Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Hood mentality: Fictive Fingers in Kampong Glam

SINGAPORE — It’s Business 101 to open where your customers are. But these days, it isn’t enough to only have a great location. Instead, it’s also about collaboration, community, and how your neighbourhood further inspires your enterprise. We check out three new enterprises whose addresses are very much at the heart of what they do.

SINGAPORE — It’s Business 101 to open where your customers are. But these days, it isn’t enough to only have a great location. Instead, it’s also about collaboration, community, and how your neighbourhood further inspires your enterprise. We check out three new enterprises whose addresses are very much at the heart of what they do.

***

FABRIC KAMPONG

When sisters Aisah and Hani Dalduri decided to move their silkscreen textile design business Fictive Fingers from their home studio to more “proper” premises, they had their eyes set on the arts and design-friendly areas of Waterloo and Bras Basah. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find a suitable spot.

But fate had better plans. Their partner, Dewi Imelda Wadhwa of halal bakery And All Things Delicious, chanced upon a space on Crawford Lane, and for the Dalduri sisters, being right on the fringes of Kampong Glam made complete sense.

“You will always find us sourcing for materials at Textile Centre (just across the road) or along the North Bridge Road shophouses,” said Aisah. “Moreover, this entire neighbourhood has a nostalgic, old school charm that goes well with our slow design and small-scale philosophy.”

Indeed, work at Fictive Fingers — from personally choosing the linen and cotton fabrics to hand drawing and printing their sketches before sewing the finished fabrics together. The time- and labour-intensive process means that for every print, they can only produce about 20 to 25 items such as bags and Furoshiki, or traditional Japanese wrapping cloth.

Since the sisters shifted into their new space with And All Things Delicious a month ago, they have also started conversing more with their textile merchant neighbours. “We work with three textile merchants and the uncles are always surprised when we show them what we can do, how we blend contemporary design with traditional methods,” said Aisah. “Their knowledge of materials is very valuable and they will show us some of their most beautiful fabrics which are kept at the back of the stores. These are not as popular with customers as they are not printed nor suitable for making clothes.”

Being near Kampong Glam is doubly meaningful as well. The sisters are keen to celebrate their Malay heritage with plans to organise ketupat weaving sessions for the community during Hari Raya.

“When we were much younger, the Kampong Glam area was very lively, with people purchasing fabric to make baju kurung even when it’s not Hari Raya,” said Aisah, who rues the fact that there’s less of a festive buzz now that more lifestyle retail shops and cafes have moved in.

“Unfortunately, we were unable to get enough coconut palm leaves in time (for this year) but we had a really positive response from the community so we can make it happen next year.” One year might be a long time to wait, but you can expect more collaborative ideas up Fictive Fingers’ sleeves.

Fictive Fingers is located at 462 Crawford Lane, #01-61.

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.