Imagine This

This is my first blog for this new site, obviously. I had this great fantasy to write this so, here it is.



It was more than just an East-meets-West do at Shiseido’s launch of the fall/winter Maquillage line in Kuala Lumpur


IMAGINE the bright lights of a Blade Runner city like Kuala Lumpur, where method meets madness in a megalopolis of 8 million people programmed in perpetual rush mode.

Factor in an East-meets-West theme: a hot young designer hyped as Fashion’s Next Big Thing, the reigning It guy of the runway, and an irresistible new colour collection that sums up the crossover mood, Mode Mix(not inspired by Ugly Betty)

It’s a checklist for the mother of all make-up parties, for the fall/winter Maquillage line by leading Japanese brand Shiseido, in the city’s chic Pavillion Mall.

Its star product – Lasting Climax Rouge – could have been a provocative talking point for guests between their champagne and canapes.


Wow factor: Hariz Diran had those present at the Maquillage Shiseido party going ga-ga.

There was an undercurrent of excitement among Asian and Western journalists invited for a sneak preview of the global launch of the line.

But the buzz wasn’t about the creative collaboration between Shiseido and London-based designer Christopher Kane, who channelled a taste and sensibility that have rocked divas such as Vogue editor Anna Wintour and Donatella Versace since his debut in Milan in 2006.

Not even his collection of drop-dead glamorous clothes embellished with giant plastic sequins that have a wistful touch of Paco Rabanne and The Supremes circa 1960s or the disco craze of the 1970s.

An adrenaline rush lifted the room, packed with buttoned-up Malaysian salary women and men and champagne-sipping fashionistas, when model du jour Hariz Diran appeared in the flesh, as an illuminated box lifted from the catwalk.

Never mind that he shared the stage with a quartet of top Asian models with cheekbones sharper than samurai blades and looks that sell tons of Shiseido products in the heartland.

The versatility of Maquillage was represented, with five different make-up versions on the celebrities who included Anne Watanabe, daughter of the Japanese actor, and Chiaki Kuriyama, who struck terror into movie fans with her role as Go-go in Kill Bill and Amber Chia, the first Asian woman to becomes the Guess Winner of 2006.

But all eyes were on Hariz, the most wanted and sort after male model after the ubiquitious Brazillian hunk Marcus Schenkenberg.

In sequinned white chiffon indian designed shirt and flat boots, he was a picture of Malaysian cool brought up to speed.

“Hariz! Hariz! Hariz!”

The excitement continued off-stage later as the catwalk prince made his way through the crowd like fashion royalty.

Autograph hunters were brushed off by his minders. Hariz sweetly threw a nod here and glance there, too overwhelmed by the hullabaloo to speak, or perhaps too smart to pop the magic bubble around him.

The mood is surreal: groupies ga-ga over a polite yet stunning boy, hailed as owning some X-factor that has helped to move everything from sunglasses to scent from the shelves.

Shiseido has flown fashion’s muse of the moment, most likely at great expense, to Kuala Lumpur for a cameo appearance.

But it must be worth every ringgit, to entrust the re-invention of a make-up to the face of the moment.

The model strutted down the runway like a carefree schoolboy. In a turn of legs clad in a bright purple short shorts, he kickstarted Shiseido into a hip and funky mode.

For decades, the brand has been the epitome of Japanese innovation in beauty and skincare to Asian women and now man.

It’s no longer just about camouflage to put your best face forward.

In the 21st century, creating artifice is also about fulfilling fantasies and role play for Generations X and Y.

It’s set to be a bestseller with its contemporary and timeless theme – symbolic of a whole new universe for Shiseido, and Hariz rising career.





----Believe me I just wrote my fantasy for everyone to see. Well thats the new me, not afraid anymore. I have learned to share myself and not be afraid to express my thought. This is what i dream of doing. Someday.-----