Take home your very own piece of Checkpoint Theatre history with these three beautifully custom-designed vests by LAICHAN from The Last Bull: A Life in Flamenco (2016).
About The Last Bull: A Life in Flamenco:
Spontaneous and fiery. Sad and beautiful. Seductive and heartbreaking. The Last Bull: A Life in Flamenco is an extraordinary love story between one man and the art of flamenco. Written by Huzir Sulaiman and directed by Claire Wong, this seductive play revolves around Antonio Vargas, one of the world’s leading flamenco dancers and choreographers.
Born in Casablanca to a family of French-speaking Spanish Jews, Vargas has lived around the world, including Morocco, Spain, Australia and now, Singapore. He has worked with luminaries of the arts and entertainment worlds, from his dance interpretation of “She Loves You” with The Beatles to his acclaimed performance in Baz Luhrmann’s romantic comedy Strictly Ballroom and sensuous choreography in John Woo’s Mission: Impossible II.
In The Last Bull: A Life in Flamenco, Huzir and Wong embraced a rare opportunity to create a performed memoir with Vargas on stage himself, tracing his dancer’s journey from childhood to old age. Huzir transformed Vargas’ biography and interviews with the cast into evocative prose and poetry. Wong’s direction wove Huzir’s writing into an electrifying and mesmerising theatrical frame, with flamenco dance, music and song taking centre stage.
Deeply personal and affecting, The Last Bull: A Life in Flamenco explored Vargas’s life story: the five-year-old boy stumbling upon his aunt dancing flamenco and emerging as one of the world’s most enchanting flamenco dancers. Much like the dance, The Last Bull is an achingly beautiful ode to a life filled with passionate pursuits.
The Last Bull: A Life in Flamenco was commissioned by Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA).
Biography:
Lai Chan is known as Singapore’s cheongsam maestro, with a signature style that is delicately understated and rich in fine detailing. Since 1991, he has been known for combining fabrics from around the world, ranging from Italian silk crêpes and delicate French laces to ethereal Japanese silk.
Today, Lai Chan – with almost four decades of dressmaking experience – has established himself in the fashion industry with his elaborate couture gowns and cheongsams. His works are pretty much one-of-a-kind, so much so that dignitaries, celebrities and socialites are his regulars. His boutique in Paragon along Orchard Road is a treasure trove of his meditations on the cheongsam.
Lai Chan starts his design process by taking inspiration from contemporary lifestyle pieces and translating them into the fabric, proportions, and details of his signature cheongsam. One of the techniques that he uses is the bias cut. He then puts the pieces together, such as tulle, lace, beads, and other details, before calculating the weight of the garments. This step is pivotal in his design process to see how beautiful the garment will look and feel when worn and not just hanging on the rack.
Specifications:
– Auction winner will collect the vests by LAICHAN during Checkpoint Celebrates! 2024
– 1 x Black Custom-Designed Vest
Bust: 18.5”
Waist: 17”
Arm Opening: 10”
Length: 21.5”
Best Fits: UK 16
– 1 x White Custom-Designed Vest
Bust: 18”
Waist: 16.5”
Arm Opening: 10”
Length: 20”
Best Fits: UK 14
– 1 x Monochrome Patterned Custom-Designed Vest
Bust: 20.5”
Waist: 19”
Arm Opening: 10”
Length: 24.5”
Best Fits: UK 18
