Fashion Designer Rena Kok On Fashion Design And Singapore
Congrats Harpers BAZAAR Singapore #BAZAARNEWGEN 19 winner!
Rena is looking for tech support (not necessarily from fashion industry), help from fashion media, business. DM her for enquiries.
Why fashion design?
My mom owned a bag company. Since young, followed her to, saw production in Vietnam.
Wanted to be an entrepreneur. Studied fashion design in polytechnic. Took a gap year, confirmed my interest in textiles. In LASALLE, made garments out of ceramics. Lecturers debated whether to grade me.
You can sketch an ambitious knitted dress. But do you know: what knit it is, can it be machine or must it be hand-knitted, if it’s machine knitted do you know how to function software, the number of knits to form correct measurement on body?
Your moodboard.
Anreleage. Margiela. Iris Van Herpen. Peter Do. Karla Spetic. Dion Lee.
I don’t like designing based on trends. By the time it’s produced it will be over.
Your fashion reflects you because…
I’m drawn to neutrals with a pop of colour. My concepts are sci-fi, artificial intelligence inspired: Black Mirror, The Extinction, etc. Elon Musk said, we’re most likely living in a simulation.
Our phones used to have buttons. Now, they’ve a smooth surface. What if humans evolve to swipe non-textural surfaces, in 100 years lose our thumb prints?
I like the unknown. How does gravity “look?” We can draw atoms, but nobody sees them. I want to explore technology, daintiness, tactility.
I want to explore 3D printed garments.
Fashion in Singapore.
There’s no adventure. Someone has to normalise new silhouettes.
It’s expensive. Factories charge higher because, Singapore. By retail mark-up, it’s too expensive to buy. Businesses die.
Some textiles I do myself. I’ve to train people. I can only produce so much.
#NEWGEN 19.
While in polytechnic, I was invited to attend #NEWGEN as a plus-one. Submitted my designs in 2016, 2018, 2019.
Went in with my FYP, “To Be Continued…” about being disconnected in a connected age, enhancing connectivity.
I mindmap: find a subject, break it down into areas, objects, views.
People today find it hard to make eye contact; the hoods are for protection. If you’re comfortable, you can wear it as a collar.
Also won the 2019 Swarovski Innovation Award. Stitched crystals onto glow-in-the-dark textile. People only enjoy crystals in the light, wanted them to appreciate it in the dark.
Motifs are created from pendulum painting: hung paint over ceiling, had them run free over garments.
Used crystals to make a QR code. If you scan it, this plays: on-screen are e-textiles. I wanted to create textiles that’re exciting to touch. The e-textile is furry, fibrous, but the actual garment is shiny, plasticy. Viewing it through video makes you want to touch it, but you can’t. It can be a fetish-thing.
For #NEWGEN, it’s “Prequel.” Garments made with materials from the past, for the future.
How can I shop your designs?
I post them on Instagram. If you want something customised, DM me.
Hopefully, from an online store next year. Also developing my app.
