Orchard Road had its own Shibuya Crossing moment yesterday, when a crosswalk fashion show kicked off the rebranded Great Singapore Sale, now called GSS: Experience Singapore.
Titled Orchard Road Fashion Scramble, the fashion showcase opened with a flash mob of more than 100 dancers at the intersection between The Heeren, Mandarin Gallery and retail store Design Orchard.
In nine 50-second sequences timed between traffic lights, 100 models walked around and inside the yellow traffic square, donning designs from both local and international designers.
Singapore brands on the makeshift runway included David's Daughter, Depression and Weekend Sundries. There were also works by student designers from local fashion design schools.
The Fashion Scramble is one way to reach out to the younger generation, said Mr R. Dhinakaran, president of the Singapore Retailers Association, which organised GSS: Experience Singapore.
"The traditional GSS in the past did many things the traditional way. We realised this is no longer relevant for the younger generation," he said. "We have to try new things out - after 25 years, we wanted to change the format to make it more experiential."
The annual sale, which was launched yesterday, is now shorter by half, and ends in five weeks on July 28.
Other new initiatives for GSS this year include screenings of locally made films and a pop-up retail showcase, Great Singapore Street Pop-Up, which runs along the Orchard Road stretch until June 30.
"Experiences are still about the physical world and physical places," said Dr Tan Wu Meng, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry, who was the guest of honour at yesterday's launch ceremony.
"For our retailers, the key is to meet the needs of today's customers and tomorrow's customers; and to stay relevant," he added.
For young designer Kelly Lee, 20, seeing her works paraded down Orchard Road for the first time was a nerve-racking affair.
"Honestly I felt really overwhelmed - when I was working on my designs, I never thought they would be displayed to the public on such a grand scale," said the fresh graduate from Lasalle College of the Arts.
Bridalwear designer Fatimah Mohsin was just thankful none of the gowns from her line, Fatimah Mohsin The Wedding Gallery, tore during the catwalk. Sales are off to a promising start, said the 44-year-old who also has a retail container at the Great Singapore Street Pop-Up selling home furnishings from her second brand, PropUpStore.
As for furniture designer Celine Ng, 28, the first day of GSS has not turned into actual sales yet, but she is hopeful.
"The price is a little on the higher side, but there is already a lot of interest from the public," she said.