Singaporean designer Ashley Isham sews global success:

Posted By: William "Bill" Buckington

His debut solo show at Singapore Fashion Festival marked a glorious homecoming for the designer who as a student quit the straightlaced city state for the creative freedom of London and has since joined the rising elite of international fashion.

The boyish-faced Isham, 30, who sports a punky look with his gold earring and spiky hair, has earned numerous accolades and rave reviews since launching his label five years ago, dressing scores of celebrities and even royalty.

His most notable success, he says, was being named the official women's wear designer for the 2004 British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards, an event often called the British Oscars.

After that, Isham's star rose.

With his luscious jersey dresses routinely featured in high-fashion magazines, Isham has garnered celebrity fans including Angelina Jolie, Lady Zara Philips, Kylie Minogue, Dido, Jodie Kidd and Mariah Carey.

Yet Isham, who profusely apologizes when he enters the interview room 10 minutes late, seems remarkably grounded despite his fame.

"People say, 'oh it must be so much fun'," he says of dressing celebrities. "But I'm like 'Is it?'... It's just part of the job."

Isham began learning tailoring at a vocational institute in Singapore but says he stopped after a month because he found the school's creative environment stifling.

"The tutor was telling me this is how you do a skirt and I said 'no'. I wanted to do it differently," Isham says.

"I only lasted a month (after that)".

Isham's fate turned dramatically after his sketches impressed Swiss bank Substantia Invest AG so much that it decided to sponsor his studies at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London.

The bank later went on to sponsor Isham at London College of Fashion and Middlesex University.

"I hate the cliche word 'lucky' because I believe you have to chase your luck and make things happen for you," he says.

Isham opened his first boutique in 2003, and showcased his collection at London Fashion Week a year after that. In 2005, he opened his flagship store Ashley's on London's high-fashion Conduit Street, and calls London the ultimate "creative melting pot".

His shop stands alongside brands such as Moschino, Issey Miyake and Vivienne Westwood, but Isham has not forgotten his roots.

He talks to his mother every Sunday for nearly four hours and says he loves coming back to Singapore.

"My mom instilled in me the value that no wonder what you become, no matter how successful you are, you must always, always remember where you come from. Because that's where people relate to you most," he says.

Isham showed his Autumn Winter collection, named "The Lost Geisha in Morocco", at the 10-day Singapore Fashion Festival which ends Sunday and describes his style as undeniably fusion.

"I have always been known to mix things. I love the idea of fusion and now that the world is so global, everybody is traveling a lot more," Isham says with a slight British accent.

He wears jeans, a long-sleeved check shirt, grey-tinted contact lenses, and chunky necklaces on his thin frame.

Isham, who was part of a multi-designer catwalk show at last year's festival, personally designs his own hand-screened prints. "I want to be different," he says.

His enthusiasm spills over into excitement as he talks about his brand's development. Leaning forward, the designer gushes about his new range of shoes. "You see the gold shoes in the show? The heels are all laser cut in Italy!"

His top pick for a celebrity he would like to design for but has yet to have the chance is Malaysian diva Siti Nurhaliza.

"I guess there is something about her. She is just nice and she is so real and it doesn't seem success has gotten into her head," he says. "I call that character and I like character."

The self-professed perfectionist critiques even the most minute detail of his shows to prevent any mistakes from happening again.

"Everybody says to me, 'You are very bad. You find something to criticize about yourself every single time' but I say it's the only way to improve," he says.

"I cannot rest on my laurels and think I have made it now. I am very ambitious."

Courtesy Of: Yahoo! News

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