This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jasline Ang, 38, an artist and cofounder of Studio Qiling in Singapore. The following has been translated and edited for length and clarity.
I trained with Goyard in France, where they can actually fail you as an artisan.
That was when I was 26, in my second job after graduating from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore with a diploma in fashion design.
My first job was with an independent tailor, where I worked for one-and-a-half years. Then, a friend working at Goyard’s then-distributor in Singapore approached me as they were bringing in the brand and needed a customization artist.
They sent me to Carcassonne, in the south of France, for about two weeks of training in 2013. I painted on the brand’s canvas, just like what clients would request for their customizations.
They were really happy with my work, so I passed the assessment and came back to Singapore to start the customization studio.
Every day, I painted what clients wanted on their bags. The standard requests were initials and stripes, but there were also portraits and pets.
Jasline Ang
Those years taught me about luxury, craftsmanship, quality, and precision. We’re trained to be really careful; if we make a major mistake, the bag is done. I think it happened to one or two bags.
As an artist, I was very lucky to get a good, steady paycheck.
After about four years, I felt ready to make a move. There was an opening at Louis Vuitton, so I joined them.
At Louis Vuitton, the painting is done in-store and only on the hard-sided pieces, like the big trunks. It felt more freestyle and artistic.
Jasline Ang
I remember working on a feng shui series across five hat boxes, including a dragon on one and a phoenix on another. Then, there was a big leopard that I painted across a stack of trunks, so the image connected when you stacked them.
There’s always something big and exciting for big brands: a party, a show, and travel around the Southeast Asia and Australia region. The benefits were good, and business was booming.
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But after a while, I felt creative stagnation. Since you’re always executing whatever the client wants, you can’t really have your own particular style.
I quit in 2022, freelanced, and then started my own business about a year later.
Leaping from luxury to my own studio
I wanted something unique and scalable — and with room for me to express creatively.
I brainstormed with my close friend Melissa Tan. At the time, she didn’t want to continue her corporate HR job at Loewe, too, so we started this business.
We wanted a strong identity that’s recognizable and niche enough that we don’t have to compete so hard. Fashion and hand-drawn prints married my two greatest strengths. After years in luxury, this combination just made sense.
We named the studio Qiling — “Qi” is her Chinese name, and “Ling” is mine. Qiling is also the name of a mythical creature in Chinese culture.
Working with Melissa is really the best combination. At Studio Qiling, I handle the creative day-to-day, and Melissa runs operations and finance.
Jasline Ang
We used our own savings and still do nearly everything ourselves. For our first products, we launched small, limited runs of items at a design fair, and the response was better than we expected.
Customers really loved my designs and original prints on silk scarves with hand-rolled edges, kimonos, and pareos. My prints are inspired by nature and come with a whimsical narrative.
As a small brand, we can keep prices competitive while using the best quality and materials. We produce in small quantities and do not offer discounts. I design pieces to be timeless so customers can wear them for years.
Running a boutique label in Singapore is expensive. The market is small, competition is global, and expectations are high.
We are now profitable, but it wasn’t — and it still isn’t — easy. We did not pay ourselves salaries for the first year, and I’m definitely drawing less than what I used to make at Louis Vuitton.
Dreaming bigger with AI
As an artist, I really enjoy what AI has to offer. Some artists say AI is taking over our jobs, but I’m not in that camp.
I use ChatGPT and Midjourney to create campaign visuals you can see on our Instagram. I’ll direct AI to render the model and the scene — like a lotus, or something mythical — and then I create a composite with real photos of our products.
To create a shoot like that in real life would be very costly. With AI, I can achieve the mood I want. It takes about one full day, but it expands the possibilities for our marketing campaigns and allows us to experiment.
I’ve tried using AI to generate prints, but it can’t give me the idea I have in my head.
With AI, I believe human artistry is more important than ever — my prints are born from intuition and personal experience. These things can’t be coded.
I see AI not as a replacement, but as a tool to help me work faster and dream bigger.
Swapped a steady paycheck for your own business? Contact Huileng Tan via email at [email protected].
