You know them all: Dare-to-be-herself Irene Ang, living dolls May and Choy, glamorous Andrea De Cruz, independent Rosalyn Lee and cool and composed Nadya Hutagalung. All celebrities, all women, all unique.

And they will all come together on Tuesday (March 27), to star in fashion designer Baylene Li's show at the Singapore Fashion Festival, titled Femmes de Caractere, or Women of Character.

It is Baylene's first solo show and the star-studded supporting cast is a sign of her status in local fashion. She will present her Black and White Lollipop Collection 07/08, featuring strong black and white colours that bring out the bold characters and softer sides of the modern woman.

Says Baylene: "I wanted to carry on from my current collection, Playground, which is very colourful, very happy. Now the little girl has grown up and is more aware of who she is and who she wants to be. My current collection portrays this stronger image."

One gathers that Baylene, 29, is quite a character herself, given that she has established herself here despite not having received any formal fashion training. Taiwan-born and New Zealand-raised, she graduated from the University of Auckland with a degree in film studies.

"I always wanted to dress up and stand out from the crowd," says Baylene, who realised her interest in watching films did not extend to making them. "Everyone's different. It's wonderful to be able to bring out the inner side of you by wearing different clothes."

Given her penchant for the sartorial, it seemed natural then that she should take up a part-time job as a shop assistant in a New Zealand fashion house while studying.

As it turned out, Baylene had the opportunity to get involved in the production side of things. The design director saw something in her and made her a design assistant.

She muses about the opportunity she was given. "I don't know how she saw I had talent in this field. Maybe it was through the way I dressed or the suggestions I gave."

In 2002, Baylene followed her boyfriend - now husband - to Singapore when he got a job here. She searched for a fashion house she could work in but was disappointed.

"I'm not a girly girl," says Baylene. "I don't like clothes that are too too pretty or too lacy."

She likes a more androgynous look - by wearing a skirt with leggings underneath, or a singlet under a tube dress, "It has more character, it has always been my style", she adds.

She launched her eponymous label in September that year and opened Baylene Fashion Gallery it Stamford house two months later. By May 2004, Baylene showed her first collection at the Mercedes Australian Fashion Week. Her non-conformist, wearable designs won her a Cleo magazine award for best ready-to-wear designer in 2004 and the Singapore leg of the Mercedes-Benz Asia Fashion Award in 2005.

Wearability is a big part of Baylene's designs. Sometimes, you cannot recreate the glamorous look you see at a fashion show because what is carried in the store may be different versions of what the models wear, she explains.

"To me, clothes are not a piece of art that you hang on the wall and appreciate. They have a practical use. Whatever I show on the catwalk is what you get in the store, what you can wear in daily life."

And what Baylene sees in daily life in Singapore these days is more fashion-savvy people who know how to accessorise, who find that "it is nice to dress up even if you're just going out for a coffee".

"Singaporeans get to travel a lot, so they know that what they have here is not enough. They learn to be more open to new designs."

What she hopes to see though, is more support for homegrown labels.

"Just because it's local doesn't mean it's cheap. This is your own local source. If you don't appreciate them, they'll disappear. They'll just take their talent overseas."

Baylene, the label, can be found in some fashion houses in Malaysia, Taiwan and Japan, so you know Baylene, the person, has designs on the region.

She is currently based in Hong Kong, where she relocated to near the end of last year when her husband got posted there. Naturally, Baylene wants to make her mark in Hong Kong as well.

It is an interesting time for her, and not just because of the challenges of a bigger, unfamiliar market. You see, Baylene the designer is now also Baylene, the mother of a eight-month-old son. So while she hopes that one day, people can look at a piece and go, "Oh yeah, that's so Baylene," she is clear about what is currently foremost in her life.

"Right now, all I want to do is spend time and play with him!" she says of her baby. "When you see a little youth, smiling and giggling at you, it's a different feeling from after creating an entire collection. It's a different satisfaction.

"Work can always wait. Spending time with my son is my priority now."

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