Design office Studio Juju believes that design and manufacturing play a role in shaping local culture. In response to the recent trend of outsourcing local production to lower-cost countries abroad, Studio Juju launched a collection of products designed and made locally in collaboration with local artists. At its heart, this creative movement strives to find an emerging Singapore design identity.

With a focus on designing for the mobility challenged, local fashion label Werable conceptualised its debut collection following interviews with occupational therapists and social workers. These interviews revealed a pressing need for dress solutions for the mobility challenged. Thus, tapping into the transformative and inclusive power of fashion, Wearable’s collection addressed complexities in dress that come with reduced mobility and dexterity. 

The team of ethical makers are huge on crafting thoughtful furniture and objects. Through their project, they sought to develop sustainable and eco-friendly processes to rehabilitate abandoned logs and stabilise the wood. Their goal is to upcycle these logs that have been sacrificed for urban development, breathing new life into them by turning them into durable furniture and objects. 

For this pop-up, local fashion label Will&Well conducted interviews, observations and simulated testing to capture the complexity involved in designing undergarments. Through its research, the label hopes to ultimately launch an inclusive underwear collection that allows the wearer to feel comfortable and well taken care of, regardless of their background and abilities.

In collaboration with Affordable Abodes, Studio Sklim, a design practice specialising in bespoke spatial solutions, developed a renewable bio-based roof tile prototype made from kenaf biomass, a tropical plant found in Asia that typically gets disposed of. With the support of the Good Design Research Programme, these prototypes – which reduce waste and provide thermal comfort – have been used as interior light panels in Tapered Cafe and exterior eave tiles at +Pavilion!

This year, Produce Workshop, a design studio bustling with ideas on spaces and objects for the city, is making timber construction more sustainable by conceptualising a form of Mass Engineered Timber (MET) known as Sandwiched Variable Eggcrate Structure. We know it sounds technical, but they’re essentially reducing material used, shortening production time, and minimising labour, resulting in a circular economy that benefits the entire MET process.

Contemporary womenswear label and pleats specialist Ginlee Studio’s ‘Make in Shop’ pop-up invites consumers to experience a unique retail experience that does away with overproduction in the fashion industry. Consumers can select their preferred colours, type of pleats to create their own bags in the retail store with the help of Ginlee Studio’s expert craftsmanship. Which other shop would you be able to design and fabricate a bag from end to end, all in one place?

Offcut Factory’s project aims to help manufacturing companies make use of unwanted material waste more creatively. The team of two designers, both trained in industrial design, engaged in-house craftsmen and technicians, collaborating with them to explore materials and fabrication techniques to produce a collection of small, desirable home and lifestyle objects for the everyday consumer. We’d like those coasters in our homes, please!

The loungewear label’s project utilises artisan-printed and woven fabrics derived from NextEvo’s pineapple leaf fibres to create beautiful lightweight apparel and textiles. These pineapple leaves, an agricultural by-product that’s abundant in Southeast Asia, are now put to good use through Nost’s preservation of artisanal craftsmanship. By giving artisans access to such sustainable materials and helping them meet market demands, Nost actively helps weaving and batik continue to flourish.

When conceptualising their project, Forest & Whale, a multidisciplinary design practice, aimed to reduce the use of single-use plastic packaging for food delivery and takeaway by experimenting with new compostable materials and designing better, user-centric reusable food containers with local resonance. The end result? The team proposed a more sustainable circular system of reusable containers for food deliveries many of us rely on daily. Their fashionable appearance is also a huge plus!