Earthly Transcience

Tell us more about yourself and where you’re from.
I’m French-Senegalese, and I’ve been moving around the world for 22 years now, discovering new cultures and languages.

When we first started travelling and living around the world, my daughter was only six months old. Since then, we’ve lived in all four continents of the world, and it’s been six years since I moved to Singapore, et voilà! (laughs)

Tell us more about your brand, AS’FALL.
I started AS’FALL a long time ago, before I started travelling, but my very first shop was only set up in Switzerland in 2008. AS’FALL’s story is a little long and complicated (laughs), but the idea was to start a slow, ethical fashion business.

At the time, nobody was talking about ethical fashion, and even till now, people don’t really understand what ethical fashion means, but if you ask me, it’s all about the humans involved in the process. We work directly with our artisans—the people who do all of our embroidery. Every single piece is made by hand, and now that I’m in Singapore, 60% of the work is done by local artisans, and the rest by small artisans in Senegal and Indonesia.

AS’FALL is always wherever I am—we have an online store for customers all over the world to purchase our pieces, but the physical shop is always wherever I’m living. This is also why I try to work directly with the locals. Working in Singapore isn’t cheap, but this is a choice that I made for sustainability and ethicality.

Why did you choose to start your own brand?
Oh my gosh, you’re asking all the complicated questions (laughs).

I studied finance actually, and my first job was in finance, but at the same time, I would help my sister out with her work in fashion on the weekends. I think I’ve always had fashion as a career option on my mind, just that I never really made any plans until I met someone who taught me a lot about the industry and inspired me to start my own business.

Of all of the places you’ve traveled to and lived in, what’s one that’s left the biggest impact on you?
The one place that will really stay in my heart is Cuba, where I lived for six years. It’s not so much memorable because of the country itself (which is already very beautiful), but because of the people there.

Living in places like France and Singapore, you can easily go out and buy whatever you need or want, but in Cuba, everyone lives very simply and minimally. The people there might not have very big or fancy things, but they really give to you from their heart. It’s a very unique experience that’s difficult to describe—the country is just very special to me.

On that note, how long are you planning on staying in Singapore?
I never plan when to leave or how long to stay in a particular place. It’s always been how I live my life—I enjoy living in the moment, and right now, I’m enjoying being in Singapore. It’s my home.

When I go back to France, I’m happy; when I go back to Senegal, I’m happy; and when it’s time for me to come back to Singapore, I’m also happy because this place still feels like home to me. I think this is how I will live until the end of my life.

What do you like most about Singapore?
I love the diversity of the food here. I recently discovered this Peranakan dish—ayam buah keluak (chicken in tamarind gravy)—and my goodness, it’s amazing! I just ordered the buah keluak seeds so that I can cook it myself.

I love cooking, but I will be very honest, I only do it when I have the time, which is maybe once a year (laughs).