Fide Fashion Week’s 2013 run may have ended, but one honour lives on: someone totally got knighted during the 11-day operation.
Dr Frank Cintamani, the man responsible for bringing French haute couture to Singapore during the inaugural Couture Fashion Week two years ago, can now add one more accolade to his growing list of accolades/firsts/humblebrags.
He was given the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by French ambassador to Singapore Mr Benjamin Dubertret, as a recognition for his significant contribution in exposing French fashion and couture to a wider market and birthing the culmination of couture in Asia.
The award was established May 1957 and has higher rungs for officer and commissioner awards. The chevalier (knight) award is awarded to up to 200 people a year. Past winners include Marc Jacobs and Jude Law.
“His force of conviction and his personal relationship skills are precious to our designers,” said Dubertret while commenting on Cintamani’s efforts in expanding the French luxury market to Southeast Asia.
“What I did was what I did because I love doing what I do. To be rewarded for what you love doing feels like you’re cheating,” Cintamani quipped after receiving the eight-point silver medallion from the French ambassador.
Present during the event was president of Bunka Fashion College Dr Satoshi Onuma, and Kuwait’s ambassador to Singapore His Excellency Abdulaziz Aladwani. The event also marked the launch of the Asian Couture Federation, where Cintamani sits as founder.
Watch Dr Cintamani get the award below:
