SINGAPORE: Some young Singaporean designers said opportunities exist despite the recession.

But in an industry that's highly globalised and competitive, what edge do they have over designers in the region?

Lingerie - Dark and provocative and inspired by an equally mysterious 19th century character, the Marchesa Luisa Casati.

Ada Yeong, Fashion Design, Raffles Design Institute, said: "When women had no make-up as it was associated with prostitutes, she put on death white makeup, accentuated with kohl-ringed eyes and further diluted her pupils with poison bella donna.

“She was a sorcerer who loved to play with black magic. And she's infamous for her midnight stroll with her pet cheetahs through St Mark's Square in Venice."

Come September, Ada, a final-year fashion design student will take her Marchesa creation to Milan for the finals of the The Triumph Inspiration Award.

And she's hoping her creations will make their mark internationally.

Industry observers said for designers looking to branch out of Singapore, knowing English and being familiar with other cultures does help.

Associate Professor Giuseppe Spinelli, principal, Raffles Design Institute, said: “Being in this part of Asia, you get influences and interpretations of many different things that's neither East nor West. But it becomes very original to this area."

But being cosmopolitan may be a double-edged sword in an industry that's all about new ideas.

Chris Lee, creative director, Asylum, said: "The melting pot idea has already been around for a long time. In this day and age, it probably doesn't matter where you come from.

“Because we are so highly adaptable, we probably fail to find our own original ideas. Because we absorb from the east and the west, we're a bit confused as to where we stand all the time, even for our own culture we have an identity crisis in that sense."

Chris, who runs a design studio, also feels young designers here are just not ambitious enough compared to their peers in the region.

He said: "Comparing us to people from China for example, they're a lot more ambitious. When you go and talk to them in speeches, they want to work for you for free for a year. Whereas in Singapore, students tend to say, ‘oh is it a five-day week, do I get bonus?’ It's a bit of a mindset change that we need to have.”

Could the downturn be in fact good for designers? Well some said that when times are bad, buyers are more willing to explore new markets and take risks with up-and-coming designers.

For the designer himself, there's the push to move out of his comfort zone and to experiment with new ideas.

Some said opportunities are still out there even in a recession.

Mr Lee added: “Take our company for example. Because of the recession, there are a lot of bankers out there who're out of jobs and they are starting to have their own businesses. They want to have a salad bar or a cafe. So we get a lot of calls from them to design different types of businesses."

Young designers said they are able to create jobs for themselves whether it's taking on freelance work or trying their hand in other areas of design.

But in an industry that's described as cut-throat, the challenge then is to show they're a cut above the rest. - CNA/vm