These garments were designed by Yang Derong, a fashion designer, costume designer and multidisciplinary artist. They were displayed at the Singapore Fashion Festival in March 2006 alongside the likes of Kenzo, Diana Van Furstenberg, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Missoni. The Singapore Fashion Festival was launched in 2001, and provided a platform for new local brands. This collection was part of the Lancome show, which featured four top local designers whose collections reflected on the label's summer beauty collection. Derong titled this collection "NATURE + COUTURE = FUTURE " because it married natural materials with bold silhouettes and traditional dressmaking and weaving craft. Each piece was entirely hand-made or hand-finished, with sustainable materials sourced from different parts of Asia. They included raw silk, satin, organza, cotton, linen, jute, raffia, rattan, hemp, sisal, pina, and pineapple silk. Derong used traditional techniques alongside these natural materials to create sensuous, futuristic forms that transcended the stereotype of eco-friendly fashion as shapeless and drab.This collection, considered a highlight of the Fashion Festival, represented an example of experimenting with eco-fashion in a design-forward way. Derong summarised the spirit of the collection with the French phrase "Liberte D’ete", : the freedom of summer, and celebrated the joy of fruition, fulfillment, sensuality and the goodness of nature.
