James Bent chronicles Asia's most stylish neighbourhoods and people

The ongoing obsession with street-style photography is by no means limited to Paris, Milan or New York. While the phenomenon didn't develop as fast in Asia as in the West, the region's fashion savvy citizens have been channelling more energy into expressing themselves through their clothes, and in doing so have attracted the camera lens of Singapore-based British photographer James Bent in his new publication Asian Street Fashion (Thames & Hudson).

"It was completely unplanned," says the photographer, who had been writing short stories and was looking for interesting personalities to provide inspiration. "I had been using photos from Scott Schumann's book The Sartorialist to create characters for short fiction, but I had no idea that it was an official thing called 'street fashion' photography. And then my partner, Stacey, suggested I take photos of my own."

Initially, with scant knowledge of fashion, Bent set out in 2010 on what became a four-year project travelling around the region and recording what he saw. In the early days, says Bent, street style was authentic. "It kind of democratised fashion," he says. Nowadays, a lot of the published images are of fashion professionals. "It's become a victim of itself. But I still love seeing the raw and real images from the street."

Bent's book focuses on Asia, and aims to break away from stereotypes or preconceptions associated with each city, showing instead what he calls "that period in which fashion hit the streets with a nice mix of innocence and heartfelt development". It is for this reason, Bent says, he has enjoyed assembling this personal and appealing collection of images.