Cover A still from Jocelyn Ng’s campaign, Spring Awakening
A still from Jocelyn Ng’s campaign, Spring Awakening
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A brush with mortality propelled former banker Jocelyn Ng to pursue her true calling: fashion design
Jocelyn Ng’s life took a dramatic turn after a near‑death experience. Diagnosed with severe dust mite allergies, she was prescribed a new medication that led to a terrifying reaction. One week into her treatment, her tongue and throat swelled, leaving her unable to speak or breathe.
“It was a humbling experience,” Ng recalls over a video call from Paris, France, where she currently resides. “At that age—I was 26 or 27—I thought I had my whole life ahead of me. But that day, I wondered if it was my last day [on earth]. All I could think about was that I haven’t been happy and lived my life; I’ve only done what my parents and society wanted me to do.”
At that time, Ng was working as a leasing portfolio analyst at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney, having spent several years in banking. Her life thus far had followed the textbook “Singaporean dream”, which included education at a top junior college and university. After her near‑fatal experience, she felt compelled to pursue a passion. “I just knew I wanted to do something creative,” says Ng, who loves “art, colours, painting, and drawing”.
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Above Jocelyn Ng
Jocelyn Ng
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As fate would have it, there was a fashion school—the Fashion Design Studio at the Technical and Further Education New South Wales—just two blocks away from the bank, and despite having no prior experience in fashion design, Ng enrolled in it and dedicated herself to learning the craft from scratch. She began with an introductory course to build a foundation for her future studies. To the chagrin (and concern) of her friends and family, she switched to a part‑time role at the bank while attending classes in the evening.
“It was a difficult transition,” Ng admits, “but taking it gradually by working part‑time helped. By [the] last year [of my studies], though, when I [secured] an internship, I quit the bank entirely to focus solely on fashion school.” Ng shares that it took her three years—from enrolling in that foundation course to graduating from the bachelor’s programme—to become proficient in fashion design. She candidly confesses that she struggled with sewing and felt she was lagging behind her younger classmates who had studied sewing and textiles in high school.
Above Jocelyn Ng’s designs feature abstract prints
Jocelyn Ng’s designs feature abstract prints
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Over those three years, Ng honed her skills and developed her unique design aesthetic. She counts Jean‑Michel Basquiat among her inspirations, owing to what she describes as the American painter’s “playful nature” and the fact that “he wasn’t so caught up in his brush strokes”. She also admires artistic director Daniel Roseberry’s work at Schiaparelli, which she finds both beautiful and emotionally evocative, as well as fashion designers Iris van Herpen and Alexander McQueen, for their ability to convey narratives through their work.
Ng’s ten‑piece graduation collection, aptly named Spiritual Awakening, was inspired by the profound life changes she underwent following her close call. The looks—a result of her sticking to her aesthetic guns (she once wrote in an Instagram post: “When I was in fashion school, there were people who told me my ideas were impossible to make, that I should change my designs to something simpler, but I believed in myself and kept trying even when my first few samples/prototypes were not right.”)—feature head‑to‑toe graphics, dramatic proportions and experimental shapes.
Above Jocelyn Ng’s designs feature surreal forms
Jocelyn Ng’s designs feature surreal forms
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The Life Story jacket and skirt, for example, have screen‑printed pictures of Ng and her family in the 1990s, while the Enlightenment Dress showcases art. Then there is the Awakening Dress, which evokes a bloom in full glory with its voluminous circular form and is a tribute to her late grandmother, whom she described to the Singapore Global Network as “the flower of wisdom that blossomed in my darkest hours”. Another intriguing creation: the unusually shaped Groundedness Dress, composed of 700 stitched circles arranged in five layers. “When I worked on my collection, ” Ng shares, “I had a few words in mind: ‘beauty’, ‘elegance’ and ‘glamour’, while also infusing it with a touch of modernity and [timelessness]. And, of course, a bit of edge.”
After graduating in November 2022, Ng faced a series of setbacks when her applications to Sydney Fashion Week, Melbourne Fashion Week and several competitions were rejected. Rather than giving up, she shifted her focus, and applied to New York Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week. She was invited to present her collection at both (she even dressed country singer Brett Landin in the Life Story pieces for the former), respectively in September and October 2023. In December that same year, Australian-Korean singer Dami Im wore her Awakening Dress during a performance at the Sydney Opera House that was broadcast on ABC Television in Australia, giving her work significant exposure.
Above head‑to‑toe graphics and dramatic proportions are hallmarks of Jocelyn Ng’s unique aesthetic
head‑to‑toe graphics and dramatic proportions are hallmarks of Jocelyn Ng’s unique aesthetic
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Ng is now working with the multidisciplinary Martian Agency in Paris, which focuses on futuristic couture. “Marine [Arnoul, the founder,] and I have similar design styles. She’s inspired by Van Herpen too. We both use a lot of reflective material and create strong silhouettes in our designs,” explains Ng, who contributed to sewing the agency’s costume for French singer Adeline Toniutti’s appearance on the French reality television series Mask Singer, and is now working on costumes for the singer’s new album and tour.
Ng is also focused on growing her social media presence in preparation for a launch next year. When asked for advice for aspiring creatives afraid to pursue their passions, she reflects on her own journey. “We think creative skills come naturally, but they require practice, just like maths and science. It takes time to build a skill,” she muses. “Most importantly, don’t give up … Start with little steps, like working on [your passion] in the evenings or as a side project. Once you feel ready [to pursue it full‑time], you can take the plunge.”
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Credits
Photography: Charles Grant, Jocelyn Ng, Brian Ach
Nafeesa Saini is the Features Editor at Tatler Singapore, where she shapes long-form stories on culture, business, philanthropy, wellness, and the people driving change in Asia. With a deep interest in storytelling that intersects meaningfully with identity and impact, she has profiled a diverse range of visionaries, from scientific pioneers in AI and health to creative trailblazers and literary minds.
Nafeesa’s writing includes cover stories and profiles that spotlight influential voices, alongside commentary on the trends reshaping our world.
Off the clock, Nafeesa unwinds with fiction, a good thrift hunt, and ‘brainrot’ TikTok scroll—while always keeping one eye on her next cultural getaway, usually to Indonesia.
