Twenty one-year-old Pia Jacqueline Chandra debuts her first fashion show created using old bed sheets given by hotels.
By Nicolette Ng
CN PHOTOS: Kenneth Xavier and Michael Chan.
As fashion started riding the green wave some years ago, you’d most probably have heard of phrases like “organically grown cotton” and “sustainable textiles”, but Pia Jacqueline Chandra and Jamie Tai have taken things a notch higher—creating fashion using old bed sheets donated by hotels.
The second-year students from the prestigious Central Saints Martins design school in London showcased their debut collection from their label SWITCH at the Singapore Furniture Design Week 2012 held at Design @ *SCAPE on March 9, creating buzz with their concept and bold, futuristic styles in a mixture of pastel block colors. The collection is the fruit of six months of sweat and tears.
SWITCH aims to use innovative materials to promote a greater awareness of environmental and social responsibility as part of the consumer’s lifestyle and to dispel the notion that such apparel may be limited or uninteresting.
Its e-store launches in about two weeks. “We want as many multi-label stores both local and international to carry our label—this is not so much for money or fame, but to challenge people’s perception of eco-friendly fashion; we see this brand as a starting point for people to start questioning their wardrobe, to become more inventive and change their perspective of the process of buying clothes,” says Chandra, a City Harvest Church member.
The Indonesian Chinese, who has been living in Singapore for about 16 years recalls that even from a young age, she had a keen sense of fashion. “From the age of five or six, I remember I always had to dictate what my sister wore. I was always the one deciding what we should wear, and that made my sister really angry at times. She would run and cry to my mom.”
“Since young, Mom made all of us confess Philippians 4:13: ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,’” says the middle child, who has one older brother and one younger sister. “Joshua 1:9: ‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.’ has been my word from God for almost two years now.”
When asked for the best piece of fashion advice for the Singaporean woman, Chandra quotes the legendary Coco Chanel herself: “I don’t understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little—if only out of politeness. And then, you never know, maybe that’s the day she has a date with destiny. And it’s best to be as pretty as possible for destiny.”
