Fashion Philosophy
Ben Stubbington, senior vice president of design and concepts at Lululemon, on identity, innovation and the future of menswear
exclusively on Indian video streaming service Disney+ Hotstar in July, and a role in Tan Chui Mui’s
Barbarian Invasion, which won the jury grand prix prize at the 24th Shanghai International Film Festival in June.
Your real name is Nasrul Suhaimin Saiffudin. How did you become Bront Palarae?
Bront is actually a nickname [I’ve had] since Form Four. My friends thought it was a Thai name that my mother had been calling me since I was a kid. I didn’t correct them. Palarae is my mother’s maiden name.
What inspired you to become an actor? I grew up in the 1990s and MTV was like the mecca of visual arts. That influenced my decision to join a film school. I actually wanted to be a music video filmmaker. I got the chance to dabble in every aspect of film in school—scriptwriting, wardrobe, make-up—and I discovered that acting required the least amount of work and an actor got the best treatment on the set.
What do you remember most about winning your first acting award in 2010?
It was fresh and exciting at that time but I now remember the pressure. It posed a very, very important question early on: what’s next?
How has your reaction to being nominated changed over the years? Over time, you think of it as less about yourself, and more as an acknowledgement of the team. Awards also signify that I’ve been making the right choices, whether it is choosing acting as a vocation or the projects that I have been involved in.
Do you feel you’ve made it now?
I always feel like I’m on the fringe of the industry. I don’t play by the rules of the game; I go against the grain most of the time. I think the feeling of “Yeah, I’ve made it” can kill one’s passion. I love operating from the position of trying to prove a point. We have to look globally; we can’t just be the biggest fish in our little pond. There’s a bigger ocean out there.
Few clothing brands are as synonymous with a particular product as Lululemon and its leggings. Made from premium, hi-tech fabrics, they fit like a second skin and have attracted a loyal clientele the world over.
But the brand has developed a unique identity beyond its bestseller. “Design at Lululemon is a blend of art and science together, aligning functionality, design and innovation,” says Ben Stubbington, senior vice president of design and concepts at Lululemon.
Since he joined Lululemon in 2016, Stubbington has witnessed a dramatic evolution in menswear. But through these changing trends, he has remained true to his personal design philosophy. “To me as a designer, minimalism has always been a real foundation and it’s what I resonate with.”
He is equally committed to not limiting his products to “what was considered the norm in the market”; in other words, he seeks to move beyond merely designing high-performing athletic attire intended for a specific workout context.
This is clear in the brand’s bestselling menswear items, from the ABC and Commission trousers from the On the Move collection, to the Metal Vent Tech polo and Pace Breaker shorts. Its most popular products vary in form and functionality, from sweat-wicking
activewear to versatile pieces that can be worn to work.
Stubbington credits the brand’s customers as its biggest source of inspiration, looking at what they’re doing, how they’re living and how they’re going to live.
“Post Covid-19, we see that more people want to look sharper and dress up again because they’ve spent so much time staying in,” he says. “We want to offer this product that makes you feel elevated and dressed up—and be the best version of yourself.”
To Stubbington, this doesn’t necessarily mean a return to stiff collars and formal office attire, but rather, creating “a new space which allows you slightly more freedom of expression within it.” It’s not how you look that matters, Stubbington says, but how you feel. Understandably, then, he considers Lululemon’s latest campaign, Feel, to be the brand’s North Star.
“It’s about working with you, not against you,” he says. “We are making garments that work in collaboration with the body,” he explains.
Ultimately, Stubbington believes that if Lululemon can empower its customers “to feel more themselves, more comfortable, more prepared, we are enabling their holistic senses, their physical and mental connection”, equipping them to feel their best—whatever the occasion.