40 UNDER 40

Any given Sunday

“Running three businesses at the same time is quite challenging,” says Shelvin Prasetio. What an understatement that is! The 28-year-old entrepreneur is always on the go - so busy, indeed, that we were delighted when she somehow found time to pose for this year’s 40 Under 40 list. A Raffles Design Institute graduate, Shelvin has a ready-to-wear brand, Wearstatuquo, a wedding gown business called The Bridal Workshop and a culinary venture, Chong Qing Liu Yi Shou Hotpot. The last will soon add second branch in Senopati.

“My first venture was Wearstatuquo,” Shelvin tells us. “I started it in 2012 with Janet, my sister. Over coffee and chit-chat, we discussed how we wanted to design and create pieces that were fashionable and wearable and would have a closet lifespan of at least five years. The core principle of Wearstatuquo is to create what we love to wear.”

Shelvin launched The Bridal Workshop in 2017. “Many of my friends were planning their weddings and asking me to make gowns for them. My partner Devina and I wanted this business to be a fresh concept for bridal. We decided to provide our clients with a lot of mock-up samples, tops and bottoms they could try on the first time they came in.”

Hectic though her schedules are, Shelvin always makes sure that Sundays are for family gatherings. “We all take Sunday off to be together,” she explains. “For us, family life is very important. We go to church together in the morning, and later we sit down and eat and catch up with what’s going on in each other’s lives.”