The Next Creative Directors: Amar Singh
Amar Singh
24 years old
Eindhoven, Netherlands.
MA at Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp
Jane Lewis: I want to know an early memory of your first designs.
Amar Singh: I started out as an illustrator. I drew very intense characters and those are my first memories of designing. I do fashion because I wanted to become these characters and bring them to real life instead of just [them being] on the paper. They’re a mix between cartoon characters and videogame characters. I played Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and a lot of role-playing games where you have a lot of character customization. That's the most fun part, of course. It came from a place of escapism, delving into this other world. That's also what my work is about.
J: What is your design ethos? Do you feel like it's rooted in this idea of wanting to escape?
A: It started with this deep desire to dress up and express myself through how I dress. I wanted to become these larger than life characters. We live in a very corporate world, and I come from an Indian and Surinamese immigrant background where you have to work, you have to study, and you have to check certain boxes of how to be male or female. I didn't want that at all. I poke fun at this idea of how to be a man. I dress as a parody of what a man is. I mostly wear suits, but they're a bit funky, a bit colorful. It's a bit of a satire of this serious life that we’re living.
J: If you could design a uniform for any profession, which profession would you choose and what would you design?
A: Actually, I did this my first year at school because we had to design a collection and I took certain professions and twisted them around. I did a nurse, a policeman, a cook, a military person, a school uniform, and a construction worker. I just researched the uniforms for these professions and then twisted them around to how I would like to walk around looking. It's not practical at all, because why should it be?
J: So what was your dream when you were little?
A: I just wanted to enjoy life and be happy. That was literally my dream, to be able to authentically express myself—because I come from a quite conservative place. I find it very odd that a lot of people's dreams are their profession. I don't dream of labor. It's not my goal in life. I dream of having connections with people. I'm a performer. I stand on stages and I perform. I’m more of a club kid, and that's what I want to do. I want to spread joy. I yearn for connection.
J: And what do you do when you're not sewing?
A: I always say the clubs are my runway. I'm a party girl. I live in the clubs. I dress up, do makeup. I go out anywhere my chosen family goes. Most of the people that I'm surrounded with, we all work in nightlife. So wherever my group of people will be is where I will enjoy myself.
J: You're always working and you're always clubbing. Do you sleep?
A: Last week I had finals and I was sleeping three to five hours a night. Fashion is a bit toxic but it's just a lot of work. You really have to just put in the hours. And unfortunately there aren’t more hours in the day.
J: What is your favorite medium for transposing your ideas?
A: I'm a digital artist, I draw on my iPad. I like to poke fun and twist things around so I make digital art that looks like it's hand-drawn with crayons and pencils. It’s a hybrid, but [digital] has a certain look, and I want to make sure mine doesn't look like that. It looks like it's made on paper. It's a layered joke.
J: What do you think about trend cycles?
A: I don't care too much about them. As a fashion designer you should be the one creating the trends, not following them. At the same time, if you know what's going on in the cultural zeitgeist, then you will create something trendy because you're aware of what’s coming and what people are liking at the moment. It's fashion forecasting. I personally just do what I do. I'm not that culturally aware of what's going on. But with Instagram and social media, you’ll always be influenced by something.