The Straits Times
Thursday, May 12, 1988

RISING SON
Japan, a notoriously difficult fashion market, has said hai! to designer Daniel Yam - and in more ways than just buying his quietly unusual clothes.
By JOHN de SOUZA

Witty, cheeky 'shoe-hats' worn with sleek black dresses won him attention and acclaim at Singapore Fashion Week in April last year. Top French designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, a guest-of-honour, said his designs could be shown in Paris, and an American fashion journalist called his ideas 'extremely clever'. But no spotlights, please, for Daniel Yam. The 27-year-old may be immersed in fashion after six years of designing but is retiring to the point of shyness. Still, Yam, who has exported to Japan for some 3 1/2 years now, is probably the only local designer of ready-to-wear to break into the notoriously difficult Japanese fashion market. As if in recognition of this success, he is one of 41 finalists, chosen from almost 3300 entrants, who will vie for the top prize of one million yen (about s$16000) tonight in the Tokyo International Contemporary Designers competition. "I'm very pleased," said Yam, just before he left for Tokyo on Saturday. "Just taking part in this competition is an affirmation of what I am designing." He first heard about the competition through Soda, the local designers' group, who invited its members to submit design sketches. About eight did. Yam sketched an entire collection called the Outsider, focusing on necklines and 'environmental' colours like woody browns, muted blues and greens. To his surprise, he heard in mid-March that he was a finalist, was asked to make one outfit for the finals show, and given 30000 yen as a token 'fee', The Japanese are terrors to sell to, Yam said. They check the linings, count the number of stitches on the buttons, even bung your clothes into a washing machine to see if they fade! Yet, he added, "it's good that their quality control is so strict. You may make blunders, but you learn that quality is all!" He also admits he's been lucky. One buyer, enthused about his designs, got two department stores interested in him. That would take even a Japanese designer five to ten years to acheive, he says. But now, Yam is cutting back on his export 'bread-and-butter clothes, A-line skirts and jackets with braiding and gold buttons, like a watered-down Chanel look' that the Japanese love. "I want to concentrate on designer clothes," he said. "Making money is fine, but pushing your design concept is vital." He is turning his skills to more avant-garde creations and, with two new partners, set up a company, New Attitude Apparel, to push into more fashion markets. "It's important to apply your design concept," he said. "Mine is mixability. I love versatility. My clothes can be worn or put together in different ways." His 'designer' image, he added, fits in well, for example, at his corner at Hemispheres, the local young designers' shop, where Yam has had his only local outlet for 1 1/2 years. There, people are more receptive to contemporary designer creations. Nothing outrageous, but 'clothes that are saleable, yet interesting, down-to-earth yet retaining a design concept'. "I place great emphasis on continuity, so I also use adaptable, muted colours, bright but a bit 'dirty'!" he chuckled. His competition outfit, designed for Yam's woman who is 'individualistic, unusual, courageous' and likes 'shock as well as fun', reflects his philosophy. A murky emerald satin pinafore with side-tails goes over a brown pleated-tail skirt made of a light silk usually used for lining, with a navy one-shoulder obi-sashed blouse of the same silk. Vary the layering and you acheive different effects. "It's not easy pushing a concept, be it in a competition or in business," said Yam, who considers it 'more of a challenge' to win acceptance abroad. "But I don't want to get contented or complacent," he concluded. "I believe in growing."