Among them, and occupying a shopfront in Singapore for the first time, will be brands like high-end jeweller Harry Winston and luxury fashion label Dsquared.

The eight-storey mall will also provide designer labels like Diane von Furstenberg and Marc Jacobs and watch brand Patek Philippe their first stand-alone boutiques in Singapore.

Familiar names like Cartier, Dior, Louis Vuitton and Prada will take up double-storey flagship stores at the 640,000 sq ft shopping centre, which is about two-thirds the size of Vivocity.

To coax as many tenants as possible to open at the same time, the management has offered up to 30 per cent in rent cuts for three months until October.

Orchard Turn Developments' chief executive officer Soon Su Lin said yesterday that over 60 per cent of the space has been leased to flagship stores, new-to-market brands and new concept stores.

The last includes new concepts by Burger King and a gourmet supermarket from Hong Kong called ThreeSixty, which sells organic food and cleaning products. Shoppers can also look forward to new Japanese restaurants like Watami and Sho Teppan at the soft opening on July 21.

The rental cut is a welcome boon for RSH Limited, which will take up six shops for its brands like Zara, Mango and Massimo Dutti.

Said chief operating officer Kesri Singh: 'It's a good thing that Ion Orchard realise that times are tough now and we committed our shops at a financially better time.'

The company had approached Ion Orchard to reconsider rents. Any kind of help is good, even for just three months, he said.

Read the full story in today's edition of The Straits Times.