Singapore footwear brand Pedro does not have a problem working with new talent. For the launch of its new EOS signature sneakers for 2022, the brand partnered with Lasalle College of the Arts to run a contest for students in the Diploma in Creative Direction for Fashion course.
It was the first time the brand had partnered up with an educational institution; the aim was to “engage the next generation of creatives and empowering them to showcase their talents”, according to the brand. The Pedro team was on hand to assist the students with industry expertise, insights and experience.
Pedro X Lasalle
Twelve groups submitted their ideas, with the chosen winning team consisting of Joseph Poh Shou Heng, Zuaipy Fariqa Santiago, Wang Shi Wen and Wang Lei getting the chance to shoot the new EOS campaign. According to Pedro, the team: “Successfully answered a brief with a viable concept that not only told a captivating story but that also captured the brand DNA.”
“The collaboration was an opportunity that has a lot of learning points to take away from. It was fun and overall a wholesome experience, where I was able to take on the role of a stylist and manifest our ideal into a reality while being able to oversee and give my thoughts openly on set. It was definitely a one of a kind experience and something that I am very proud to have been a part of. The collaboration has allowed me to work with amazing teammates that I am grateful for,” explains Zuaipy Fariqa Santiago.
Joseph Poh Shou Heng agreed, saying: “I feel this opportunity has given us the chance to experience what it’s like to lead a project and work in the industry where our words and actions hold weight. How having supportive team players could literally elevate the production value and make work seem like we are all having fun.”
For Wang Shiwen, the “collaboration gave us an opportunity to challenge ourselves and a sense of mission to do a good job. Not only that, we also met some people in the fashion industry, and got to communicate with them and learn some things in other fields.”
“This collaboration was a good opportunity for us to further experience part of the operation process in the real industry. It was fun and challenging, and an indispensable cornerstone of my life’s experience,” says Wang Lei.
The team worked on a variety of ideas via research before settling on their final concept for the campaign shots.
“We had a few options initially and decided on an unconventional viewpoint that refers to a third-person perspective. We wanted to do something new, but similar to how you are able to see your own character when playing games,” Zuaipy explains.
“Not from the perspective of your own eyes but rather a perspective where you can see yourself head to toe, where we create and introduce an unnatural shot. It was a challenge that we wanted to take on.”
“This concept is more popular in fashion shoots, and we were so attracted to it that the four of us unanimously decided to use this concept,” says Shiwen.
Working together was relatively smooth according to Joseph, who was designated team leader as the creative director: “The concept was a collection of everyone’s ideas as we tried to combine and work together on a singular clear vision and direction.”
“We had an amazing team chemistry and it was rewarding. We decided to take on individual roles for the shoot but for the concept, it was all done together. Through combining and improving on everyone’s ideas, we managed to come together to create the concept,” Zuaipy says.
“Teams are complementary, and it is precisely because each has its own strengths that a team exists and can learn from each other’s strengths and weaknesses. So in terms of action, each is responsible for what they are better at, and then fuse them together to get the final concept,” says Wang Lei.
Unfortunately Shiwen had to participate remotely since they were stuck in China due to the pandemic. Luckily they had worked together previously so knew each other enough to handle the added complication.
Creativity in design
As emerging talents in Singapore’s design and creative industries, these four students have thoughts about the importance of creativity and design.
“In my opinion, [creativity] is where one is able to express themselves, grow and learn from one another. Creativity is what I would consider the unique selling point of the design space. It is what improves design in many aspects,” explains Zuaipy.
Joseph notes that the skills he’s gained from studying at Lasalle, have helped him to be more aware of the range of creative views: “Lasalle is a place where one can grow and find their voice through many assessments set by the faculty where our awesome lecturers guide us closely and I feel that it benefited me a lot as someone with zero art background when I first joined the scene.”
Dealing with issues of creativity and boundaries, the team say that working for a brand was an extremely useful experience, helping them to understand how to combine the needs of a client with the wild flights of fancy creatives might consider.
“There were many challenges that I learnt from this project. To truly embody what the brand is all about and what they want to achieve for the project was something that took trial and error. Furthermore, perfecting the concept and moulding it towards the brand was quite the challenge. We managed to overcome this by asking questions and working closely on the feedback,” Zuaipy explains.
“It has broadened my perspective about working in a creative environment,” says Zuaipy about working on the Pedro project. “The project has made me crave more projects. Nothing beats the feeling of the end result seeing your vision and hard work turn into something fruitful.”
“It made me want to get involved and experience everything in the fashion industry as I truly love the adrenaline and excitement I feel working in my dream industry,” says Joseph excitedly, going on to say that the most important thing he learned during the project was “the importance of communicating with every single individual and taking their thoughts into consideration”.
For Zuaipy, the most important thing was that: “Patience is key. No matter how hard, tiring and frustrating it can be, the rewarding feeling beats all.”
To discover more about the Pedro X Lasalle project Pushing Boundaries, go to www.pedroshoes.com/pedro-lasalle-partnership. You can shop the EOS collection online at www.pedroshoes.com/eos, and follow the brand on Instagram at @pedroshoes_official.
The talent featured in the campaign are Merwin and Julie from @miscmanagement; Creative Director/Producer: Joseph Poh @that_phesoj; Art Director: Farid @dirafnalsor; Photographer: Gabe @g.abetan; Production: PrettyMuchFILMS @prettymuchfilms; Stylist: Zuaipy @zuzufsantiago; Stylist Assistant: Wang Lei @nagi_yahagi; Coordinator: Aaron @_calmshot; Art Department: Junan @xiexiejunan; Makeup Artist: Zayne @aurazaynemakeup
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