Bishan void deck fashion show presents ageless style, brings together young and old

SINGAPORE – Retired educator Lynn Boh, 60, strutted down a makeshift void deck runway in Bishan – a “kacang puteh” cone of cloth wrapped around her neck and resting gingerly on her shoulder.

A cascading wave in the motif of kacang puteh, or mixed nuts, decorated her outfit: bright speckled balls of scrap fabric diffused across a crisp white button-up shirt – a once-unwanted top now tailored to fit perfectly.

Both the cream sari around her waist and the Elvis Presley-inspired pinstripe trousers she wore under it were handmade entirely out of discarded fabrics.

The upcycled outfit modelled by Ms Boh was one of eight 70s-HDB-disco themed pieces featured on Sept 28 at the Fei Yue Community Services Gen Gala, held at the Bishan East Zone 1 Green Hub at Block 112 Bishan Street 12.

The fashion show drew an audience of about 70 people, a mix of both young and old.

The project, which took 2½ months to stitch together, blended the technical experience of senior dressmakers from Fei Yue Bukit Batok Active Ageing Centre and the ideas of young designers from sustainable fashion movements Fashion Parade and Fashion Revolution.

Other pieces that hit the runway included a floral look inspired by the heyday of the Great World Amusement Park, and a patchwork ensemble featuring the iconic dragon playground in Toa Payoh.

Gen Gala was dreamt up by Fei Yue’s elder education department programme executive, Ms Amanda Soon, as part of Crafting Futures: Trading Places, a nine-month-long project meant to connect past and future elements of different art forms.

Ms Soon, 36, said she wanted to provide youth ground-up projects with new forms of collaborations while giving seniors a chance to celebrate their heritage, skills, and boundless energy and dedication.

Ms Boh, who used to run an early childhood education centre, said she had never modelled before but decided to take a swing at it as it was rare to see so many different generations working together.

Involving eight models, six senior dressmakers, six youth designers and 14 Fei Yue volunteers, the project spanned four generations – baby boomers, Gen Xers, millennials and Gen Zers.

Ms Boh said: “Every generation has its own characteristics, strengths and challenges that shape our views and behaviour.”

One designer of Ms Boh’s outfit is 22-year-old Fashion Parade founder Lumin Hew, who said she has a soft spot for seniors and wanted to connect with them through her passion for sustainable fashion.

She picked up sewing skills when she was 11 and studied art and textiles in school, but said there was still much to be gleaned from the seniors’ technical experience.

Struck by how fast the seamstresses could sew, she said: “It’s almost like second nature to them.”

Although all six senior dressmakers are Mandarin speakers and the young designers are more comfortable with English, the language barrier posed no problems.

Ms Hew said the seamstresses had no issues absorbing the young designers’ instructions when bringing their ideas to life, even teaching them different ways to use leftover materials.

Madam Ivy Chin, 75, for instance, taught the young women how to create flowers from fabric scraps. She started sewing at 15 while working as a seamstress, and spent 30 years creating custom-made clothes.

Now retired, she has been a volunteer at Fei Yue Bukit Batok Active Ageing Centre for 17 years. She was the first dressmaker to join Gen Gala and later roped in the other seamstresses.

Speaking to The Straits Times in Mandarin, she said she was glad to get the chance to return to her first love of sewing, and found the project’s sustainable twist especially meaningful.

She said: “A lot of times, perfectly fine fabric is thrown away when it can still be used, and new clothes are thrown away with their tags still attached. This was a good opportunity to remind the younger generation not to be wasteful.”

Madam Chin also helped by encouraging the other dressmakers to trust the young designers’ concepts and to focus on the technical side, assuring them that she would help if there were difficulties.

She said: “The young designers are very talented at drawing sketches, but are less experienced in sewing, so they may not know what is actually possible.”

There were times she was doubtful about the stylistic sensibilities of some of the designs, but kept her faith in the designers, she added.

Ms Soon said: “We might have pre-conceived notions of seniors being not as flexible in their choices... but they are actually very curious and yearn to have new experiences. It’s like a second coming of age.”

Marketing executive Tan Jian Rong, 31, said he learnt about the event from a friend and decided to attend with his fashion-forward father, interior designer Kelvin Tan, 64.

Mr Kelvin Tan said he enjoyed seeing fellow seniors experimenting with fashion, adding that he and his son rarely attend such events together because his son is often busy with work.

The two came in matching leather jackets and even took an impromptu strut down the runway.

Ms Lew said Gen Gala made space for the younger ones involved to build stronger bonds with the older generation.

It was nostalgic for the seniors to tell lived stories from the 70s, while the young designers learnt why the styles they were recreating were popular back then.