t judge us because clearly we would have been kicked out had we walked into the Petronas Twin Tower looking like this. We are well aware, don’t worry! I had to force some of the girls to get off their tushies and take a walk to our favourite alley beside the office so I could snap these shots:

Kim loving her Aztec inspired Matahari accessories exclusive to FashionValet.net and her Kiss & Tell peep toe heels

We all just can’t get enough of Antyk Butyk’s necklaces. And hold on tight cause their new collection will be landing on FV’s pages very soon!!

The 2 rebels. Lisa with her coffee (they are inseparable) and Marissa working her Radzuan Radziwill kaftan top with an edge!

Our sweet intern Sha all shy in her Kiss & Tell Ashleigh pumps and Matahari necklace. We had to come up with really bad jokes to get this shot!

Our ah-ma-zingggg Graphic designer Liz. I swear she surprises all of us with her rock n rock style. On liz is GlamRockchic’s booty heels. Love her look cause she’s one of those effortless beauties (masyAllahh!)

Wearing one of Cucito’s statement necklaces and a new bag brand coming to FV very soon!!!

By the way, i just got back from another Jakarta trip and we can’t wait to launch the New Arrivals from our hot Indonesian designers. You will love them!!! Stay tuned…..

Talk soon,

Asma’

Lunchtime at FVHQ

Kim L. — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 07:03:59 +0000

Do you look forward to lunchtime at your work place? At FVHQ, we ALWAYS look forward to our lunch break. Most of the time, we would be too engrossed with our work that we forget to eat but when we have the time, we go all out!

Some of us would still dress nicely when we go out for lunch.

Liz, Sya, Kim

But for some of us, food is the main priority. Looking glamourous is the last thing on our mind. Hint: Check out Lisa’s bag over her head and Asma’s flip flops!

Lisa, Asma’

Our usual lunch spots would be Burp BSC, Chef & Brew, Siblings or even the “mamak” store nearby. Recently, we’ve discovered this quaint little cafe called Humble Chef located just behind our office. True to it’s name, the price of their food is ridiculously cheap!

For only RM 5, you get a full plate of pasta and for only RM 2.5o you get a chicken sandwich or chicken omelette! Rumour has it that they started off with just a van, now they have a whole cafe!

Check our their food below:

Food Galore!

Chicken Omelette with a <3

Chicken Omelette

We love Humble Chef so much, we even got them to cater for Vivy’s Bridal Shower!

We hope you’ve enjoyed this lunch break post!

Stay tuned for more posts like this from us at FV.

Peace out!

A Day In The Life Of An FV-ian

mzariaz — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 03:20:05 +0000

Bored at work? Yes? We wished we could say the same. But we can’t! There’s ALWAYS something happening at the FV Headquarters. We (like Kimora Lee Simmons Hounsou) would like to call it “Fabulous Chaos”. It’s either we’re busy packing orders, shooting/receiving new stocks, prepping for an interview, karaoke-ing to an old Disney song or just stuffing our face with all things sweet. I’ve managed to get some visuals of our day-to-day activities to paint you a pretty picture. I walked around the office snapping pictures of what everyone was up to.

When stocks arrive, first thing’s first… We get first dibs! It’s true, guys! One of the many perks of being an FV employee. But don’t worry though, we save the best pieces for you After all that excitement, we need to make a stock list, name and code the stuff before it gets shot in the studio.

Then, we have Nani and Sya measuring everything to its exact precision so you can conveniently choose your size when shopping on the website.

Then I walk over the other side of the room to find Sarah packing orders. She’s wrapping it in soft tissue paper so that it comes to your door intact! We take so much care in ensuring your purchases arrive in one piece!

Let’s see what Liz is up to…

Liz, as usual, is always at her desktop with her Photoshop open, creating our beautiful banners. She’s currently working on something that will be posted on Facebook later in the day.

I do have one complaint though…

If you plan on having or maintaining a hot body around here… Well, you can’t! We are always looking for excuses to bring cake to the office! There’s always something! It’s someone’s birthday. Cake. We wrapped up a TV shoot. Cake. We felt like baking. Cake. We’re all hormonal. Cake. I have made everyone swear not to bring anymore cakes and to whomever is turning a year older… We’re having a flan or wheat biscuits! I’m sorry, okay!

So, right. No cake. But Asma’ brings biscuits iced with fondant!

Sigh.

I needed a goal. Something to motivate me. So, Kim and I decided to decorate the fridge.

We stare at the fridge everyday. And each day that comes… we realise our goal drifts further and further away.

Enough with the depression. Today we did something different with ourselves. We decided to conduct our own photo shoot. Amateur style. Yeah, baby! You’ll see what this was for in one of the other blog posts.

Models in waiting.

Seriously, we are a bunch of fun people! Never a dull day! Right now, as I write this post, it’s gone a bit quieter because I guess everyone is elbow-deep in work and taking them seriously. Lol. Tomorrow will be a different day, with different things happening. That’s why I look forward to work because I never know what’s in store for me! I love variety and working at the FV Headquarters is full of surprises. Till the next crazy day, y’all! Peace and love.

Euro 2012…with girls

Fadza — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 16:15:06 +0000

The most common reaction I get from people when talking about FashionValet is “so you’re the only guy in the office with 10 other girls?? How is it like?“. Honestly, I really love being in the office with them, but there are times where I wish there was another guy in the office for me to talk guy stuff with. Like…

Euro 2012 kicks-off today and when I announced it in the office, everyone was just like

“Is that like the World Cup? I thought that’s another two years?” (I’m actually happy they knew that)

“Is it like rugby?” (Not happy)

So I’ve decided to post my thoughts about Euro here and feel free to leave your thoughts here too! So my first rant is about the-team-I-would-like-to-support-because-I-lived-there-but-can’t-because-they-suck (this year).

ENGLAND

They’re lucky they’re in the group they’re in because if it were any different, they wouldn’t even get past the group stage.

The whole mess with appointing Roy Hodgson after the huge media build up of Harry Redknapp being the perfect fit.

Leaving out Micah Richards, Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand, instead putting in Jordan Henderson and Martin Kelly (serious wtf!!!). They really know how to piss their supporters off.

In all fairness, it looks like a very fast team, but it’s been disappointment after disappointment. I don’t see how it’ll be any different this year. Their WAGS should be good though…