JUROR 2012

Thomas Wee has been in the fashion industry for over 35 years, since being a finalist in the first Young Fashion Designer Contest organized by Her World magazine in 1978. He was one of the designers, known as “The Magnificent Seven”, selected by the Trade Development Board to exhibit and showcase his collections in Tokyo and Osaka in 1980 and Paris in 1981 and 1982. He has represented Singapore in “The best of Asian Designers”, “The Best of Best” and “The Premier Designer Show” in 1985. Wee has been invited to present his collections and has shown in major Asian cities.

He opened his first high-end boutique in 1983. In 1986, he started “Mixables”, the first career wear line for women in Singapore by a Singapore Designer. The success of Mixables led to helming diffusion lines: Pretá, Sino and bridal gown label ‘Made in Heaven’. Highly anticipated as Singapore’s fashion legend and ‘the grand master of precision tailoring’, Wee’s style is instantly recognizable through his impeccable workmanship, cutting edge 3D forms and innovation in his apparel.

Thomas is recognized as a fashion designer of rare talent and is reputable for his pattern making skills. He is also respected as the “King of Jacket” for his perfectly tailored suits. He dresses some of the most prominent fashion stylish women in Singapore and the region.

For eleven years since 1999, he taught fashion design and pattern drafting at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. He is also one of the main mentors for young design talents under Parco Next NEXT incubator program, organized by Spring Singapore and the Textile and Fashion Federation of Singapore. Today, he is a senior advisory lecturer at First Media Design School, helming the fashion design faculty. Throughout the years, he has judged numerous young designers contests.

In 2008, after a hiatus of 11 years, Thomas made a sensational comeback with a fashion show at Audi Fashion Festival. He was also one of the three top Singapore Fashion Designers that opened the Women Fashion Week 2011, Singapore’s first haute couture event that was graced by Didier Grumbach, president of the FEDERATION FRANCAISE DE LA COUTURE DU PRET-A-PORTER.

In 1991, the Straits Times selected Thomas Wee as the Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Recently in 2011, he was voted by CNN Power List as one of the 30 people who have shaped Singapore.