Priscilla Shunmugam

Priscilla Tsu-Jyen Shunmugam (born 17 July 1981) is a womenswear designer. She is the founder and designer of the womenswear label Ong Shunmugam.

Early life

Shunmugam was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to a Chinese mother and an Indian father.[1] At age 20 she was accepted to read law at the National University of Singapore.[2] Upon graduation in 2006,[3] Shunmugam worked briefly as a lawyer before leaving the profession.[4] In 2008, she spent a year in England, where she studied dressmaking and pattern cutting.[5]

Career

She returned to Singapore in 2009, and launched the debut Ong Shunmugam collection, Orientalism, in December 2010. Guardianship, a collection of modern cheongsams, followed in September 2011.

In May 2012, Shunmugam was invited by the National Museum of Singapore to present a public lecture as part of its landmark In The Mood For Cheongsam exhibition. "Cheongsam, Dim Sum or Me?" explored the cheongsam's history through several identity changes in the context of Singapore's past, present and future.[6] Shunmugam and the Guardianship cheongsams were also featured in the Museum-produced book of the same name.[7]

In August 2012, Shunmugam was the only woman in fashion to be featured in Style Magazine Singapore's 10th Anniversary's list of The New Guard – a shortlist of “game-changers and taste-makers doing things their way”.[8]

In November 2012, she was voted Singapore Designer of the Year at the 2012 Elle Awards in Singapore.[9] In 2015, she was named as Her World magazine's Young Woman Achiever.[10]

In 2020, she announced the launch of her first overseas boutique but it was shut due to COVID-19 even before it was officially opened to the public.[11]

Controversy

In March 2022, it was alleged that Shunmugam had made racist remarks during an online panel discussion entitled "ACMTalks" organised by the Asian Civilisations Museum during 2021. She has since apologized for these comments,[12] accepting that her comments were "clumsy, hurtful and insensitive".[13]

References
  1. Tan, Julianne. "Dreams Woven From Lace & Batik". POSKOD.SG. Archived from the original on 2012-06-22.
  2. Asril, Celine. "Priscilla Tsu-Jyen Shunmugam". TimeOut Singapore.
  3. "The Fall and Rise of Legal Education in Singapore". Simon Chesterman. 2017-12-12. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
  4. Zhang, Weifang. "5 questions with designer Priscilla Shunmugam". TODAY Online.
  5. Tan, Julianne. "Dreams Woven From Lace & Batik". POSKOD.SG. Archived from the original on 2012-06-22.
  6. Tan, Manel. "In The Spotlight: In The Mood For Cheongsam". LifestyleAsia. Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2013-01-25.
  7. Lee, Chor Lin; Chung, May Khuen (2012). In The Mood For Cheongsam: A Social History. ISBN 978-9814260923.
  8. Ho, Charmaine. "The New Guard". xinmsn. Archived from the original on 2013-02-16.
  9. Salimat, Shah. "Celebrities and fashion mavens honoured at ELLE Awards 2012". xinmsn. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2013-01-25.
  10. Hermes (2017-10-15). "Lunch With Sumiko: Designer Priscilla Shunmugam is in the mood for fashion | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
  11. "How this Singapore designer turned her quarantine into a productive 'workcation'". CNA Luxury. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
  12. Chai, Amanda. "Fashion designer Priscilla Shunmugam gets flak for 'insensitive' ethnic comments". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  13. "'It was clumsy, hurtful, insensitive': Ong Shunmugam founder sorry for saying Chinese women 'progressed faster' than others". AsiaOne. 2022-03-26. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
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