What’s the correlation between a peony and a rafflesia flower? They both come together in the story of Peony Sin, who is a fashion designer, jewellery designer, and the current Creative Director of Rafflesia, a celebrated Malaysian fashion and jewellery label.
Rafflesia and sister label Mandalay were founded by Peony’s parents, Winnie Sin and Sin Cheang Loong, and have long been at the fore of local jewellery – with the former specialising in pearls and the latter taking a focus on jadeite and rubies. But since Peony’s taken the helm, she’s incorporated a new angle to the brand’s lineup, through her much-loved fashion and clothing that incorporate the iconic songket as its signature fabric.
Inspiration and the design process
Growing up, Peony has always demonstrated an affinity for art and design, which carried on to her student years as she pursued a roster of fully art-focused subjects. Then, Peony graduated from the London College of Fashion in fashion marketing, with the aim of bringing her skills in both design and business to the family business.
“When I came back from London, I was just thinking of focusing on the jewellery side of things. But then the opportunity to get back into clothing design came up and so I went for it,” Peony starts, explaining how the clothing arm first started. “It’s been a really interesting and unexpected journey, and I’m grateful that the response has been really good as well.”
Designing for jewellery versus clothing offers two distinct challenges, and Peony – as someone who does both – has a unique perspective to the process. Often, it’s a balancing game based on the project and its context. “If a certain project is more focused on the clothing, then I would have to put more emphasis on certain colour or silhouettes [in the jewellery]. But if the jewellery is the focus, then I would simplify the clothing to allow the jewellery to pop,” Peony explains.
“I’m inspired by a lot of different things, like art, music, nature, even just the act of travelling and experiencing other cultures. And a lot of the time, I am inspired by conversations with the people around me.”
When it comes to inspiration, this young talent often finds it from anything creative across industries. She explains, “I’m inspired by a lot of different things, like art, music, nature, even just the act of travelling and experiencing other cultures. And a lot of the time, I am inspired by conversations with the people around me.”
The ideas that pop up are then transformed, taking form in the colour and shapes used in both her clothing and jewellery designs. When it comes time to assembling the collection, Peony and her team at Rafflesia bring everything together to see how pieces can work out, resulting in collections that always turn out to be more than the sum of its parts.
Songket, and taking pride in her roots
We can’t talk about Peony’s creative pursuits without talking about the songket, which has now become her signature fabric, making an appearance in pieces that masterfully combine the grand and traditional textile with contemporary silhouettes.
“The choice to use songket really came about by chance. Going back to how everything began, in 2019 Rafflesia hosted the Central Asian Designers’ Gala and we needed a Malaysian representative. I had just come back from the UK and as I had done fashion design before I was kind of thrown into it,” Peony laughs.
Tasked with the challenge of representing not just her home country, but also the host nation and label, Peony went searching for a suitable medium to accomplish the task. “There were designers from all across Central Asia, and I heard that many were using local fabrics and heavily cultural things. And I wanted to do that too, and share our Malaysian culture through my designs,” Peony says.
“I found songket. It’s grand, it’s pretty, it’s shiny and it fits the brand image well too, alongside the vibrant colours which I really like.”
“Of course, the initial thought was batik but since it’s already well-known I went further and found songket. It’s grand, it’s pretty, it’s shiny and it fits the brand image well too, alongside the vibrant colours which I really like,” she continues. From there, the connection was born.
The response she received from what was effectively her first showcase solidified her choice, and songket became a signature feature for Rafflesia’s clothing.
Like every other fabric choice, songket has its pros and cons. Hence, discovering and working around any limitations forces Peony to look outside the box to create the look she envisions in her designs. “Songket is really structured, it’s usually stiff and so I have to combine it with softer fabrics to balance out the look. And other times, songket can’t deliver on a certain vibe I want, then I’m forced to work around it and try and translate that vibe into something I can create with the fabric,” she explains.
But the biggest challenge is often translating and balancing what is a heavily cultural textile, steeped in tradition and rules, into something contemporary and easy for a new generation of fashion enthusiasts. But this challenge is something Peony takes into stride – and delivers well with pieces like her songket hoodie and custom qipaos, or in collections like I Heart You.
“I just have to be very experimental. My approach is that I would design in a way that makes me say, ‘Oh, I would want to wear that’.”
“I just have to be very experimental. My approach is that I would design in a way that makes me say, ‘Oh, I would want to wear that’,” Peony explains, citing a personal style that constantly changes as a basis for her approach. “A lot of the times when I’m trying to build a collection, I would create samples and test it myself – and I’m also able to see how people respond to it to see if it will work.”
She also credits her mentor, Dato’ Jimmy Choo, for teaching her an important lesson that impacts the way she designs with the songket, saying “He taught me to always be proud of where we come from and our heritage as Malaysians, and to promote our country.”
To evolve is to seek fresh perspectives
“To me ‘cultural evolution’ is retaining our traditions from the past and present, and bringing it into the future. Certain things we do in the past might not be applicable to the present, so evolving means always thinking about how to bring it with us to the future and pass it down after,” Peony answers, reflecting on the theme for this Evolution Issue.
She continues, “My goal is to always showcase songket in different perspectives. That’s why I’m always coming out with unique concepts to keep it fresh. And second is to spread awareness globally so I can put Malaysia on the map and make songket something instantly recognisable.”
When it comes to the business, global expansion is top on Peony’s list, as she aims to continue growing Rafflesia’s global presence in both the jewellery and clothing spaces. Expanding in Malaysia, her beloved home country, is as important too, as she envisions more presence across the country to make the brand more accessible to more Malaysians.
For all the aspiring young designers, Peony’s advice is simple, “Keep trying, keep experimenting, and keep an open mind. I would also doubt myself sometimes, if I was doing the right or if people will like it but keep at it and trust the process – as cliché as it sounds.”
Follow Peony’s design journey on Instagram here and stay up to date with Rafflesia here.
More Inspire cover stories await here.
Featured image: Peony dons jewellery and outfit from Rafflesia.
Editor: Natalie Khoo
Interview and words: Neda Al-Asedi
Creative director: Driv
Art direction: Mon Kai-Siong, assisted by Victor Wong
Coordination: Shuk Jeng
Photography: Tian Xing
Videography: Khairul Irsyaduddin and Dean
Video concept and subtitles: Charmaine Loh
Hair and makeup: Asaki Yok
Wardrobe and jewellery: Rafflesia