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Kan’s foray into jewellery design began in 2008 when she decided to take a year-long break from her job as managing director of M&C Saatchi Singapore. She tried her hand at several ventures, including running a supper club and importing boutique champagnes. Then, she packed her bags, flew to Florence, rented an apartment and studied the language. There, she met a silversmith who took her under her wing. “I could not speak Italian and she could not speak English. We mostly communicated by pointing at objects,” she recalls.
Kan is the best advocate for Carrie K. She wears the label’s jewellery religiously, switching from one collection to another. But there is a set of rings she never takes off. Her husband, Chiew Huan Chong, made them. “We often bounce ideas off each other. One day, I told him I wanted to create something using Morse code. He quietly went off and made [these]. [The rings] have my initials and his.” The Morse Bling collection was the couple’s effort at creating a secret code for lovers. Chiew, who used to work in the aluminium industry, is head of production at Carrie K. He had also taken a two-year jewellery-making course at Nafa at the same time as his wife. “I never thought I would enjoy being with someone 24 hours a day, always discussing stuff, but I guess we complement each other. Whenever I come up with a hare-brained idea, he comes up with the engineering for it,” Kan says. Her Reborn collection, one of her quirkiest, was launched in 2011. It stars the unsung heroes of everyday life such as nuts, bolts, safety pins and nails. “They remind me of the unsung heroes in my life; without them, my life would fall apart,” she says. Her mother, an optometrist, is one such person. She was one of Kan’s biggest supporters when Carrie K was started. “Being a jewellery designer is very good. Whatever you cannot sell, you can melt down and make into something else,” her mother had said. Giving back to society
Now that Carrie K is established, Kan wants to help local designers. It was hard for her — even with 12 years of experience in events management, sales and advertising — to strike out on her own, let alone someone fresh out of school. In 2011, Kan founded Keepers to showcase homegrown designs and products. Keepers is housed in the same premises as her atelier. Three years later, she organised a 16-month pop-up space, Keepers: Singapore Designer Collective, with the help of the Textile and Fashion Federation. The space took up 4,300 sq ft at Orchard and showcased a diverse range of home-grown creations from hundreds of designers. “For some of them, they are at a stage similar to when I started. As a one-person show, the designers don’t have the time to market their labels,” Kan says. The number of local artists creating their own brands is growing, according to design and advertising institute MAD School. About 25% of its students start their design firms when they graduate and about 40% of them provide freelance services. Kan plans to put together another pop-up space to support local designers. “When you start a business, it is the toughest experience in the world. No one is going to support you just because you want to realise your dream. You need to create a product that people will miss if you disappear… [You should also] build a network of mentors,” she says. Some of these mentors are customers. Some are in their 20s, while others are in their 60s. “They are jewellery fans and they wear my pieces in ways I cannot imagine. Some come back with constructive feedback on things that didn’t work,” Kan says. Eight years on, her quest to find beauty in imperfection is on a firm footing. Some customers are asking for engagement rings made from raw, uncut diamonds. “Raw diamonds look unremarkable — like little pebbles. But many people also see the promise of potential,” she says. This article appeared in Issue 774 (April 10) of The Edge Singapore
