Fabric of Success

This is a story of passion, craft-making and legacy. As award-winning designer Melinda Looi reached a 20-year milestone in her career, we take a look back on her humble origins

- Elizabeth Soong

Melinda Looi comes fluttering in with her two girls in tow, arms laden with cloth bags filled with outfits for the photo shoot. She immediately set about arranging the clothes on the rack while the girls, Maya and Myla, greet their grandmother, Keng Foong, who’s getting her hair and makeup done. The pleating factory where the shoot is taking place is the brainchild of Keng Foong and her husband, Looi Peng Kong, which they set up over 40 years ago—they were the pioneers and now it stands as the only remaining pleating factory in the country. Local designers get their pleats done here, which is now being run by Melinda’s brother, Louie.

“I was a factory girl, you know,” Melinda announced. Growing up, she and her siblings used to come right after school to help out at the factory. “We couldn’t afford workers so we did it ourselves. I was sewing buttons, cutting thread, learning how to pull fabrics, how to place patterns, cut and so on, and learned all the machineries. We’d work from 3pm till 11 at night.”

“I never went to school. I only knew to work hard. After my children have gone to school, I’d work until midnight. I needed to make money as I had six children to take care of ”—KENG FOONG