Just as fashion is constantly shifting shape, so too is the face of local design. In Singapore, a younger crop of creatives is carving out space for work that feels more idiosyncratic and far more alive to feeling. There is something especially compelling about the way each of them approaches design. You see it in the details, in the hand-touched finishes, in the small personal codes that make each piece feel fully theirs, carrying the imprint of the person behind it in a way that feels unmistakable.
Among the names catching our eye are Miao of Miao Atelier, Faris Famok and Liz Zhu Shi Chun of Dow.d.p, each bringing their own sensibility to the local scene. Miao’s whimsical jewellery feels as though it has drifted out of a private little universe. Faris approaches clothing with emotion at the forefront, folding personal history into garments that carry real charge. Liz, meanwhile, reworks existing materials with a sharp eye, turning what already exists into something with fresh shape and new meaning. Between them, they reflect a generation of designers expanding the conversation around what local fashion can be.
Miao
Founded by Miao, the design DNA of Miao Atelier is shaped by handmade whimsical jewellery and she speaks about it like a world with its own logic. She describes her creations in one word: peculiar. Launched in 2024, Miao’s label creates pieces that feel like small artefacts from an inner world, where softness exists alongside edge, putting her unique spin on accessories.
She has been making things for as long as she can remember, starting with friendship bracelets and Ikea Pyssla bead keychains, and that early disposition stayed. She describes creation as a language for processing emotion and connecting with people, and her process begins with a feeling or image before moving quickly into hands-on prototyping and proportion shifts. A piece is finished when it feels emotionally resolved, she says, a standard that shapes the mood of the work from start to end.
Recently, her practice has expanded into commissioned costumes for dance and art performances, and she enjoys experimenting with mixed materials and unconventional textures. In the local scene, she’s advocating for more room to be “vulnerable, strange and in-between”, and her pieces carry that message through their steady commitment to sentiment.
Faris Famok
Faris Famok describes himself as an expressionist, working with clothing to translate lived emotion into something you feel first. He speaks about garments as vessels for narrative, and his work, he says, is evolving, a word that fits the way he uses textures and silhouette to carry meaning.
The spark, for him, lives in a specific memory: flipping through thick family photo albums and discovering a version of his parents before adulthood tightened the frame. He saw his mother modelling and dressing for herself, and his father in his ‘rocker days’ on a motorbike with a band, and it landed like proof that self-expression can hold real power. That discovery still anchors his philosophy, including his belief in making with what’s available and committing to creation while letting imperfection stay part of the language.
His references sit in rebellion and storytelling, from Alexander McQueen to P Ramlee, and his foundation stays rooted in Malay Nusantara heritage, shaped by Bugis and Boyanese lineages with Indian Malacca ties. Access shaped his material instincts early on, so medical bandages and crumpled polypropylene bags became part of his vocabulary, reflecting his interest in overlooked things made meaningful. Recent milestones include a Levi’s collaboration with Youths in Balaclava for Fariz Jabba, plus his showcase at Labour Block—one of the biggest creative events in the local space.
Liz Zhu
Liz Zhu Shi Chun of Dow.d.p calls her work ‘curatorship’ and it fits the way she approaches material, process and meaning with a steady eye. Her brand started as Daily Outfits During Projects and has since evolved into what she describes as an upcycling engineering service, centred on circular design and the reworking of designer samples and archive scraps into one-of-one pieces. Trained at London College of Fashion, she stays active through her wider platform Kova and an ongoing run of collaborations.
Her process begins with materials, moving through cutting, unpicking and deconstruction before the rebuild takes shape. She speaks about design as research, shaped by cultural studies, geography, and organic collaborations, and her pace is guided by a self-built pathway. That slower build has given her room to construct her own lexicon, where garments sit close to art objects while staying wearable.
Practising in Singapore comes with its own set of challenges, shaped by cost and climate, and she’s candid about how the wider fashion system can pressure local designers towards certain expectations. She also points to community as a real engine, especially when self-initiated work draws people in. Highlights include a collaboration with Mash-up through access to their archives and samples, plus pop-ups across Singapore, China, London and New York. She’s also working on The Pony Tail Project, bringing together fashion, art, literature and photography, continuing her instinct to build her visions through her distinct takes on design.
