Meet our first recipients of the Young Designer Showcase Grant
For 20 years, we have been proud to champion Singapore-based designs, and nurture creativity in a safe and supportive environment. The Young Designers Showcase Grant has long been a dream of ours, and we are so excited to introduce the first recipients of this grant to you at the upcoming GIfting Edition 2022.
Studio Karyn Lim
Despite her busy schedule as a design lecturer and co-founder of a furniture brand, multidisciplinary designer, Karyn Lim, continues to eke out time to create boundary-pushing designs that embrace often overlooked materials.
Take for example, the OMO Bag — most recently showcased at the Designart Tokyo — which features a geometric design that can be flat-packed for added functionality. The bag is testament to Karyn’s design ethos — which is rooted in a “conscious and collaborative approach” — and made with discarded Afoa wood waste from the renovation of old houses on the Nias island of Indonesia, and handcarved by skilled local craftsmen.
Karyn hopes her designs will “bring small moments of joy to everyday life” and tells us Boutiques will be the first time her designs will be available for sale in a retail environment. She is embracing the opportunity by launching new products, including vessels and accessories hand-woven from copper wire. This range is an extension of the “Lightness of Being” series of sculptural vessels launched at the recent EMERGE @ FIND Design Fair Asia in Singapore.
Re-store
Co-founded by Claudia Yong, her mum, Karen Teo, and aunt, Veronica Teo, Re-store is a social enterprise where sustainability meets compassion. The brand focuses on upcycling pre-loved clothing and deadstock materials into a range of products from hats and bags to cushion covers and pet accessories. Re-store is also powered by a community of women: the three co-founders offer flexible, home-based work opportunities to a group of local seamstresses from marginalised and underserved communities.
At the upcoming The Gifting Edition 2022, Re-store will exclusively launch their second anniversary collection, which includes new macrame bags made of deadstock shoelaces. Says Claudia of this milestone, “The whole second anniversary collection is something we are really proud of and excited about as it really depicts our growth as a brand and where we would like to move towards, not just making tote bags but also all sorts of different bags to suit everyone. Being part of Boutique Fairs Singapore is something we were hoping for a few years down the road but never imagined that the opportunity would come at this point while we are still pretty small and new. Being able to share our story with more people always excites us and brings us great motivation to continue doing what we do. On top of that, it’s truly an honour to be surrounded by other like minded brands and see our community supporting more local brands.”
Jovial Crafts
Love the art of pen and paper? Come discover the work of Jovial Crafts, founded by avid illustrator, Victoria Yue. With a wide range of cheery stationery and lifestyle accessories, Jovial Crafts offers gift options ranging from greeting cards and planners to pouches and tote bags. Each product features an original design by Victoria, made with mediums such as watercolour, or Victoria’s favourite, gouache. Says Victoria of her designs, “I’m usually inspired to draw flowers, or by experiences that make me feel warm or invoke a sense of wonder and contentment, like the feeling of warm sunshine on my skin, or spontaneously going out on my off-days with no plans.”
Spoiled for choice? Shop Victoria’s favourite collection, “Eden” — which was also Victoria’s first foray into gouache. “I had only just started getting familiar with using gouache at the time and I wanted to challenge myself with painting 12 different fruits for the calendar,” Victoria tells us. “The set of 12 paintings took a couple of weeks to make and it was a very fun experience working on each fruit till late at night while learning how to use gouache through that set.”
ATOM
Designed and handmade in Singapore by founder, Goh Zi Qi, ATOM promises an exciting line-up of new products which will be exclusive to Boutiques.
“I feel that there shouldn’t be a ‘title’ to garments,” Zi Qi says, “therefore my designs are unisex as the cutting is more masculine and structured.
ATOM’s latest range of products will continue to prioritise ATOM’s signature utilitarianism — created with handy D-rings and pockets — and also include new designs from the 2023 Lunar New Year collection, as well as one-off pieces made with fabric offcuts.
Parachoote
Stickers, cards, keychains, and even wax seals — if you enjoy novelty lifestyle accessories, pay Parachoote a visit. Perfect for the young adults who love an opportunity for self-expression, Parachoote will also be launching 2023 calendar sets as well as a series of merchandise centred on self-care.
The collection is a labour of love by Jia Hui, who tells us her process begins with literature reviews of self-improvement and self-care books and articles for different personality types. “I refine the guidance from these into quotes and design artwork that best evoke the associated emotions and mood with the quotes, creating a more impactful motivational effect. For the 2023 calendar series, I focussed on three common but hard-to-achieve new year resolutions, and I hope that these themed designs will spur the respective individuals on in 2023.”
Looking for a meaningful gift? Parachoote donates 50% of its profits from their inaugural collection, “A Good Sign” collection to SADeaf, which serves the deaf, hard-of-hearing, and deafblind community in Singapore.
Like Saturdays
Ever wanted every day to feel like the weekend? That thought inspired founder, Eileen Koh, to create Like Saturdays, a line of lifestyle essentials for a more restful slumber — while she was lounging in bed, no less. Eileen wants to help more of us prioritise sleep and rest, which she realises “is as essential a function as eating and drinking — though I had quite frankly overlooked the importance of sleep when I was younger”.
Made with OEKO-TEX certified pure mulberry silk in the highest grade of 6A and a thickness of 22 momme, Like Saturdays offers a selection of sleep masks, pillowcases, and more to turn every sleep into a luxurious escape. Discover their gift sets at the upcoming The Gifting Edition 2022, which Eileen hopes will be a gateway to better and higher quality sleep. “When I am lucky enough to get a good 8 hours of sleep, I definitely feel more refreshed and productive. I find myself making better decisions during the day too!”
Now, doesn’t that sound like a dream?
Come meet these Young Designers at The Gifting Edition 2022, happening from 25-27 November 2022. Tickets are available here.
