To Be Or Not To Be

Tell us a bit about yourself!
I’m currently in the fashion media industry, pursuing my degree. Not much is happening now, but I sometimes do shoots and stuff.

Are you usually behind the camera?
Yeah, I’m dabbling in a bit of everything right now, but my niche is photography.

Who or what inspires you?
My favourite photographer is David LaChapelle! He’s the blueprint, basically.

What inspired you to get into fashion?
I have a graphic communications background, so when there was nothing much left to learn in that field, I turned to fashion. I thought it was similar to what I’ve always wanted to do, and okay lah, it was a pretty easy choice because there’s no other course like this one.

Has fashion opened your mind to anything new?
For me, it’s always been more about the aesthetics, so it’s quite interesting to consider other aspects of fashion as well, like business development and public relations (PR).

So are these areas you’d like to explore as well?
I feel like if it comes, then it comes lor. I’ll see how it goes, wherever the wind takes me.

You mentioned that today is your lupsup (dress-down) day, but how would you describe your style on a regular basis?
Normally it’s more eclectic, like sportswear with loafers. That’s the vibe.

What are you working on in school right now?
Right now, we’re doing some PR campaign for a jewellery brand, but the jewellery that we’re working with is dainty as fuck, so even after taking the pictures, you still can’t really see the pieces. That’s a challenge.

How is working with jewellery different from working with clothes?
Because jewellery is so dainty, it’s very hard to capture interesting images. Our lecturer is like “Oh, we need the emotional pull. This is not emotional enough”, but we can only work with so much!

What is it that keeps you going through all of these challenges?
It’s something that I’m passionate about, so it’s easier for me to just keep going. And some more, I stubborn ah (laughs). But all my eggs are in one basket right now—I have no backup plan, so this has to work.

So are you planning to work in the fashion industry after graduating?
Yeah, because everything I’ve learned is in the field of graphic communications and fashion media, so if you ask me to do other stuff like business or accounting, I won’t know how to do it.

As a creative yourself, how would you encourage other budding creatives looking to enter the field?
Creativity is a subjective thing, so there’s no right or wrong. I think just follow your gut lor—it’s really down to intuition. And also respect your craft.

How do you build intuition then?
Normally this kind of thing is like personal taste, so you have to build up your taste level. What I think is nice, other people might think is okay. It’s really up to preference lah. Just let the universe lead you, and go with whatever you feel is right. Manifest!

How do you manifest good energy?
How to manifest ah? Good question (laughs). I’m also trying to figure it out now. I think everything happens for a reason lah. You are what you are lor.