At 25, Jocelyn Ng was on a smooth climb up the corporate ladder at her banking job—until she nearly died. Her close brush with mortality inspired the National University of Singapore alum to return to school, this time to study fashion. After achieving her bachelor’s degree in fashion design at the age of 30, she was invited to showcase her debut collection at the most recent Paris Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week.
Growing up in the bustling neighbourhood of Sembawang, Ng recounts being a good student. After attending a string of top schools, she graduated from the National University of Singapore with a degree in real estate. That led to jobs in banking—first at Abrdn in Singapore, and then the Commonwealth Bank of Australia after she moved to Sydney in 2018 at the age of 25.
In 2019, Ng was put on a new drug by her doctor to treat her severe allergies to dust mites. But barely one week into her treatment, she had just taken her daily drug when her tongue and throat started swelling alarmingly.
“I couldn’t swallow my saliva, struggled to breathe, and couldn’t even call an ambulance because I couldn’t talk,” Ng recounts. “I really thought I was going to die.” Ng would later learn that she had gone into anaphylactic shock. That night, she spent six hours in the emergency room (ER) under medical supervision. Unable to talk, all she could do in the six hours was think—and that would change the trajectory of her life.
“I felt like I’ve always just done what society expected of me, what would make my parents happy. That day in the ER, it struck me that I had never done something for myself and I wasn’t happy. So I asked myself, What does Jocelyn want?” After being discharged from the hospital, Ng swiftly returned to her job at the Commercial Bank of Australia. But something in her had forever changed. With 2020 fast approaching, she set a new year’s resolution to master a new skill by the time she turned 30. Coincidentally, just a short walk away from her office was Fashion Design Studio (FDS) TAFE, which proclaims itself as the “first dedicated fashion school in Sydney” on its website.
So, against the wishes of her family and the well-intentioned discouragement from her friends, Ng submitted her application for TAFE’s Bachelor of Fashion Design programme. As the world entered a new decade, she entered a new stage of her life—just a few months shy of her 27th birthday. “For most of my life, I had no idea that this was even possible,” Ng shares. “I was worried about what others would think and whether I was good enough. People would ask me why I was doing fashion when it’s so competitive.”
One pandemic and three years later, Ng graduated from TAFE in November 2022 with a ten-piece collection titled Spiritual Awakening—a theme inspired by her near-death experience and its aftermath.
“Because I’ve gone through a hard awakening, I don’t do fashion just for fashion. I want to use fashion to share a bigger message: Love and accept who you are, not who you will be but who you should be,” Ng describes.
In September, she was selected to showcase Spiritual Awakening at New York Fashion Week, then again at Paris Fashion Week in October. Presenting at global fashion month would be a career pinnacle for most designers, and Ng managed to achieve this feat not even one year out of school.
Here, Ng shares her experience changing paths, building resilience and what she has in store next.
What was it like going back to school in your late twenties and starting from scratch?
I didn’t even own a sewing machine or know how to sew a button. Once, my teacher asked our class to sew a dart, and her jaw dropped when I asked her, “What is a dart?” I had to learn basic fashion concepts like colour theory, and even simple drawing techniques like shading. It was definitely a struggle at first. I grew up risk-averse and had to learn to be okay with the possibility that I wouldn’t succeed in fashion.
A lot of my classmates had studied fashion and textile back in secondary school, so they were faster than I was. So in class, I was very stressed. But less than a month into my fashion bachelor’s program, the pandemic struck and we went into lockdown. Some people really struggled with home learning, but I loved it because it took away a lot of pressure. At home, I could take more time on a task if I needed, and I wasn’t looking at my classmates and comparing myself to them and wondering why I was slower. And if I didn’t understand anything, I could rewatch the recorded lesson. I was amazed by how quickly I could improve, which put me in this position today to do what I have done.
How did your family react to your sharp career pivot?
When I told my parents I was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in fashion, they were in shock. If I had stayed full-time at my banking job, I would have gotten a promotion, but I had to do it part-time so I could also attend fashion school. Even when I graduated from fashion school, my dad was still worried. The turning point came this January when [Australian singer] Dami Im wore one of my designs in a national performance that was broadcasted live on Australian television. After he saw the television feature, he sent me a message to say that my dress was beautiful and he became entirely supportive.
Your debut collection Spiritual Awakening started off as your graduation collection. What was it like bringing it from school to the global fashion stage?
When I graduated in November 2022, I felt like all the doors were getting closed on me. I applied to Sydney Fashion Week, Melbourne Fashion Week, and a whole bunch of competitions in the Pacific Area—and I was rejected everywhere. And I told myself, Jocelyn, you can sit here and cry, or you can change your mindset. So, I decided to apply to events in other countries, such as New York Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week. And that’s when things started happening for me. I truly believe that the difference between a person who succeeds and one who doesn’t is that the former doesn’t give up.
What was your best memory from New York and Paris fashion week?
When I arrived at the show venue in New York and saw the audience, the media, and my models. That’s when it hit me that this was all real.
What advice would you give to aspiring designers?
Firstly, dare to dream and believe in yourself because everything starts with that. And secondly, be creative with your strategy and flexible in your mindset. “No” can be seen as failure or as redirection—and I choose to see it as the latter.
What’s next?
Many people have asked me what my next collection will be like and I just don’t know. But there is beauty and excitement in not knowing what’s happening next. However, I do know what message I want to convey in my second collection: Regardless of our situation, we have to learn to find peace and happiness. Now, I’m coming up with the designs based on this message. I hope to showcase my next collection in September 2024.
