Aspiring fashion designer: Peixin Tan

And I’m back in Singapore for a short while. Its definitely going to be a warm summer with temperatures soaring. But, I’m hoping to make it an enjoyable one.  So, this week, taking a break from the daily chores, I decided to meet with an aspiring fashion designer, who lives in Singapore: Peixin Tan. I first came across her work, through her blog Pixie in Space. One evening, we decided to meet over a cup of coffee.

Pixie (as her friends call her) is a young talented designer with oodles of ambition. Pixie studied Apparel Design at Temasek Polytechnic, before heading out to get some real world experience at fashion design houses. Her experience spans different departments. She worked as an editorial assistant with Wing Tai Holdings, which has brought brands Topshop and Topman to Asia. She moved on to work for Alteration Initiative in the customer service department.

Her most daunting work experience has been with a ‘street style’ blog, as a photographer. Imagine, clicking images of random fashionistas walking by! “It takes a lot of courage getting hold of random people,” she exclaims. ‘And Singapore is not Japan; there are not as many fashionable people here’, she says. Her most satisfying experience by far was with social enterprise Saught. ‘I travelled with them on a two week trip to Cambodia and worked with jewelry artisans’, she says. In fact, one of the designs she worked on is now on sale at their virtual store.

I totally admire Pixie’s style: clean cuts and neutral colours. You can tell she is not very flamboyant, from all the prototype outfits she made for her University projects. Her final year project, the Time Keepers collection, is simple yet eclectic, and was inspired by the book Mitch Album’s Timekeeper. Its wonderful how creative people draw inspiration from the most everyday things. Comfortable and laidback is her style, and she loves jumpsuits, pajama pants and midi skirts. Some stuff from her collection:

Pixie will now work for fashion house In Good Company, in Singapore, which does some lovely clothing for women and children.

Interestingly, she claims she is somewhat tomboyish herself, but that doesn’t stop her from dressing up people! We wish her luck, as she works towards building her own fashion label one day. Check out her blog at http://pixieinspace.blogspot.com

(Photos by Peixin Tan}