KHOON HOOI ( KH) & MOTO GUO with KINDER ENG ( MG & KE)

KE How do you feel about the new generation especially those who come in to intern?

KH I have good and bad experiences with them. The ones that I have a bad experience with couldn’t stay longer with me as they couldn’t deliver their tasks. For me, it’s important to not repeat your mistakes.

MG What kind of mindset should we as designers have when we recruit interns? We are struggling to strike a balance as I feel the younger generation do not have the right attitude.

KH First of all, when they apply as interns do they send in their resumes?

MG They do but we have informed them that working in our company will be tough especially during fashion week but they cannot take the stress and they cannot cope. They do not have the learning spirit.

KH I have gone through that and I’ve learned from that. Now when I interview interns the first thing I ask is if they are qualified and how much effort can they put in. Another thing you can do is to get them involved in the company. Assign them a project outside of their specific task and ask them to do a report on it. Teach them the production part and assign them a few tests. I also ask them to do up the drafting and cutting for pieces that are not in our collection. Ask them for their ideas and get them involved in your projects and company’s growth. This will provide them with a sense of belonging in the team.

KE Do you think the internship period is currently too short?

KH For me it has to be at least three months. You won’t learn anything in one month. MG One month is too short. Somehow the syllabus here does not stress on internships. KH From what I know it is one year in Europe. MG It should be at least throughout a whole season or collection so they can learn about the entire process.

MG If a certain young designer has the opportunity to break into the international market and do well abroad but not in Malaysia, do you think they should come back to Malaysia eventually to contribute to the local community or should they stay abroad?

KH From my point of view, I think they should remain at where they are doing well. If you feel responsible for contributing back to your local community you can always return later.

MG When we started the brand we have always felt responsible that we should do well in our own country.

KH For me it is not necessary. It depends where you want to start your brand and what your goal is.

MG From what we have seen, the young talents from London are very proud of the fact that they are from London and the city has played a role in nurturing them to be a good designer.

KH No matter where you are you should be proud to be a Malaysian.

MG I am proud to be a Malaysian.

KH At the end of the day, Malaysia is not a fashion capital. It’s slightly better today compared to when I first started in New York and people did not know where Malaysia was. They only knew about the local tourism but not the fashion scene. Now they know and understand more about us but it’s a long journey to go compared to Europe.

MG Do you find it hard to do ready-to-wear? We are still finding a balance where we want to be

true to our own voice and create something crazy out of our comfort zone but we still have to sustain.

KH I think you understand this point well because you have been doing so many seasons that you are aware which percent of your collection allows you do to more creative pieces that are not so sellable and the rest falls under the more commercial pieces.

MG I feel the current era is moving very fast and we have to keep improving but sometimes we get into a creative block.

KH Are you looking at the creative side or the selling point? Until today I am still facing that issue. Get your marketing or sales person to come in and give their advice. Always involve a third party or different department to share their opinion. Both sides will need to strike a balance.

MG As a leader of the team, do you struggle with being strict to your team members so they will deliver their work or be friendly and risk them taking you for granted?

KH You can’t be too friendly that is why when I conduct interviews the first thing I will share is when it comes to work, it’s not personal it’s just work. I train them to understand that. When we go out for lunch I can talk nonsense with them.

KE How do you assign work to your team members? Sometimes we struggle with doing everything ourselves because we know the outcome will be exactly what we want as opposed to giving it to someone else to do.

KH You will come to a certain point

when you have to give them the freehand to do so because you can’t do everything yourself. If you do everything yourself of course it will turn out perfect because it is exactly how you want it to be. For me, I just look at the final result but I don’t care how they do it. My operations team split the work among the team. I’m not used to having weekly meetings but starting this year I have to do it because we have to share between the different departments and reduce any misunderstandings.

MG Sometimes we can be very anal retentive about the outcome and it is very frustrating for us.

KH We develop new ideas every day. There is no full stop. Today my job is counselling and I am not doing the creative work as I don’t have the time. I oversee all departments and counsel them.

“YOU WILL COME TO A CERTA IN POINT W HEN YOU HAV E TO GI V E THEM THE FREEH A ND TO DO SO (DESIGN I NG & WORK) BECAUSE YOU CA N’T DO EV ERY TH ING YOU RSELF. IF YOU DO EV ERY TH ING YOURSELF OF COURSE IT WILL TU RN OUT PERFECT BECAUSE IT IS EX ACTLY HOW YOU WA NT IT TO BE” Khoon Hooi