From hosting Singapore’s most fashionable soirees to lounging at home in fabulous PJs, there is always a way for Shazreh Rahman to infuse any moment with inimitable style
When Shazreh Rahman hosts a shindig, one thing is certain. It will most definitely be legendary.
“I always go all out,” she enthuses. In 2017, she hosted a Lunar New Year party where not only was the decor all red, but she also arranged for a dragon dance performance and set up traditional food stalls to serve local delights such as dumplings and kueh tutu.
A year later, the influential stylemeister orchestrated the largest Indian fashion show in Singapore, featuring celebrated couturier Manish Malhotra who is often regarded as the Tom Ford of India. The glamorous by-invite-only event at Atlas Bar for some 400 guests was graced by Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor, who closed the show in a statement-making lehenga.
“Manish is a dear friend of mine. It was a casual conversation over dinner one day when he mentioned he wanted to hold a fashion show in Singapore and I offered to host it,” says the Singapore-based Rahman, who is married to Shayan Rahman, a second-generation director of Beximco, Bangladesh’s largest private conglomerate.
These days, in accordance with Covid-19 related guidelines, the events she hosts are scaled down to smaller dinners, luncheons or teas, but no matter how grand—or intimate—the scale, Rahman can be relied on to dial up the style quotient. “I save my best fashion moments for parties because a hostess can never be too dressed. People make an effort when they know the hostess dresses up and I like that my guests take my cue to dress up too. It elevates the party,” she says.
It is perhaps her way of bringing a little bit of Bangladesh’s high-octane glamour to the little red dot, where she has lived with her family for nine years. The couple, who have been married for almost 15 years, moved to Singapore as they felt it would be a safe and stable place to bring up a young family, while still being an easy 3.5 hour flight away from Bangladesh.
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“Bangladeshis don’t just like to dress up—they love it,” she says, noting that unlike in Singapore, the heat is not a deterrent to getting dressed to the nines. Sartorial styles in Bangladesh vary depending on the occasion too, she says. “There’s a lot of bling and everyone’s hair and make-up is always done, always on point,” says Rahman, who used to travel to Bangladesh about once or twice a year before the pandemic.
Her style icon is her mother, who is always impeccably put together. “Even on regular days, she would wear a string of pearls around her neck; I was particularly fond of them when she wore them with her pastel sarees,” she says. “Growing up, my mum used to host beautiful parties and that’s where I learnt all of this from.”
While Rahman’s personal style defies definition as her taste spans the gamut from showstopping glitz and glamour to designer athleisure and streetwear, she does derive inspiration from her favourite destinations around the world.
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