Malaysian fashion designer, Silas Liew

We live in a day and age where technology is at the tip of our hands. It is the first thing we check in the morning and the last thing we see at night, keeping us updated on our friends and families’ lives and world issues. It is a constant source of inspiration and the quickest way to immortalise moments. This year, Huawei has collaborated with local fashion designer Silas Liew for the launch of its P9 smartphone series in the Southern Pacific and BAZAAR had the honour of interviewing the business savvy fashion designer.

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What are you working on now?

At the moment, we are doing a lot of evening wear and we are trying new beading techniques, adapting old techniques from French houses and modernising them.

How do your designs relate to Huawei’s products?

My collection ranges from menswear to womenswear, and also from day to night, so the versatility of it reflects Huawei’s latest P9 series and the kind of person who is using a Huawei phone.

Silas Liew features his collection at Huawei’s South Pacific Conference in Bali, 2016

What does technology mean to you?

It doesn’t mean anything specific to me but being in the fashion business, you really need rely on technology because that is how people work nowadays. Everything is changing by the second and you need to stay relevant and post things the moment it happens.

How was it like working before technology was commonplace?

I was interning with a big Malaysian designer Michael Ong before the smartphone craze came along so everyone was pouring through all these visuals and magazines. It’s easier for everyone nowadays with fashion being so accessible (online).

How do you balance creativity and the commercial side of your brand?

It’s very tricky and I don’t think everyone has this. You’ll have to be focused and you’ll have to start marketing from the outset. So when you start sourcing for textile, you’ll have to think about who the buyers are and how do we sell this; and I think the best designers know this but they also ignore it. It’s a very strange thing in fashion, you know the rules, but you also want to break them.

So, what do you enjoy doing most alone?

Just chilling out at home, making tea, and sleeping [laughs].

I see some whisky posts on your Instagram account, are you a whisky fan? Japanese or good old Scottish single malt?

I buy a lot of Japanese whiskey, but lately, the prices have been soaring and they’re hard to find in Malaysia so I guess I’m going back to Scottish single malt.

What is your favourite whisky?

Suntory’s Hibiki.

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What do you think is the next big trend?

Home and living, so lately, I’ve been spending more on home furnishings.

What’s your motto?

You just have to go and see opportunites as they come and change as you go.