[Photo: Designers such as Loko Yu and Journey Li (standing, second and third from left), benefit from the management services of The Fashion Fraternity (TFF) which include (left to right) Goh Zeling, Jocelyn Chan, Denise Ng and Joanna Tang.]

By LIEW AIQING

THE allure of fashion has always been irresistible to many young men and women.

However, while most are content to browse copies of Elle and Vogue, six students from the Singapore Management University (SMU) are instead making the most of their interest in fashion.

In April last year, they set up The Fashion Fraternity (TFF), a non-profit fashion public relations and marketing company led by its president Denise Ng, a second-year economics student.

'We operate primarily to boost the profiles of local designers, which allows business and design students to team up, and then for industry professionals to sit up and take notice,' said Ms Ng.

'In our dealings with designers, we have found that a lot of them are interested in retailing but are not sure how to go about approaching retailers,' she added.

'That is where we come in and offer a professional point of contact and facilitate the process. We act as agents for the designers so that the relationship between retailers and designers can be mediated to the satisfaction of both parties.'

Making this ambitious undertaking even more daunting is the fact that the members of TFF are still students. Hence, earning the respect of industry professionals has not always been smooth-sailing.

'Being a student is a huge impediment when you offer services, compared to offering physical goods which are tangible and therefore easier to price,' said Ms Ng.

'Because perceived value affects pricing a lot, we have really got to get people to see us as entrepreneurs first and students second, rather than the other way around.'

However, this obstacle has not slowed the group down. Their passion and tenacity has helped them achieve relative success where the organisation of several fashion events and the promotion of young designers are concerned.

In fact, TFF has successfully partnered several young designers with retailers.

For example, up-and-coming designers from Temasek Polytechnic and Lasalle College of the Arts have had pieces from their graduation collections retailed at boutiques like Black Market and Epitome.

These success stories are a testament to TFF's ability to act as a springboard for designers hoping to get their works off the drawing boards and into shop fronts.

TFF has also been fairly successful in its search for sponsors. One of its bigger events, a fashion show called Wardroblings at Zouk, attracted big-name sponsors such as Zouk, Fashion TV, Young Changemakers as well as Creative Community Singapore, to name a few.

Building on the success of Wardroblings, TFF plans to continue organising more events and already have several in the pipeline.

A series of fashion industry talks, organised by TFF in conjunction with SMU's Office of Career Services, is in the works. These talks will see professionals from the business management side of the fashion industry share their management expertise with SMU students.

Another instalment of Wardroblings is also being planned and will mark the beginning of TFF's move toward becoming a full fledged, profit-seeking business - it intends to start charging for its PR and marketing services at this event.

When asked about the benefits of being an entrepreneur, Ms Ng cited independence as a huge incentive as well as the fact that she need not worry about people constantly 'hovering' over her shoulder.

However, the ultimate reason behind Ms Ng's drive lies in the passion she has for fashion. 'Many people have dreams of opening their own business but they usually decide to get a steady office job first to build capital,' she said.

'I am not sure about the rest of TFF, but for me, I'm too impatient to wait it out. I would rather start from scratch now because time is of the essence and I'd rather take the risk and build a brand by the time I am 30 than be safe and start from scratch when I am that age.'

While TFF remains a project of utmost importance to Ms Ng and her team, school still remains a priority. Considering the magnitude of this project and the heavy demands of school, striking a balance is nothing short of a juggling act.

'School in SMU is hectic, as any student here can attest to,' said Ms Ng, who is also involved in cheerleading, enrolled in a professional diploma course in creative entrepreneurship and hopes to pursue a masters in fashion journalism.

'What keeps the members of TFF going is our thirst to keep learning about the fashion industry, and our hunger to build the prominence of a local fashion scene,' she said.

'We're eager to see the day Singaporeans start to root for local designers.'

This article was first published in The Business Times .