INTERVIEW: YESAH (LINDA HAO) X TEETEEHEEHEE (TERESA LIM)
What do you get when you put two impossibly quirky and multi-talented girls together?
Introducing Linda Hao (Fashion Designer & Entrepreneur, DJ and Fashion Blogger) of fashion label YESAH, and Teresa Lim (Fashion Textile Designer, Illustrator and Violin Teacher) under the illustration moniker of TEETEEHEEHEE, who recently released their YESAH X TEETEEHEEHEE collaboration aptly called, “Psychedelic Trip Under The Sea”.
This fashion collection, heavily influenced by electronic, pillowy synth-disco music from acts like Elephant, Bjork and Classixx, shaped and visualised Linda and Teresa’s vision for each of the exclusively designed pieces. We managed to catch up with them to share a little about their work, the collaboration and creative words of wisdom:
Tell us more about yourself! Who/what inspires you?
Linda: I’m the founder and designer of Yesah, an online fashion label. I do fashion styling from time to time too.
Dreams and imaginations. I have really interesting and vivids dreams. It’s quite amazing how my dreams can be, I’m actually in the process of designing my AW14 which I got most of the visuals from my dream one night Hahaha
Being a Dj, music definitely has a great impact on my perspectives of life and this SS14 collection is greatly inspired by music.
Teresa: Hi hi, I’m Teresa and i’m a fashion textile designer and illustrator. I am usually inspired by books and films and long lengthy texts that don’t really make much sense at first glance but opens a magical and more in-depth world after dissecting, a little like treasure hunting. I am also very visually inspired or stimulated by daily sights and incidents. It could be the shape of a lonely pebble on the side of the pavement or it could be a scene of a little girl throwing a tantrum, y’know, things as such.
Both of you recently released the YESAH X TEETEEHEEHEE “Psychedelic Trip Under The Sea” Capsule Collection. How did you guys find each other and what led up to this collaboration?
L: I’ve always loved prints and am a sucker at illustrating my imaginations. When I first had the concept, I knew I had to work with a good illustrator who can sort of ‘read my style’ , then I found Teresa’s graduating works and at that moment I knew she would be THAT perfect person :)
T: Well Linda’s style is very quirky and bold which is what I really see eye to eye with in terms of design aesthetics, so when she asked me if I was interested to collaborate for a capsule collection I could only say yes.
What was the planning and work process like? Did you both face any design challenges in terms of communicating about the style of work etc.?
L: We met up frequently to discuss our ideas. At first it was pretty smooth, but when it came to the sourcing of fabrics it become quite time-consuming as we had to meet each other often just to show and discuss our fabric swatches etc. I would say the process as a whole went really well as we communicated a lot. As I took the lead, Teresa did not interfere with my decision making and we both like what we did and planned.
T: For my side, the work process started after the concept and the ideas were thrown out. I started sketching and playing with prints, and just mainly drawing a lot until I settled with something that I like. I would then present them onto print sample swatches and show them to Linda. We discussed the print application onto garments and it all just snow balled from there. We did A LOT of planning, set deadlines, timelines, whatever you call it, and we stuck to the schedule we planned. Actually Linda’s like the older sister, whenever I’m falling behind with work she’ll drag me up. We didn’t really have issues or challenges communicating about the style of work, we saw eye-to-eye with most things.
How long did this process take? How did you both feel about what you have accomplished together?
L: The design process alone took about 1-2 months and production about 1 month.
I felt like everything happened so fast, it’s as if there wasn’t any change. I am already reproducing some of the styles since we launched. So it’s like I’ve never stopped, hahaha!
T: I felt like its only been a week! Its really fast! At the end of it all after looking at the campaign images, the garments, the packaging … looking at everything, I feel really proud of ourselves.
The collection was released sometime in January ’14, not too long ago from now. How has the response been like so far?
L: The response has great since we launched online, and we’re already reproducing some styles. In March Yesah will be stocked at a store in KL too. Everything’s moving fast and good! I’m just hoping to expand this collection more out of Singapore.
T: Linda’s in charge of stocks and sales, and it seems like the response is really good, which I’m really happy to hear!
Will we see more collaborations from the both of you in the future? Are there any plans to expand this into a line or another bigger project?
L: Hmmm we’ll have to see how Teresa is doing, haha. For me, I liked working with her and wouldn’t mind doing something together again, but I know she has lot of other commitments.
T: Hahhah, aww! I really liked working with Linda too, she took up the leader role for this collaboration and she did a fantastic job being assertive, encouraging and understanding all at once. I would definitely love to work on another collab in the future.
What will you tell any aspiring fashion designer or illustrator?
L: I used to be quite stubborn with my designs but from experience I really learnt to be flexible and change to situations. This is very important for all designers. Whatever you design, we still have to be practical.
T: Go with the flowwwwww and have fun while you’re at it. Work should always be fun.
Lastly, can you both draw a little portrait of yourselves for our readers?
(Linda was unable to help us on this at the moment, and she extends her sincerest apologies. Don’t worry Linda, we still love you to bits!)
TERESA:
We wish these girls all the best – and we can’t wait for the next collection! ATTAGIRL!
picture credits to: YESAH and TEETEEHEEHEE
Psychedelic Trip Under The Sea is available at:
Temporium
72 – 74 DUNLOP STREET
W.E – Workshop ElementWestgate,3 Gateway Drive #01-34/35
To find out more, click below!
