Speaker 1: Now, Made in SG with Melanie Oliveo. True to its name,
Speaker 1: Made in SG will soon bring to your attention three
Speaker 1: young local designers or locally based designers as well, whose
Speaker 1: products and clothing will hopefully be added to your personal belongings.
Speaker 1: I'm Melanie Olivero. This is CNA 938. You can meet them.
Speaker 1: Face to face, check out their designs, check them out,
Speaker 1: have a chat with them and get your wallets or
Speaker 1: e-wallets ready to support their creativity, their hard work, and
Speaker 1: add some maiden SG magic to your home or your wardrobe.
Speaker 1: So how can you meet them under one roof? All
Speaker 1: three of them and more will be at the upcoming
Speaker 1: boutiques Singapore. It's a
Speaker 1: A very ardent supporter of emerging designers, and it's also
Speaker 1: a boutique fair as well, with the spring summer edition
Speaker 1: coming up from 21st to the 23rd of March, so
Speaker 1: Friday to Sunday at the F1 pit building One Republic Boulevard.
Speaker 1: These three creatives are all women, and they are Rachel
Speaker 1: Liu from Rock Daisy, Genevieve Woon from Genevieve.
Speaker 1: studio and go to from atom and they'll be talking
Speaker 1: about their unique creations. Ladies, welcome to CNE 938. I
Speaker 1: want to ask you, yeah, if there is a designer
Speaker 1: you very much admire, can be local, international, creative, who
Speaker 1: would that be and what products or items of theirs
Speaker 1: do you covered or do you already have? For me,
Speaker 1: my
Speaker 1: would be the Eames lounge lounge chair, so that is
Speaker 1: the Eames lounge chair and Ottoman in black leather, which
Speaker 1: I understand costs more than $10,000 so I won't be
Speaker 1: getting that anytime soon. Ladies, what about you? Let us
Speaker 1: start with Rachel. Hi, Melanie, thanks for having us here today. Um,
Speaker 1: so my piece actually also is extremely expensive, so I
Speaker 1: will not be purchasing it myself, but
Speaker 1: Um, I'm a huge fan of Mucha Prada. I really
Speaker 1: just love the way that she views women and femininity,
Speaker 1: so I would say my favorite piece of her or
Speaker 1: what I would covet is a just a straightforward knee
Speaker 1: length skirt, you know, something from her late 90s collections
Speaker 1: because they were really wonderful back then. It's, it's simple,
Speaker 1: but I think there's a lot of subversion in it. Sure.
Speaker 1: And how much do you think it'll cost nowadays, Rachel?
Speaker 1: I mean, well, if I'm looking for an arc.
Speaker 1: vintage piece. I don't even know the price tag could
Speaker 1: be upwards of a few 1000 for sure. A few
Speaker 1: 1000 US, yeah, I think so. I see. OK. What
Speaker 1: is it? What about you? For me, I would personally
Speaker 1: say Gray and Sanders, like the wood slat table. I've
Speaker 1: always wanted one at my house. Yeah, so I can
Speaker 1: also use it for like my drafting and all. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I just feel that it will be a great
Speaker 1: sustainable piece to have at my own home.
Speaker 1: OK, price tag, do you know? I think it's roughly
Speaker 1: a few 1000 but definitely less than 10. OK, less
Speaker 1: than 10. OK, definitely cheaper than my Eames Ottoman. OK, Genevieve.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think an artist that I really love is
Speaker 2: Suamu Noguchi. You know, he's really famous for his paper lamps.
Speaker 2: I love the car lamps. I would love to have
Speaker 2: a hanging pendant one, and I think they're around $22,000 USD.
Speaker 2: One of those, but I also really love his sculptures.
Speaker 2: They're so great, you know, they're such abstract forms, but
Speaker 2: somehow still convey so much playfulness and curiosity which I
Speaker 2: think is so beautiful in his work, but I think
Speaker 2: those are like not even available to purchase anymore, so
Speaker 1: priceless really impossible
Speaker 2: to
Speaker 1: get priceless, but you know what, it's in your mind's
Speaker 1: eye for sure. Let's talk about how each of you
Speaker 1: started out, but you got to give us a summary.
Speaker 1: Genevieve, why did you start your own homeware handcrafted
Speaker 1: brand?
Speaker 2: So I really started this brand during COVID, you know,
Speaker 2: if we even remember how that time was like, it,
Speaker 2: it feels like it's been so long since COVID already, right?
Speaker 2: Um, pre-COVID, I worked as a fashion designer in New
Speaker 2: York and during lockdown, I found myself back here in
Speaker 2: Singapore with nothing. I think I had like my laptop
Speaker 2: and like some home clothes, I thought I would be
Speaker 2: here for a month and I would head back there.
Speaker 2: And I was like going stir crazy, I was like
Speaker 2: I need to make with my hands, what is the
Speaker 2: easiest thing to get my hands on and what needs
Speaker 2: the least amount of tools, right? I ordered a bag
Speaker 2: of clay, I started making things that I wanted to
Speaker 2: have in my house that you know would bring me joy.
Speaker 2: When I wake up and have a coffee in a
Speaker 2: cup that I really, really like or pieces that I
Speaker 2: can give to my friends and my family and that's
Speaker 2: really how the brand started and it's just grown from there.
Speaker 1: Do you want to go
Speaker 1: back to New York
Speaker 1: now?
Speaker 2: Um, I, I think even
Speaker 2: Pre-COVID, I had been looking to come home for some time,
Speaker 2: you know, and it felt just like perfect timing and
Speaker 2: now that we've been home and returned home, so happy
Speaker 2: to be back and don't see myself returning back, maybe
Speaker 2: for a holiday or a conference or even like for
Speaker 2: work potentially but I think home is now back in Singapore.
Speaker 2: How long were you there?
Speaker 2: I was there for 4 years for school and then
Speaker 2: another 4 for work, so
Speaker 1: maybe 88
Speaker 1: years, about 8 years in New York City. Yeah,
Speaker 2: different parts of the US. I was in Rhode Island
Speaker 2: for school and then New York for work.
Speaker 1: What a rich life you've you've led so far and
Speaker 1: there's so many stories you're going to tell us as well,
Speaker 1: if not off air. OK, so we go to see.
Speaker 1: What did you want to achieve with Atom and Atam
Speaker 1: is spelled in caps, A T O M when you
Speaker 1: first started out, that we can see in your designs today. Um, firstly,
Speaker 1: I feel that I've always wanted to create um elevated
Speaker 1: basics for everyday wardrobe, and that's the direction that I
Speaker 1: actually headed towards. So therefore, there's a lot of pieces
Speaker 1: that's in our collection now that actually everybody can actually
Speaker 1: Wear daily and then she can style them up or
Speaker 1: after them down depending on what events they're going for. Yeah, OK.
Speaker 1: So the thing is that it's it's it's more or
Speaker 1: less called a unisex label, right? But, but is, am
Speaker 1: I right? Do you have sports bras or that was
Speaker 1: just the model? Oh, that was just the pieces, yeah.
Speaker 1: So she was wearing the nice pair of shorts, yeah. OK.
Speaker 1: Are those cargo shorts or?
Speaker 1: Our unisex cargo shorts. Ah, so that means men and
Speaker 1: women can wear it because there are drawstrings there. Yes, correct.
Speaker 1: And then we also customize the rice, so actually it
Speaker 1: fits both men and women pretty well. And even women
Speaker 1: who are more generously uh made in the booty department
Speaker 1: still can, right? OK, because you thought this through very,
Speaker 1: very well. There's a nice t-shirts that all of us
Speaker 1: can wear too. OK. Now, Rachel.
Speaker 1: Where did you and when did you envision women can
Speaker 1: wear your the rock daisy outfits? I can picture them
Speaker 1: at conferences, at the office, and then when they, when
Speaker 1: they're done with everything, they can go out drinking with
Speaker 1: their pals. It's very versatile. Yes, that's a perfect description
Speaker 1: of where you could find it. Um, I think, I think, well,
Speaker 1: the way that I see it is that um I
Speaker 1: wanted to create Rock Daisy to offer something different in
Speaker 1: the market.
Speaker 1: Um, because I think that there is um an association
Speaker 1: sometimes with sustainable fashion being linked to florals or really
Speaker 1: bold prints or, you know, almost something, maybe even bohemian chic, um,
Speaker 1: but for this to really work, it has to be
Speaker 1: integrated into our, our lives, our everyday lives, and so.
Speaker 1: Um, Rock Daisy is, uh, intending to offer minimalist straightforward
Speaker 1: pieces that are in our everyday lives that are everyday garments.
Speaker 1: So yes, we'll go to conferences, we'll go to lunches,
Speaker 1: we'll also go to your Pilates class or your travel
Speaker 1: or anything. It really should be something that follows your life.
Speaker 1: You're a PR, yeah, I'm a PR but you're originally from,
Speaker 1: I'm originally from America, so I was born in the US.
Speaker 1: My mother is Singaporean and my family is Singaporean. So
Speaker 1: we moved here when I was 10 and I went
Speaker 1: to school here. Then after that I went back to
Speaker 1: school in the US and stayed there for 8 years
Speaker 1: and then Europe.
Speaker 1: 7 years and then 2 years ago I finally moved
Speaker 1: back to Singapore and I'm I'm staying here. Which, which
Speaker 1: part of the US and Europe were you mostly based?
Speaker 1: I was in Boston and then I was in Antwerp, Belgium.
Speaker 1: you see another another life that has has been led
Speaker 1: so richly and still very, very young. OK. Genevieve studio
Speaker 1: is self-explanatory, but what about Atom and Rock Daisy? Tui,
Speaker 1: what why Atom?
Speaker 1: Um, firstly, I got inspired by the science atom, like
Speaker 1: the particles, yeah, so actually what I um envisioned in
Speaker 1: my head was actually like
Speaker 1: The pieces that we wear every day is like part
Speaker 1: of us, right? So it's just it's like atoms in
Speaker 1: like a science form like the particles, you know, just
Speaker 1: joined together, so I feel that it is a good
Speaker 1: name to represent the brand itself. OK, it looks very
Speaker 1: catchy because the way you design the logo, I saw
Speaker 1: the guy's shirt is very nice.
Speaker 1: Nice placement of the logo just center in the front
Speaker 1: and very clean design in caps because we focus more
Speaker 1: on like minimalist and like quality over like anything else,
Speaker 1: so therefore that's why we hit it with like basics
Speaker 1: or so.
Speaker 1: Very nice. Then Rock Daisy, where did that come from, Rachel? Yeah,
Speaker 1: so Rock Daisy, um, it is actually a real flower.
Speaker 1: It's a flower within the daisy family, um, and it's
Speaker 1: something that I saw when I was hiking a few
Speaker 1: years ago in the Alps, and I was like really
Speaker 1: high altitude, I think, oh, I don't know, 2000 m up,
Speaker 1: and I was exhausted and um I just sat down
Speaker 1: and I saw this rock daisy and it was just
Speaker 1: growing up out of nothing without any water or care.
Speaker 1: And it was a beautiful moment and I thought, OK, this,
Speaker 1: this is, this is what fashion should feel like. It
Speaker 1: should be resilient and it should be natural and it
Speaker 1: should be easy. So for me, seeing that daisy in
Speaker 1: its existence, purely in these mountainous conditions was something that
Speaker 1: I really resonated with me and I wanted to bring
Speaker 1: into the brand. When you say resilient, do you mean
Speaker 1: that
Speaker 1: The material itself should be resilient and tough or the
Speaker 1: very fashion of it can be resilient through the years
Speaker 1: of fast fashion. It's that's a great question. So resilient
Speaker 1: in terms of the design, it should be resilient away
Speaker 1: from trends. It should be a part of you and
Speaker 1: your unique voice, um, and also it should be resilient
Speaker 1: in its craftsmanship. It should be durable, it should last,
Speaker 1: it should, you know, exist for more than 3 times
Speaker 1: in the wash. So it's definitely something that should be
Speaker 1: integrated into the way that you create clothing.
Speaker 1: So are you wearing one of your pieces now? I
Speaker 1: am on my skirt at the moment. Yeah, I saw
Speaker 1: that on your website that she's flashing her skirt. OK,
Speaker 1: very good, very good. It was a flash. I must
Speaker 1: say very classy and then it's white, is it off
Speaker 1: or white? So this is a this is a pure white.
Speaker 1: This one here. So it's a it's a midi skirt
Speaker 1: that has a split down the center and it has
Speaker 1: French themes on the side, it has bias binding on
Speaker 1: the inside. So just, just very, very thoughtfully crafted to
Speaker 1: really be durable and to last with you in the
Speaker 1: years to come. So that slit, when we sit down
Speaker 1: at meetings or when we go to conferences and we
Speaker 1: sit down on those high
Speaker 1: Um, chairs, let's say someone is, is, uh, at a
Speaker 1: conference and she's doing a speech or she's one of
Speaker 1: the contributors. Is that slit sexy? Is it risky risky slit? Well,
Speaker 1: let's say it definitely goes past fingertip length, so you know,
Speaker 1: nothing is going to be on display, but you will
Speaker 1: feel good, you will feel confident in it and it's
Speaker 1: something that will elevate your style. There you go.
Speaker 1: Now let's talk about your individual stalls at Boutique Singapore,
Speaker 1: which is, by the way, everyone, 21st to 23rd March.
Speaker 1: We begin with Genevieve. Genevieve studio will unveil its newest
Speaker 1: snack collection. I have seen it on your website. I
Speaker 1: am a fan of your Bitter God espresso cup. It's
Speaker 1: very cute, but of course.
Speaker 1: it's a work of art as well. When and where
Speaker 1: did the idea for snack collection come from?
Speaker 2: So snack collection is really inspired by my practice in
Speaker 2: floral design. So that's something I do a lot of
Speaker 2: as well and I feel like my floral practice and
Speaker 2: ceramic practice really are interconnected and influence one another.
Speaker 2: And in floristry, a lot of times we work with
Speaker 2: fruits and vegetables and you are making arrangements out of lemons, pumpkins,
Speaker 2: whatever you find that is beautiful at the markets, right,
Speaker 2: taking something ordinary and everyday and finding a new perspective
Speaker 2: on it and I loved doing that so much and
Speaker 2: wanted to make a more permanent version of that and
Speaker 2: started making fruit and veggie like ceramic sculptures, molding the
Speaker 2: fruits and vegetables and
Speaker 2: Then one thing led to another, I was so inspired
Speaker 2: by that, I made a whole series of, you know,
Speaker 2: all the snack designs, cups, vases, tableware for my wedding
Speaker 2: with my husband, we made little lemons for each guest
Speaker 2: to take home as door gifts, you know, we made
Speaker 2: vases that our florist friends then filled and friends and
Speaker 2: family could take them home and so it's something that's
Speaker 2: like really personal near and dear to my heart and
Speaker 2: everyone loved them so.
Speaker 2: and was like please make more, so you know we've
Speaker 2: added it to our permanent collection is available starting on
Speaker 2: our website soon. We have lots of new designs coming
Speaker 2: up exclusively at boutique, so I'm really excited to see
Speaker 2: how everyone receives that. So
Speaker 1: it's not
Speaker 1: just a bitter go we have lots more coming up.
Speaker 1: Give us a teaser of what else we can
Speaker 1: see.
Speaker 2: We're making some balls,
Speaker 1: some plates,
Speaker 2: a lot more usable functional wear that I think people
Speaker 2: really enjoy.
Speaker 2: And then also some sculptural pieces that are just there
Speaker 2: for you to look at and they're just beautiful objects
Speaker 2: for your table.
Speaker 1: Well, take her word for it because if you go
Speaker 1: to her website, you'll know what she's talking about. OK, so,
Speaker 1: let's talk about the atom swag we can get from
Speaker 1: you at Boutique Singapore.
Speaker 1: There's the one size fits all skirt to start with.
Speaker 1: Tell us to what extent it's versatile. Is it from
Speaker 1: XS to XL and how does it work? OK, so, um, firstly,
Speaker 1: we have it in two different colors, both neutrals, one
Speaker 1: in beige and one in a dark like chocolate color. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Then secondly, it will be that um it's functional through
Speaker 1: like um drawstring. So it's actually.
Speaker 1: Toggle to for you to tighten or for you to
Speaker 1: loosen whenever you want. So it's good for like, for example,
Speaker 1: if you're going for a big buffet and you need
Speaker 1: a skirt that you know, for example, that after you eat,
Speaker 1: you can actually expand. Yeah, so that's one and then
Speaker 1: um if it's roughly from like I would say down
Speaker 1: to XXS to XXL actually because it's a very wide
Speaker 1: range and
Speaker 1: It can be drawstring accordingly to your specific size, but
Speaker 1: when you pull the drawstring, sometimes it bunches up. Then how? OK,
Speaker 1: so actually the material that we use is actually some, uh,
Speaker 1: is actually cotton, so therefore it's relatively thin, but it's
Speaker 1: also not too bulky. Yeah, so actually when you drawstring,
Speaker 1: it actually creates some gas and pleats that actually makes
Speaker 1: it into a like a cocoon shape itself. So it's
Speaker 1: actually um.
Speaker 1: Very, very versatile and super nice to look at once
Speaker 1: you actually cinch the elastic in cream and chocolate brown, yeah. OK,
Speaker 1: very nice. Rachel, what about Rock Daisy? I hear the
Speaker 1: signature boxy top and dress will have new colors. Yes,
Speaker 1: there will, um, so for us this edition, um, it's
Speaker 1: really a color story. So we're bringing in um a
Speaker 1: couple of seasonal colors that I think represents sort of
Speaker 1: the continuity of of Rock Daisy, which is, you know,
Speaker 1: fun and and quirky sort of.
Speaker 1: Uh, colors. So it's a cool lavender. Um, we're bringing
Speaker 1: some of our bestselling styles in this color as well as, um,
Speaker 1: a charcoal gray that kind of has green undertones. So
Speaker 1: I'm actually thinking about calling it Sestone. I don't really
Speaker 1: know yet. We'll kind of see eventually what land, uh,
Speaker 1: name I land on, but
Speaker 1: Um, yeah, I'm really excited about these two colors and
Speaker 1: then of course there will also be a new style, uh,
Speaker 1: a new tank top that comes out which will just
Speaker 1: be really easy, um, and hopefully an everyday garment. Very,
Speaker 1: very nice. All of you care about the sustainability of
Speaker 1: your brand and how earth friendly you aim for them
Speaker 1: to be. Can you tell us about that and give
Speaker 1: us examples?
Speaker 1: We know what to look out for when we come
Speaker 1: face to face with you at Boutique Singapore. Let's begin
Speaker 1: with to see how sustainable is your brand? Tell us
Speaker 1: more about that. So actually, our left fabrics that we have,
Speaker 1: I actually use them to create like a pouch called
Speaker 1: micro hexagon. So we have um at the back of
Speaker 1: the pouch, we actually have our origami, our like um.
Speaker 1: The piece that we always use for our back pockets. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that's actually functional for like lighters or like lipsticks,
Speaker 1: like little small items, and then um the pouch itself
Speaker 1: you can actually use to put your cash and cards
Speaker 1: at anything small basically. So it's a multifunctional pouch. Yes.
Speaker 1: Then the material that you use or the material used
Speaker 1: is our leftover fabrics from our garments. Oh leftover fabrics,
Speaker 1: I see I see, I see. So let's say you
Speaker 1: make one of your, your lovely skirt.
Speaker 1: and the leftover fabrics you make into these so that's
Speaker 1: how we can repurpose and actually also like some of
Speaker 1: the items we actually give on like um like uh
Speaker 1: if you buy something like when you reach a certain
Speaker 1: amount and you actually give it to you like complimentary
Speaker 1: on the house as well. Very nice. Genevieve.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I think the bare minimum minimum that we
Speaker 2: have is 100% paper packaging, right, like that is non-negotiable
Speaker 2: for us. If you
Speaker 2: never received anything from us in plastic or bubble wrap,
Speaker 2: it's because it's recycled, you know, we received a package
Speaker 2: in studio that's in bubble wrap we then don't want
Speaker 2: to toss it out, we're reusing it as we send
Speaker 2: something else back out, you know, and lots of other
Speaker 2: ways I think we are trying to walk sustainability long
Speaker 2: term into our brand is how to recycle ceramics. Ceramics
Speaker 2: once you fire it becomes very durable and so it
Speaker 2: becomes very hard to recycle.
Speaker 2: To see other things and so we're doing lots of
Speaker 2: R&D on how to mill that down and use it
Speaker 2: as a glaze for like a small capsule collection and
Speaker 2: things like that, but it's a lot of work and
Speaker 2: the machinery can be quite expensive, so I think the
Speaker 2: mill the mill it really only makes sense at scale,
Speaker 2: so it's something I'm hoping to incorporate when the brand
Speaker 2: gets to grow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, OK, so future plans in mind there, Rachel.
Speaker 1: Um, yeah, so I think that um it's great to
Speaker 1: see that there's already a shift towards more thoughtful consumption,
Speaker 1: and I think that it is instinctual, you know, we
Speaker 1: all want to survive and with all the news that
Speaker 1: we have today, um, people are really aware of the
Speaker 1: climate issues that were around and also about how we
Speaker 1: got there and over consumption is a really big part
Speaker 1: of that. So.
Speaker 1: Rock Daisy does is it tries to really slow that
Speaker 1: turnover down and we do this by making things highly
Speaker 1: wearable and durable, um, and, uh, and yeah, just being
Speaker 1: able to use natural materials and things that are designed
Speaker 1: for Singapore's climate. It's so hot here that like you
Speaker 1: want to wear things that are comfortable and you'll wear
Speaker 1: it more if it is suitable for the humidity. Um,
Speaker 1: so this is what we're trying to do. So much
Speaker 1: thought put into all of your products and uh design
Speaker 1: features and the the future you see for your brand
Speaker 1: as well.
Speaker 1: But then what would each of you say would be
Speaker 1: some of the more challenging realities of being a new
Speaker 1: designer that wasn't taught in school or university, but you
Speaker 1: learned the hard way, but these lessons made you grow.
Speaker 1: Um, so, well, I went to school actually for business
Speaker 1: and finance, so something completely different, you know, definitely not
Speaker 1: really entrepreneurship, so, um, I think something I didn't notice
Speaker 1: until I was really in it was just how competitive
Speaker 1: things are here in Singapore and specifically because Singapore is
Speaker 1: a hub for Southeast Asia. It's not just local competition,
Speaker 1: it's really international and like globally established brands that are
Speaker 1: all fighting for the same space here.
Speaker 1: Um, and it happens with everything. It's not just with clothes, it's,
Speaker 1: it's with coffee, you know, you have your copi, your
Speaker 1: local coffee roasters, but then, you know, you also have
Speaker 1: your Starbucks, and when we are so spoiled for choice,
Speaker 1: I think it makes things really hard to be noticed
Speaker 1: as a small brand, um, and so I just have
Speaker 1: to be really persistent and to keep, you know, thinking.
Speaker 1: About my core mission and my message um to try
Speaker 1: and really get out there and resonate with people. So
Speaker 1: you've got to get out there, you got to meet people,
Speaker 1: you got to go to boutique fairs like boutique Singapore,
Speaker 1: maintain your store, promote yourself on social media. It's many
Speaker 1: different hats that you have to do and they all
Speaker 1: require different, you know, um, headspaces as well too. So
Speaker 1: then there's other things like storage in inventory, how to
Speaker 1: fulfill your orders at the back, and so many things.
Speaker 1: It's a, it's a whole chain, but
Speaker 1: You're doing this for a reason because of your love
Speaker 1: for what you do, then Tui, um, personally I feel
Speaker 1: it is the marketing aspect for me because I'm a
Speaker 1: kind of person that I prefer to be like more
Speaker 1: behind the scenes. Like for example, I study fashion in
Speaker 1: Temasek Poly previously, so I'm a kind of person that
Speaker 1: I just like to be by myself and just
Speaker 1: Sewing, you know, so it's hard to put myself out
Speaker 1: there as well. So therefore, I'm trying to learn to
Speaker 1: do more like TikToks and rails and stuff, so to
Speaker 1: put myself out there and also like the brand out
Speaker 1: there as well. What's your TikTok handle? I tried to
Speaker 1: search for you. Ah, it's actually basically my IG handle ATO.inus. OK,
Speaker 1: so ATO because I couldn't find you, you know, I
Speaker 1: found the other and said, where is this where is
Speaker 1: this atom? So it's at ATO yeah.
Speaker 1: I basically atom in us. Oh yeah, I like that too. OK,
Speaker 1: very good. Genevieve.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think one of the main challenges I face,
Speaker 2: you know, pushing the creative direction for a brand is
Speaker 2: staying true to the vision. You know, when you're a
Speaker 2: young brand and designer, you're starting out, everyone has so
Speaker 2: much to see and sometimes it's it's really good to
Speaker 2: get feedback and even friends and family with the best
Speaker 2: intentions give you great feedback but it's not always applicable, right?
Speaker 2: You have to really trust your gut, you have to
Speaker 2: follow your instinct and build the brand for how you
Speaker 2: see it so that you stand out in the market.
Speaker 2: If you follow every piece of advice that you have,
Speaker 2: it kind of muddies the vision and you become like
Speaker 2: any other brand that already exists. So when you're trying
Speaker 2: to build something new, you really have to invest in
Speaker 2: that and trust yourself and that's something I try to
Speaker 2: do better every day and
Speaker 2: Something hopefully over time will grow stronger as well.
Speaker 1: OK, and do you envision people come, do you have
Speaker 1: a studio that is open to the public?
Speaker 2: not open to the public, but you definitely have a
Speaker 2: studio where I've had lots of meetings, friends come to visit,
Speaker 2: you know, I've had customers that have become friends over
Speaker 2: time that have come to visit as well and hopefully
Speaker 2: over time becomes like an open studio space where anyone
Speaker 2: can drop in as well. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's right, I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 1: Ladies, if you're shopping at Boutique Singapore, what would you
Speaker 1: want from each other? So that means you have to
Speaker 1: choose one item, each from your fellow designers catalog. For me,
Speaker 1: from Adam, I will get the multi pocket cargo shorts
Speaker 1: from Rock Daisy, the is it Ari or Ari? The
Speaker 1: Ari low waist cargo pants in black and from Genevieve studio,
Speaker 1: the mocha catch all bowl because it's a multi.
Speaker 1: Purpose bowl. What about you? We start with Genevieve. What
Speaker 1: will you get?
Speaker 2: This
Speaker 1: is
Speaker 2: the fun part, the shopping part, right? I already know
Speaker 2: exactly what I want from both of you guys. Eyeing
Speaker 2: the parachute skirt, you know, I love a versatile skirt
Speaker 2: that I can take with me even if I had
Speaker 2: a big meal, I feel comfortable in it, right? Make
Speaker 2: space for the baby, right? And then um I really
Speaker 2: love the Tasha shirt from Rock Daisy, especially in that
Speaker 2: trademark green of yours.
Speaker 2: Which now I've gotten to know that you've developed that
Speaker 2: just for you guys and it took so much work
Speaker 2: to get that green. Such an exquisite shade of green,
Speaker 2: highly recommend you guys go see it in person.
Speaker 1: Oh, so now I'm so intrigued. OK, for sure, for sure. OK,
Speaker 1: for me, I personally, um, I've already visited, um, Genevieve
Speaker 1: studio previously at boutiques. Yeah, so actually I love how
Speaker 1: Peter call espresso cup, yeah, and they're hoping that it
Speaker 1: will come in like a larger form of size, yeah.
Speaker 1: You want it to be a coffee cup, yeah, because
Speaker 1: it's espresso cup because I don't really drink coffee, so
Speaker 1: I prefer a bigger cup where I can drink like
Speaker 1: my green tea and others. OK, OK, that makes sense.
Speaker 1: And then from Rocky Rock Daisy it will be the
Speaker 1: Alex Boxy crop shirt, yeah, probably the new color, the
Speaker 1: lavender color. I also agree. I'm intrigued about the lavender
Speaker 1: color shade as well now, now that Genevieve mentioned the green.
Speaker 1: Alright, Rachel, what's on your shopping cart? Um, so for me,
Speaker 1: I mean when I'm looking at um the stuff, it's,
Speaker 1: it's really the pleated shirt that stands out to me
Speaker 1: and she's coming out with this really rich and deep
Speaker 1: brown that is obviously the color of the year. Thank
Speaker 1: you Pantone. So I definitely need to get my hands
Speaker 1: on that and
Speaker 1: Yeah, for Genevieve, it's it's hard to pick. I mean
Speaker 1: like I love the the the blue blue mug, but
Speaker 1: also this lemon thing that you're talking about, like I'm obsessed.
Speaker 1: I just can I shop more? Yes, anytime, come by anytime.
Speaker 1: I wanted to know, do you all take cashless payment
Speaker 1: or you all take cash also?
Speaker 1: What is it? Mainly cashless payment cashless card, no, because
Speaker 1: you're not you're not equipped for a for a small
Speaker 1: thing like that. There is a partnership that's going on actually.
Speaker 1: So if you partner with like Pay, for example, you
Speaker 1: can get the device where customers can actually pay by
Speaker 1: their credit cards. OK, thank you for pointing that out.
Speaker 1: And uh also I wanted to ask you things like
Speaker 1: boutique Singapore, uh showcases like they, because they're not just
Speaker 1: there once a year, several times, right?
Speaker 1: And event festivals like boutique Singapore, how do they help
Speaker 1: support you and promote you? So, um, in terms of, well,
Speaker 1: the three of us, um, we actually were recipients under
Speaker 1: the grant program of boutiques and we were, we actually
Speaker 1: just had coffee before this and we discussed how wonderful
Speaker 1: it was to have this because it's, it's a mentorship,
Speaker 1: you know, it's really a space where you as an
Speaker 1: emerging brand gets to figure out how you want to
Speaker 1: be and how to become a real brand fast um
Speaker 1: because it is.
Speaker 1: a biannual event and it is extremely intense. So you
Speaker 1: as a designer, you have to get disciplined really, really
Speaker 1: quickly on branding, on visual merchandizing, on management of stock,
Speaker 1: and all of this stuff is, it's really like an incubator,
Speaker 1: you know, helping you become a brand as quickly as
Speaker 1: possible and in a, in a, you know, a safe
Speaker 1: and supported way. OK, so it's not just a you
Speaker 1: rent a stall and sell stuff, they also help you
Speaker 1: behind the scenes, yeah.
Speaker 1: The mentorship program. Yes, yeah, we were lucky enough to
Speaker 1: get it um uh with the grant recipients, but yes,
Speaker 1: it's it's really a wonderful organization for this. I'm so
Speaker 1: pleased to hear that.
Speaker 1: In one sentence because I've got to go, where do
Speaker 1: you see your brand in 10 years? Online presence but
Speaker 1: only but thriving, brick and mortar store somewhere, retail distribution
Speaker 1: and malls here and abroad, Genevieve.
Speaker 2: I think my end goal is really flagship store, Singapore
Speaker 2: shop house, having a studio showroom, tea house under one roof,
Speaker 2: so you really get to understand what the
Speaker 2: Brand and our objects are about.
Speaker 1: I like that. I totally agree with what Genevieve says.
Speaker 1: So in future I will hope to have like a shophouse, yeah,
Speaker 1: so people can come in and view our items in
Speaker 1: store and then they can see me behind the scenes
Speaker 1: making the garments itself. So I feel that there's a
Speaker 1: part where we can actually connect with our consumers as well. OK,
Speaker 1: there's there's a there's a local designer. Her name is
Speaker 1: her brand name is Absence, and she has her own streetwear,
Speaker 1: urban streetwear, so she has her own.
Speaker 1: Shop at a shop house somewhere near the North Bridge
Speaker 1: Road area. The name of the brand is Absence also
Speaker 1: starts with an A, also in caps. She has a similar,
Speaker 1: she's living your dream right now, so maybe you should,
Speaker 1: I should, you should visit it. Yeah, she's a lovely lady. OK, Rachel,
Speaker 1: of course it's in the same vein.
Speaker 1: For me too, I want a flagship store would be wonderful. Um,
Speaker 1: it's just so difficult, of course, with, with costs in Singapore,
Speaker 1: the operational costs and overhead are so significant, but it
Speaker 1: is a dream to have your own space where you
Speaker 1: can build your own world and have people come in
Speaker 1: and really understand what you're trying to do. Um, so yeah,
Speaker 1: it's definitely a dream out there. Alright, I, I look
Speaker 1: forward to you fulfilling your dreams and I look forward
Speaker 1: to a lot more people supporting you and your brand
Speaker 1: and your creativity. Thank you, ladies. Thank you. Thank you.
Speaker 1: From design ongenouss to running their own brands, I've been
Speaker 1: in the talented company of Rachel Liu from Rock Daisy,
Speaker 1: Genevieve Voon from Genevieve Studio, and Gozi from Atom. These
Speaker 1: designers will be selling their hip and happening creations at
Speaker 1: Boutique Singapore, the spring summer edition from
Speaker 1: 21st to 23rd March at the F1 pit building, One
Speaker 1: Republic Boulevard, of course, we all know where that is.
Speaker 1: For ticketing prices and also opening times and what have you,
Speaker 1: go to boutiquefairs.com.sg. That is a wrap of Maiden SG
Speaker 1: and I'm Melanie Olivero for CNA 938.