It is fashion season in May, with many local tertiary institutions staging runways for their fashion graduands. Behind the glitz and glamour though, there is much to be done.

The dazzling collections of LASALLE’s final year BA(Hons) Fashion Design and Textiles students are in the spotlight – one for its celebration of Singapore’s hawker culture by Ng Jia Min, and another for its focus on sustainability by Sandy Ong. Both graduands discuss more about the inspiration behind their garments in this article.

For many LASALLE graduands, the road to an education in the performing arts has not always been a straightforward one. As our students prepare for their graduating performances in their final year, they look back on the different paths that brought them here, and the lessons learned in juggling the concerns of pursuing an arts education in contemporary Singapore. Shahirah, Danial and Afiq share more about their respective journeys as well as their plans for the future, post-graduation.

A graduate from LASALLE's BA(Hons) Fine Arts Programme, Michael Koh is the founder of high-end jewellery brand Caratell, which counts neighbouring royalty among its clientele and has an annual turnover of more than $5 million. It has been a long road to success for him as he struggled in school when he was younger due to undiagnosed dyslexia and ended up dropping out.

Not many performing arts students can boast an invitation to join an international touring production even before graduation, but LASALLE College of the Arts fresh BA(Hons) Musical Theatre graduate Michelle Ler has done just that. 

More than ever, creativity, innovation, collaboration and excellence are called for in the economy of tomorrow. Just ask LASALLE College of the Arts graduate Jerome Lim, who decided to transfer out of the National University of Singapore’s Industrial Design programme in order to pursue his dreams of becoming a thought leader of fashion.

“I wanted to be stimulated creatively by pursuing a degree that marries design and business. At LASALLE, I was able to engage both my left and right brain in a dynamic discipline,” said Jerome.

An impressive flurry of firsts were celebrated this afternoon at LASALLE College of the Arts’ landmark 30th Convocation, from the graduation of LASALLE’s first batch of students in MA Arts Pedagogy and Practice to its first Dare to Dream scholarship recipient, awarded to promising young artists with special needs. Mr Ong Ye Kung, Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills), graced the event as Guest of Honour.