In October 2026, Vogue Singapore celebrated its sixth anniversary with the launch of Vogue Living, an editorial arm dedicated to interrogating the spaces where architecture, interiors and fashion meld and meet. As part of its pilot edition, we held our inaugural Vogue Living Conversations at National Gallery Singapore, a fruitful day of insightful panel discussions that opened the stage to a myriad of veteran industry speakers.
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Moderated by Bettina von Schlippe, publisher-at-large of Vogue Singapore, ‘Designing Her World’ navigated the rapid changes in fashion and design in recent years through the lens of womanhood. Panelists included Roberto Palomba, architect, designer and founder of Palomba Serafini Associati; Laura Miotto, associate professor at the School of Art, Design & Media, Nanyang Technological University; Dante Brandi, ambassador of Italy to Singapore; and Shaoyuan Han-Montillet, independent advisor and former managing director of Fendi.
Von Schlippe started the panel talk by asking a simple question: ‘Why Singapore?’ In Brandi’s view, the small island nation’s conscientious relationship with design makes it the perfect starting point and “seed for Abito’s international tour.” Naturally, the next line of questioning centred on Abito itself, to which Palomba replied: “The exhibition is not just focused on what we wear, but also how we live. The role of a woman is the way we can measure the evolution of a society.” Appropriately, each dress showcased in the exhibition was chosen to encourage reflection of this very dynamic.
According to Miotta, Abito’s vision is to platform women as not just mere consumers, but as well-intentioned designers and curators of contemporary living. As the saying goes: there’s no better time than the present, and for Miotta, Singapore seems poised to help pave the way for this platform, as the country is “a receptive space for design”, boasting a unique “attention to discourse.” Han echoed this sentiment, recalling the story of luxury fashion house Fendi’s birth, brought about by the five Fendi sisters who banded together to make the impossible possible.
