Ying The Label bags Designed in Singapore Award for Apparel

Each of their garments and accessories from the Unfolding Stories Collection is meticulously hand-painted and carry a Singapore story waiting to be told.

Singapore Business Review acknowledges the most innovative products that have been marked as the game-changers of the industry in the recently concluded Made in Singapore and Designed in Singapore Awards.

Returning on its third year to merit the most exceptional products manufactured and conceptualised in the country, this year’s awards programme recognised companies who brought pride to Singaporean craftsmanship and creativity.

Ying The Label took home the Designed in Singapore Award under the Apparel category.

Their Unfolding Stories Collection uniquely defines Singapore through the stories of founder Phuay Li Ying’s childhood in the Lion City.

The collection’s hand-painted art designs were inspired by the stamps that Ying’s mother collected when she was young. From the Ginger Torch flower to the Coral Vines lining the city-state’s streets, each memory is engraved on her designs and contains a piece of history that reminds her of her homeland.

“These are the bits and pieces of the most memorable sights and things I remember of
Singapore—from history books, stories my grandparents and parents told me of excursions, and just pure curiosity,” Ying explained.

Specially created for Singapore’s bicentennial celebration, Unfolding Stories reflects the significance of Singapore in every brush stroke and every splash of colour, thanks to Ying’s belief in keeping her art and collection all designed in the Lion City. The collection has been seen on many influential people in Singapore, including politicians.

The garments are centred on red, yellow, white and black hues and feature prints that embody Singapore’s status as a thriving Garden City. The collection also includes two floral brooches.

Underlying themes of the collection include love and home, and the designs are suitable for people from all walks of life, regardless of their age and gender.

Besides unfurling the story of Singapore through Ying’s own two eyes, the Unfolding Stories campaign is also filled with inspiring women who adore and embrace Ying’s work and who, like Ying, share a love for Singapore.

Encapsulated in a chic and well-curated look book, the collection extends its value in presenting Singapore’s unique history and beauty through the eyes of women who embody what it truly means to be Singaporean.

These women include actresses Oon Shu An and Janice Koh, Bynd Artisan’s founder Winnie Chan and author and gemologist Paige Parker, among others.

Speaking about their fondest memory of the country along with words that they feel Ying’s designs bring out in them, Ying’s goal for the collection does not only lie in telling the story of her motherland but also in empowering people to feel confident and beautiful through her art, work, and designs.

Ying’s designs have been dubbed unique and phenomenal.

Tjin Lee, founder of events and PR company Mercury, described Ying’s work as fearless, due to the fact that the founder combines art and fashion on a canvas where only some designers dare to explore.

On the other hand, Bynd Artisan founder Winnie Chan points out Ying’s signature and identity in defining what is uniquely Singapore.

“Ying has a very important role to play in defining what is uniquely Singapore and what we are about,” Chan said in the campaign.

Ying The Label was born out of Ying’s passion for painting and her intense desire to tell her stories through art as her form of self-expression. Each print under Ying the Label is unique and is printed digitally on high quality fabrics from Japan, Korea, and Indonesia. Her designs are exclusively stocked online at www.yingthelabel.com, in her atelier in King Albert Park, as well as Design Orchard.

The Made in Singapore and Designed in Singapore Awards, presented by Singapore Business Review, was held on 28 November 2019 at Shangri-La Hotel Singapore.

This year’s winners were judged by Richard Loi, Partner and SEA Consumer & Industrial Products Industry Audit & Assurance Leader at Deloitte & Touche LLP; Toh Kim Teck, Assurance Partner at Foo Kon Tan LLP; Henry Tan, Managing Director at NEXIA TS; and Joshua Ong, Managing Partner at Baker Tilly.

If you would like to join the 2020 awards and be awarded as one of the most outstanding companies in Singapore, please email [email protected]