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geemong · Super member Geregistreerd op: 01 Feb 2021 Berichten: 45

This Singapore couple runs one of fewer than 10 tie ateliers in
the world

As a university ดาวน์โหลด slotxo ios student, Gerald Shen was finicky about his sartorial
choices. When he wanted to make pocket squares, he asked then-girlfriend Diana Chan,
a crafts aficionado, to sew one with some of the vintage fabrics they had bought from
Japan.

The final product turned out so well that they made more of the same from the remaining
fabric and sold them online. The response was so encouraging that they opened Vanda
Fine Clothing in 2011, a few months after Shen’s graduation.

Shen and Chan, now married, make classically-inspired ties, pocket squares and scarves
with another seamstress on their team. Each product is crafted by hand in their Singapore
workshop and includes Asian-inspired designs such as the Chinese zodiac and Singapore’s
discontinued floral coin series. The couple, who are in their early 30s, are entirely
self-taught.

Shen said, “People don’t associate artisans with two young graduates like Diana and
myself. About half the visitors that come to our workshop are very surprised to find that
100 per cent of the work is done on our premises.”

As a result of close relationships with fabric suppliers and weavers from Italy to Japan,
60 per cent to 70 per cent of Vanda’s fabrics are custom-woven for them. The couple
rely solely on word of mouth via social media for their business and have developed
a cult following of menswear enthusiasts internationally and locally.

“When we started the business in 2011, Singapore was known as a sartorial wasteland
to many menswear aficionados. We wanted to flip the entire notion and show that
Singaporeans can actually put out something good in terms of menswear,” said Chan.