Karen Woo | Karen Woo Fashion Videographer

The St Giles Hotel 360 Gear Campaign in Kuala Lumpur

July 26, 2016Karen Woo Leave a Comment

This week I jetsetted to Kuala Lumpur to be a part of the St Giles Hotels, Be Central Campaign for The Gardens – A St Giles Signature Hotel & Residences. I took my dear friend and colleague, Dee from AdaptTrend, to enjoy and document our journey via the very innovative Samsung Gear 360.

The Gear 360 is a 360-degree camera equipped with dual fish-eye lenses, both featuring 15 megapixel image sensors. So basically, what this means is that it will capture everything. Yes everything! Our double chins and probably even Pokemon *jokes*. We even got footage of another tourist running over my foot with his luggage. How’s that for being caught on camera.

The device attracted a lot of attention wherever we went. We marched through our hotel, streets and markets, proudly holding the Gear 360 like it was our Olympic torch. Locals and tourists alike stared with amusement at this futuristic looking alien. Many stopped us to discuss the device!

It paired easily with Dee’s Samsung Note 5 via the Gear 360 app. We snapped and it synced, a seamless process allowing us to then use the app and manipulate the pics to create interesting, quirky, and nothing-of-the-kind images. It was a fun little Virtual Reality Cam which made capturing tall buildings like the Petronas Tower easy. It had photos, video, video-looping and time lapse functionality.

If you get a chance, you should check it out. We had a blast and will keep you posted after all the campaign footage is released!

Thank you Synthia Kek from the The Gardens – A St Giles Signature Hotel & Residences for having us.

Stay tuned for my next post about my experience at the Hotel and places we explored around KL xxx

words // DEE DARWICHE
images // KAREN WOO

Eat and Drink at Awesome Canteen, Penang

July 17, 2016Karen Woo Leave a Comment

Penang continued to surprise us with their quaint little spaces such as one which we happen to stumble upon while we were searching for a foreign currency exchanger. Thank God, the Awesome Canteen accepted card so we had the liberty of trying some of their healthy paleo dishes. The Awesome Canteen are known for its ‘Paleo’ receipes, focusing on nutritious protein sources, vegetables and fruits, with vibrant highlights like grilled butterfish fillet with sweet potatoes and honeydew sauce, and a pomegranate salad with rocket and avocado. I ordered the Paleo eggplant and chicken stack with sweet potato fries – it was filling and light.

The walls were covered in faded paint giving it a special effect, seats were re-purposed industrial furniture, and what I loved most were the tall skinny trees planted into the middle of the space. This was definitely one space I would come back for a catch up with my foodie friends.

red dress // ZARA
rose gold sandals // BARED FOOTWEAR

All images by Karen Woo.

Inside Scoop: Coach introduces the Craftmanship Bar at St Collins Lane, Melbourne

June 27, 2016Karen Woo 1 Comment

Coach, Inc., a leading New York design house of modern luxury accessories and lifestyle brands is excited to introduce the Coach Craftsmanship Bar in flagship stores around the world.

The Craftsmanship Bars provide the finest leather services in an elevated yet authentic work environment – an experience that is uniquely Coach. The Coach Craftsmanship Bar allows customers to experience a rich array of personalized leather services including leather care and cleaning, monogramming, repair services and even a nice cup of coffee. All Craftsmanship Bars are staffed with a specialist who can provide expert advice on each leather service offered.

The new service brings to life Coach’s heritage and expertise in luxury craftsmanship and innovative design. Select Craftsmanship Bars will include vitrines that showcase vintage bags sourced and restored by the Coach Archive team. Every Craftsmanship Bar Vitrine will have an assortment of one-of-a-kind iconic silhouettes from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s which beautifully demonstrate Coach’s 75 year history of leather craft.

Currently, customers can discover the Coach Craftsmanship Bar in the following flagship store locations:

St Collins Lane, Melbourne
Shinjuku, Tokyo
Ginza, Tokyo
Taipei 101, Taipei
Wisma, Singapore
IFC, Shanghai
Hong Kong Plaza, Shanghai
Rue Saint-Honoré, Paris
Columbus Circle, New York

Craftsmanship Bars will be opening soon in additional flagship stores in key cities such as London, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.

If you have a Coach bag tucked away in your closet, I suggest you go bring in store for some tender leather love and care.

All images are produced and copyrighted to Karen Woo. Please do not use without prior permission, thank you for your support x

Coach, Inc. is a leading New York design house of modern luxury accessories and lifestyle brands. The Coach brand was established in New York City in 1941, and has a rich heritage of pairing exceptional leathers and materials with innovative design. Coach is sold worldwide through Coach stores, select department stores and specialty stores, and through Coach’s website at www.coach.com. In 2015, Coach acquired Stuart Weitzman, a global leader in designer footwear, sold in more than 70 countries and through its website at www.stuartweitzman.com. Coach, Inc.’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol COH and Coach’s Hong Kong Depositary Receipts are traded on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the symbol 6388.

The Perfect Coach Backpack

June 20, 2016Karen Woo 5 Comments

As much I love the idea of holding a clutch or a handbag, I can’t escape from the fact that a backpack is best suited to my photography work and life style. I’m a fashion photographer on the move, so carrying a backpack makes sense for all the ridiculous amount of heavy gear (wait, more like tissue paper and shopping receipts) that I put in my bag.

Huge thanks to Coach Australia, I was completely won over when Georgina from the St Collins Lane Flagship store understood my needs as a mum with a 4 year old and a photographer; and immediately showed me the “Manhattan Foldover” backpack.

Ohhh…..it was perfect in every way. Just let me explain why:

Efficient and Multifunctional
- It is spacious and has three separate, inside compartments – I can fit my laptop, hard drive, book, my lunch, camera and two lens. YAS!
- Has two outside zip pockets – one for my lipstick and keys, and the other for my iphone. YAY! That means I don’t have to rummage through the inside compartments for my keys when I’m in a hurry.
- It has an outside zip to access directly into the inside compartment. WINNING! That means I don’t have to undo the clip closure to get my wallet!
Unisex
- Though the Manhattan Foldover backpack is a part of the Men’s Collection SS17, I honestly believe this bag is perfect for a girl, even better, the right fit for a petite asian girl like me.
Modern and good looking
- The zip details, clip closure, and stitching of this backpack makes it look modern and luxe. To top it off, I had my name embossed on a Coach tag at the St Collins Lane store which added a personalised touch;
- This bag can go hands-free or hand-carried like a tote!
Comfortable
- The straps are well padded, and are adjustable which means no matter how heavy the bag may get, I am rest assured that my back is taken good care of. I’m sure my Oestopath would be happy about that.
Quality Leather
- What makes this bag so extra special is that it is crafted in Sport Calf Leather. The type of leather used in baseball gloves, and it will age and soften overtime.

So can you see why I am so impressed with my new backpack from Coach?

Thank you Coach for my beautiful backpack! Ok guys, if you are like, overwhelmed with too many choices, just go and speak directly to Georgina or one of her staff at the St Collins Lane store. They know their stuff inside out, and be more than happy to find you the perfect bag!

Images taken by Alan Woo.

black leather backpack // COACH
sweater knit dress // ZARA
boots // ACNE
socks // COS
black coat // AMERICAN APPAREL

MBFWA 2016 Backstage with Body Shop at Karla Spetic

May 18, 2016Karen Woo Leave a Comment

Tuesday was all about going behind the scenes with my favourite Australian Designer labels, and Karla Spetic was one of them. Remember the skirt with the road in the middle, well yes that was Karla Spetic. Her whimsical resort 2017 collection, titled “MEMORIES” were a combination of violet, white, navy and blue colours; sheer, rib knitted and embroidered fabrics; frilly ribbed high necklines; quirky cut outs and scallop edging and of-course her signature digital prints with lavender being the main feature. My absolute favourite pieces were definitely the wide legged pants with slits on the side and the rib knitted dresses and that pinafore top with ruffle-trimmed rectangles placed at the center like stamps on an envelope. These pieces will be the perfect addition to my ever growing athletic-chic wardrobe for photographers on the run!

Congratulations to Karla Spetic’s beautiful collection and thank you ONEDAYDREAM PR for having me backstage with the wonderful Body Shop Australia team who created the dreamy and natural beauty looks for Karla Spetic’s models and keeping their body silky smooth and smelling good with the new British Rose body butter. For toes, Butter London ‘Cotton Buds’ Nail lacquer and fingernails and ‘Horse Power Treatment‘ as top coat.

Enjoy xx

Flat white slides // TEVA
Hair // WELLA PROFESSIONALS
Beauty // THE BODY SHOP
Nails // BUTTER LONDON
Jewellery // SEBBROWN

The last pic was the crew from Body Shop! Go team x