Nana: Fashion has infinite possibilities, and new power is born from it. As a carrier of culture and times, fashion encompasses everything. From trendy to traditional culture, from celebrities, idols to everyone’s daily life, and from West to East, it is our discourse, our power, our time. Through Asian Voice, we hope to spread the local Asian fashion culture to the world by moving cross languages and borders.
In this issue, we welcome FUTUREMADE STUDIO(FTMD.), a streetwear brand from Malaysia. #Wear to better self is FTMD.’s tagline for all the customers. FTMD. hopes their garment is able to pair with as much pieces and styles as possible. Instead of just following trends, the brand’s inspirations comes from every members there, and decides themes during having fun talking, sharing with each other. The collaboration with Reebok is the result of their imaginations and creativity.
Nana: What is the story behind FUTUREMADE STUDIO?
Tunway: Futuremade Studio is a channel for us to share our interests, and express the idea we have for our clothing, experimenting with fabrics, designs, and silhouettes. Also, a portal for our audience to experience an outdoor aesthetic even when living in the city.
Nana: Why did you initially create the brand and name it “FUTUREMADE STUDIO”?
Tunway: A movie, Back To The Future, was the inspiration because I love sci-fi movies and that’s one of the earliest I watched. The brand was initially a fun project back in university, I thought it would be cool to have a customised crew tee. I started creating pieces of my own; the rest is history. Honestly, I have no idea that it would last this long.
Nana: What is your impression of the current fashion in Taiwan and has any Taiwan fashion trend has influenced your brand?
Tunway: I look at the global trend as a whole, as well as my interest in activities such as camping. I had the opportunity to visit Taiwan after 4 years, and things have changed a lot. Visited friends in the same industry and they are making waves, such as plain-me, Goopi, Wisdom, and Yangi. I’m happy for them, also I would take that as a positive competition. It motivates me personally, and FTMD. to improve.
Nana: How do you come up and decide on the themes for your collections?
Tunway: By having fun! Everyone in the team is given a voice to share their ideas, and from there we collect thoughts and play around with them. You’ll never know what you’ll get. Talk about the most ridiculous idea and boiled it down to something doable. A recent example would be the Reebok collaboration, we went to space.
reebook
Nana: Is it possible to let readers know more about your next collection? If so, what has inspired the theme and the pieces in them?
Tunway: As mentioned above, we got the idea by sharing our thoughts. The upcoming 22FW is mainly inspired by a puzzle game. While we are thinking of ways to introduce more about our mascot, Morris, this theme fits the assignment. We have more graphics this time, and the best part is, surf shorts are on the list. Another exciting drop is the Reebok collaboration, launching soon!
Nana: Can you tell us about some of the most challenging experiences you have had during the process of building your brand?
Tunway: The hard truth of running a fashion brand, design and marketing are just a small part of the brand. It took me a while to manage the company funds, build a team, and set a future. I am still on the learning curve after all these years.
Nana: Do you have any advice for our readers who are seeking to find a way to build a brand just like “FUTUREMADE STUDIO “?
Tunway: The more you do, the better you will be. Even if you fail. People tend to get stuck at the planning stage, you will need to execute in order to make things work. Even if things went haywire, it is part of the lesson.
Nana: What kind of experiences that you want to bring to customers when they are wearing clothes from FUTUREMADE STUDIO?
Tunway: Wear to better self (#WearToBetterSelf), is a tagline that we use to encourage our customers to have fun styling pieces not just from the newest collection, but versatile enough to pair with pieces from the previous collection or items of their own possession. Of course, we hope it brings confidence to anyone who wears it, and if they bought it for a specific occasion, I hope the garment serves its purpose.
