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| Kane Tan (Left) and Sven Tan (Right), Successful Alumnus from Raffles Design Institute, Singapore |
The official opening of Raffles Education Square in Singapore
is coming right up on 21 June 2013! And we are really grateful to have a
great alumnus like Sven Tan joining us for The Raffles Inauguration.
Over 150 successful alumni and distinguished industry partners have been
invited to officiate the opening of Raffles Education Square.
Sven kindly graced us with a photoshoot despite his busy schedule of designing for and running his new label “In Good Company” – which was set up with fellow Raffles Design Institute alumnus, Kane Tan.
After graduating from Raffles Design Institute, Singapore in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design, Sven went on to win the Mercedes-Benz Asia Fashion Award, and started out his career as the principal designer of alldressedup by the end of the year. The fashion label achieved global acclaim and was distributed in urban cities like France, the UK, the US, Europe, China, and Japan.
We caught up with him in the school’s new photography studio:
1. What are you working as now? Can you tell us a bit more about your job and your workplace?
Sven: I’m the working partner and also the designer for “In Good Company”. It’s a new company which I’ve recently set up with fellow Raffles alumnus, Kane Tan, and two other friends.
For my job, there is nothing unusual outside the job scope of a fashion designer.
2. What do you do every day?
Sven: Every day is kind of different because fashion is a continuing process – so it’s collection after collection. For us, because we just started out, we are very lean with our manpower, so most of us have to multitask. The usual task is putting together a collection, and developing each and every sample in-house.
So, day-to-day, we would be checking on new samples and making sure that everything flows smoothly.
3. What is the concept of “In Good Company” like?
Sven: We market ourselves as a line that offers modern wardrobe essentials. So it’s not really about chasing trends or doing stuff that are trendy. We try to keep them current and try to keep the price point accessible – but also providing good workmanship and good quality. And then we have an en suite concept from our main line which is the “Mini Me” which we do children’s clothes for girls aged 3-8 years. Basically, majority of stuffs from the “Mini Me” line will be from the adult line’s key looks and a few exclusive styles for this capsule.
4. Where could we find your brand?
Sven: The concept of the line is not to go into distribution because we are more focused on our e-store. And for us, our e-store represents distribution in a way because we sell world-wide. In Singapore, it is important to have a brick-and-mortar representation of our line. So, we retail in Front Row, in Raffles Hotel.
5. How would you describe your career life after you left Raffles?
Sven: I would say I was pretty lucky as it was pretty smooth-sailing for me. Right after Raffles, I won the Mercedes-Benz Asia Fashion Award which allowed me to be headhunted to be a designer for alldressedup – which I designed at for 8 years. And after that, in December last year, I started “In Good Company”.
6. What made you decide to set up your own label?
Sven: I guess it’s about having good timing essentially. And good timing meaning the right team and also having the right concept for a potential market place.
7. Could you tell us about one memorable highlight of your career?
Sven: I guess it would be about three memorable highlights. One is winning the contest, second would be the experience of designing for alldressedup – which I would say is an extremely fruitful trip for me – extremely good training for 8 years. And the third would be eventually to start up my own company.
8. What did you like most about studying Fashion Design at Raffles Design Institute, Singapore?
Sven: The best part for me was really having the opportunity to be mentored by Joe Spinelli. I think for me, that is one of the reasons why I decided to study at Raffles.
9. Did you hear about his reputation from friends?
Sven: Yes, because I had friends who studied at Raffles before. And for me, Raffles has a distinctive style in the graduates who came out from Raffles. And that is essentially the expertise in tailoring – which is why I chose to do my degree in Raffles.
10. Why would you recommend future students to study Fashion Design at Raffles?
Sven: I would say that it is a very good training place for a student with a keen interest of being a fashion designer. That means you are already focused on wanting to be a fashion designer. And not just interested in fashion generally. Because the school is really a lot more focused about – that’s my opinion – techniques. So you are essentially trained to become a designer.
Want more information about studying at Raffles Design Institute, Singapore?
Our friendly education consultants would love to hear from you! Send us an enquiry and we will get back to you shortly.
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