Veteran Singapore fashion designer Peter Kor has made a comeback with private equity backing. He tells Options about his journey.

A simple silk and French lace wedding dress stood on a pedestal at the National Museum of Singapore, its sleek silhouette holding its own against the frills and flounces of some of the most famous — and outrageous — gowns in modern fashion history.

On loan from London’s Victoria and Albert Museum for the 2012 exhibition in Singapore were dresses representing 200 years of wedding fashion. There was the silk satin, embroidered gown with 3m train worn by the Duchess of Argyll to her 1933 matrimonials and singer Gwen Stefani’s white-and-pink ombre gown designed by John Galliano for her 2002 wedding.

The slim bustier dress was made in 2011 by veteran Singapore designer Peter Kor for the daughter of his long-time client, Vivenne Tan, former general manager of Centrepoint Properties and a patron of heritage and the arts.

Despite the recognition, Kor is modest about his name and brand. “I’m a pretty low-key person. You’ve probably not heard of me.” In his heyday as a designer in the 1980s and 1990s, Kor was practically a household name as women snapped up his clothes from major department stores Metro and Isetan, where most people shopped at. But after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the retail sector was hard hit and Kor’s business faltered. He lay low, designing the odd piece for close friends.

These days, he still does not often undertake custom orders, unless it is for a close friend or “their body type is something that needs [custom-made clothes], then I would oblige”, he says. “I don’t do very specialised one-to-one designing, unless it’s a very special occasion, like a wedding. But even then, I would tell them to go to Tan Yoong,” he laughs, referring to one of his designer peers who specialises in wedding gowns.

But fans of his designs can now rejoice. Kor has set his quiet days aside and relaunched his eponymous label, focusing on quality, accessible clothes for sophisticated, professional women.

The brand is focused on creating contemporary and comfortable, but elegant attire. There are simple functional sheaths in natural fabrics, brocade dresses that carry one from office to cocktails and the quintessential qipao reworked in wearable cottons and prints. “The major direction would be my first love — catering for working women,” Kor says. “That’s very important to me because that’s what I’ve been doing all my life. Real price, real clothes, real women.”

Eastern effects
Kor was vacuuming up plaster dust peeling off the walls at his boutique on Purvis Street just before the doors opened for customers and Options. The debris was falling from the wall mural extending the length of the shop floor — black ink wash in the style of the old Chinese landscapes depicting rocky mountains and cascading waterfalls.

You would not have noticed it at first glance, but the paintings are melded with the peeling paint that exposes the coppery green patina of the aged brick and timber layers underneath, giving new life to the shophouse’s history. The effect is stunning and illustrates the core of who Kor is. “I’ve always had this strong Asian identity despite having done Western clothing all my life,” says Kor, whose parents were Shanghainese settled in Singapore.

The Eastern influences are evident in Kor’s signature pieces, which are crafted from printed silks and brocades. These are sourced from China, where Kor was working as a consultant for two years. The variety and richness of the fabrics compelled him to return to Singapore to start making clothes again. Today, at age 65, he’s relaunching his career as a fashion designer.

For his latest venture, Kor is working with private equity firm Keppel Bay Partners, which is making its first investment in the fashion industry. The way Kor sees it, it is his oriental-inspired designs, such as modern qipaos in striking geometric patterns and silky wrap dresses in porcelain print, that attracted the investor. “I think that captured their imagination. They’ve travelled around the world and probably felt Asia should be the next leap,” he says.

“We loved his work personally and realised more people should have access to it,” Keppel Bay says in an email to Options. “The fashion business is highly competitive, but also in need for disruption. So much money is spent on marketing and expensive real estate, while the majority of employees in the supply chain earn minimum wage. We think we can reimagine the business model with a focus on the consumer and sharing profits more equitably.”

The relaunched Peter Kor brand will work with local craftswomen to ensure solid workmanship, the firm adds. “Fashion has a lot to do with supply chain and production, and we are investing to make that a strength.”

Maturing process
In retrospect, Kor says his entry and success in fashion have been rather “accidental”.

“I’m fortunate enough not to have to search for my path,” he says, adding that he had always felt drawn to the creative industry. He was 10 years old or so when he started doodling in his exercise books rather than keep up with his lessons. By the time he was in secondary school, “it was fashion sketches all over the place”.

At the time, of course, fashion design was not encouraged as a career choice. “There were no design schools and fashion magazines,” he explains. His passion for design also meant he neglected his schoolwork and failed his exams. “That was one of the biggest disappointments for my parents.”

After leaving school and finishing National Service, Kor was determined to get into what he saw as the creative industry. “I was stumbling along the way, trying to present myself to advertising companies — any company in the creative field,” Kor says.

He eventually came across an advertisement looking for a fashion stylebook illustrator. The company designed and produced clothing for department stores. Importantly, his boss was far-sighted and open-minded, and Kor gained significant experience despite spending just 10 months working for the company.

“I was fortunate because she had proper training. She was a graduate of the London School of Fashion and had all the exposure to the European market and tastes, and that really suited me,” he recalls. “Because of my enthusiasm, she didn’t just put me in a corner to do illustrations. I became her personal assistant and was exposed to everything, from client servicing to handling suppliers, meeting the buyers and handling the manufacturing process.”

According to Kor, starting with a ready to- wear business rather than couture or boutique labels meant he had greater exposure to what consumers wanted. When that company folded, Kor scraped together enough to set up his own fashion business. He designed and produced clothes under different labels, including the department stores’ in-house brands, but never his own. “I wasn’t confident enough then because I would have had to be responsible for every piece of clothing that had my name on it,” he explains.

After the 1997 financial crisis, Kor left the fashion scene. In 2006, he presented a small collection at the Singapore Fashion Week. One of the buyers at Tangs spotted his designs, and he started designing for Studio, an in-house boutique label the store had just started. But it was not long before the idea of designing his own label came up. “They invited me to have a counter and asked, ‘Why do it under any other name? Just use your name.’ And the most important thing is, I wanted to. After all these years and the ups and downs I faced, I felt that as a designer, I was ready and confident enough to do that. Scale-wise and in every respect, I felt I had matured.”

Rising again Rail thin, bespectacled and casually elegant, Kor is modest about his expectations for the new business. “The success may come fast, but it may also go really fast. You may hit one collection right, but be doomed on the next one,” he muses. “But in life, you learn from the knocks. If you have the tenacity, you’ll be fine. You get more bruises, but you become stronger.” Indeed, given the cut-throat rivalry and hyper-speed at which the fashion industry runs today, Kor reckons it pays to be more cautious and conservative than the competition. “You’re even more careful because you’re working with people’s money. We have seen many brands having foreign money and doing a lot of big things, but then the results may not be there,” he says.

Nevertheless, the collaboration with the private equity firm allows Kor to broaden his access to the marketing and supply chain resources necessary for the business to expand. “The nightmare of every business based in Singapore is the market is very small,” he says. There are plans to bring the brand to the rest of the region first before breaking into the Western markets, he adds.

Kor’s setting up shop on Purvis Street was by chance when the lot became available. “Everybody thought I was mad. It’s not a street you would come to to look for clothes,” he says. Kor also acknowledges that he is competing with fast fashion stores and online retailers, which entice buyers with cheap clothing, the convenience of shopping from one’s bedroom and free returns.

Still, he is taking his chances. “People who come into the shop are people who enjoy the experience — the physical presentation, being able to put something on, look at it and feel it, absorb the atmosphere and then carry the bag out with satisfaction,” he says. In fact, Kor reckons that as the customer matures and aspires to higher-quality clothing and luxury brands, the appeal of fast fashion diminishes. “My customers are quality-, cut- and fit-driven.” Indeed, working from his atelier at the back of the boutique, Kor offers services to adjust the off-the-rack dresses for a better fit.

He adds, “The biggest compliment you can get from a customer is, ‘Oh I feel this is just made for me.’ What more can you ask for?”

This article appeared in the Options of Issue 729 (May 23) of The Edge Singapore.