Born Eshamuddin Ismail, fashion designer Ashley Isham (b. 1979, Singapore - ), is one of Singapore's most prominent figures in fashion. Isham has been based in London since 1996 and his collections are on schedule each season during the London Fashion Week. He owns Aquaint, a boutique in London as well as his flagship boutique, Ashley Isham, located at the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore. Isham was also awarded the Berita Harian Achiever of the Year Award in 2007 for his achievements in his profession.
Early Life
Growing up in a conservative Malay household, Isham had often watched and helped his seamstress mother with her sewing. He started designing his own clothes because he was dissatisfied with the extremely limited designs in local shops. Isham started sewing his own pants at the age of 12 and his sister, Khaty, was often his "live Barbie doll" for his design experiments.
Harbouring a desire to "see snow", Isham ventured abroad in December 1995, heading first, to Amsterdam. After a year in the Netherlands, Isham travelled to London to pursue a diploma in fashion design at the Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design. Though applications had closed three months ago and the semester had just begun, the school's director was suitably impressed with Isham's portfolio and he started school on the very day that he had applied for admission. Isham's further education at London College of Fashion and Middlesex University were sponsored by Swiss investment bank, Substantia Invest AG; Isham's designs had caught the eye of one of the bank's executives who was at the school's fashion shows.
Isham admits that he would never have had such opportunities in fashion design if he had remained in Singapore. Isham's family had been supportive of his pursuit in fashion design from the very beginning and he has often cited family support as a great boon to his successful career as well.
Career
Isham set up a label of his own, Ashley Isham, in 2000 and he created his first collection in the same year. Though his applications for an "on-schedule" main show for the 2001 London Fashion Week were rejected, his breakthrough moment occurred at his well-received "off-schedule" presentation of his collection at his studio apartment in London. Attaining an "on-schedule" fashion show was significant because of the media attention that such shows receive, especially as Isham's collection was shown alongside those of international labels such as Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood.
Since 2003, Isham's collections have been consistently featured in the London Fashion Week each year. The designer garnered international attention when Princess Zara Philips of the British royal family was photographed in his designs at the Ascot races. Shortly after, Isham was appointed as the official designer for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards of 2004, where he dressed stars such as Angelina Jolie and Keira Knightley. One of his gowns from his 2006 Spring-Summer collection had also made the cover on the 100th issue of the British travel magazine, Conde Nast Traveller in December 2005. In the same year, Isham starred as one of the guest celebrities in the fifth season of America's Next Top Model as well.
Isham opened his first boutique, Aquaint, in London at Covent Garden in 2002 and his second boutique, Ashley, at Conduit Street in 2004. In June 2008, Isham launched his flagship boutique, Ashley Isham, at Singapore's Fullerton Hotel. Besides his boutiques, more than 20 exclusive shops around the world carry his designs. Isham's works integrate feminine, well-draped cuts with Southeast Asian inspired motifs and detailing. Such Southeast Asian influences are retained in his collections because Isham feels the need to assert and be proud of his heritage as a Southeast Asian, especially when there are few designers from the region in London. His Spring-Summer 2006 collection, for instance, contained elements of Balinese art and Asian threadwork.
Isham has also been actively involved in the local fashion scene. His collections are shown at the local fashion weeks and he has had multiple collaborations with local designers and brands. Working with a team of DesignSingapore scholars, Isham and the group won a 2008 Evening Standard Window Display Award at the London Design Festival for their multi-disciplinary installation, My Garden. Isham has also collaborated with Lee Hwa Jewellery, designing a jewellery line for the brand in 2009. The brand's jewellery was also worn with Isham's collection during the London Fashion Week of the same year.
Besides his collaboration with local brands and talents, Isham has designed for international brands such as Coca Cola as well. In March 2009, Isham created "Jewel in your Hand", the first-ever Coca Cola can and bottle design by a Singaporean. The design was used on over one million commemorative cans and 100,000 bottles of Coca Cola light for the Singapore's 2009 Audi Fashion Festival. In the same year, the limited-edition mobile straps that Isham had designed for the Samsung Ultra Touch mobile phone were also auctioned online to raise funds for the Go Red For Women Campaign, an initiative by the Singapore Heart Foundation.
Isham had also received the Berita Harian Achiever of the Year Award in 2007 for his achievements in his profession as a fashion designer. He is the youngest recipient of the award thus far.
Education
Jubilee Primary School, Singapore.
Nan Hua Secondary School, Singapore.
Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London, United Kingdom.
London College of Fashion, London, United Kingdom.
Middlesex University, London, United Kingdom.
Author
Hong Xinying
References
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Drapers Record. (2004, March 6). People Ashley Isham. Drapers Record. Retrieved September 26, 2009 from Factiva database.
Ings-Chambers, Edwina. (2003, June 14). Getting aQuainted - New designers get by with a little help from friends, says Edwina Ings-Chambers. The Financial Times. Retrieved September 26, 2009 from Factiva database.
London Fashion Week. (2009). London Fashion Week. Retrieved October 24, 2009, from http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/.
Isham, Ashley. (2009). Biography. Ashley Isham. Retrieved October 21, 2009, from http://www.ashleyisham.com/.
Koh, Lynette. (2009, May 9). Patriot Games ; Homegrown Designers Lead the way with innovation and inspiration. Today. Retrieved September 26, 2009 from Factiva database.
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The Times. (2002, April 29). Ashley Isham - Style Index - What's Hot, What's Not - Fashion. The Times. Retrieved September 26, 2009 from Factiva database.
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Tham, Pearlyn. (2005, April 2). All eyes on Ashley; Despite worldwide acclaim, the S'pore designer has more plans up his sleeves. Today (Singapore). Retrieved on February 22, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
The Straits Times. (2005, December 15). Ashley Isham gown makes cover. The Straits Times. Retrieved on February 22, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
The Straits Times. (2009, January 3). Ashley Isham: Fashion. The Straits Times. Retrieved September 26, 2009 from Factiva database.
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Zhang, Yi Ting. (2009, March 28). Coke Gets a Local 'Flavour'. The Business Times Singapore. Retrieved September 26, 2009 from Factiva database.
The information in this article is valid as at 2009 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
