My Own Words: Nadya Wang
Reflecting on FASHION & MARKET FORUM 2026
FASHION & MARKET FORUM 2026.
Looking back at the inaugural FASHION & MARKET FORUM 2026, held Saturday, 29 August at Tanjong Pagar Distripark in Singapore, I feel gratitude and renewed purpose. It was a dream to gather fashion academics, curators, designers, writers and other practitioners to think and talk about Southeast Asian fashion for a day. And it showed that the appetite for critical regional dialogue is not only present—it is palpable.
My personal love for fashion started with a fascination for beautiful things that could adorn the body, and I continue to cherish the visual and material pleasures it brings. But along the way, I began to think more deeply about fashion—what it can mean, what it can do, and the value it offers. Over time, I developed a taste for thinking through fashion, using it as a lens, a method and a condition to understand the world we live in across the past, present and future.
“Over time, I developed a taste for thinking through fashion, using it as a lens, a method and a condition to understand the world we live in across the past, present and future.”
Fashion & Market as Part of From the Margins
Fashion & Market is an online magazine that began documenting the Southeast Asian fashion ecosystem in 2021. It is a part of From the Margins, the parent company through which I navigate several interconnected creative ventures. These include Art & Market, an online magazine founded in 2018 focused on Southeast Asian art and its global connections. The newest addition is Margins Magazine, launched this year, which explores contemporary culture at the intersection of creativity and commerce. It also encompasses Front & Off-Centre, a cultural agency offering communications, curatorial, programming, and publishing services, which also hosts the podcast, Up-Front. Collectively, the endeavours represent an ongoing investment in dialogue: the talking about things, and working with others to talk about their things. We did a lot of that at FASHION & MARKET FORUM 2026.
Fashion & Market Team: Nadya Wang, Sharrona Valezka and Zea Asis.
Fashion & Market has grown in fits and starts. I work closely with Art Director Sharrona Valezka and Content Manager Zea Asis. Sharrona leads our visual presentation, while Zea manages the content on our website and Instagram. Beyond these roles, the three of us have a common desire for research and writing, which is why our bylines appear frequently across the site. Our work is equally possible because of the contributors and collaborators who believe in the importance of Southeast Asian fashion discourse. To this end, every speaker on our stage has been a contributor, collaborator or interlocutor in our journey, and it was wonderful to be with them in real life.
FASHION & MARKET FORUM 2026.
Revisiting FASHION & MARKET FORUM 2026
The spark for the forum was lit by a serendipitous meeting. On 11 July, after I visited Jakarta for a night to attend Toton’s fashion show with Sharrona, we met Shino and Rachma from PEARS Magazine for lunch. They asked if we would host a Peeking PEARS event in Singapore, and we said yes. We then built a full-day forum, an idea that had been percolating for a while, around it. It proved that a seemingly casual conversation over a shared meal—and shared ideals—can yield a transformative collaboration.
Throughout the day, the energy in the room reflected the vibrant ecosystem we seek to convene online and in person, examining the nuances of regional heritage, commercial realities, and critical practice. Here is a summary of the forum:
Curating Fashion Objects: We began with Weiqi Yap, Assistant Curator (Design), Asian Civilisations Museum and Samuel Lee, Assistant Curator, National Museum of Singapore, moderated by fashion academic Rohaizatul Azhar. Together, they unpacked the everyday in regional fashion — from Weiqi’s examination of how regional designers translate domestic motifs and urban textures into fashion vocabularies, to Samuel’s reading of wardrobes in Singapore from the 1950s to the present through personal archives and boutique histories.
Materiality & Alternative Production: Lightning presentations by Jariel Ann Tan from VESSELS on “Designing Without a Factory”—examining how digital fabrication, 3D printing, and modularity turn the making process itself into active research—and Xingyun Shen from clothes press on “Gently, Publishing Clothes,” which explored marginalia, intimate reading spaces, and independent publishing, highlighted creative pathways for making and sharing objects.
Cross-Border Exchanges: In Peeking PEARS Singapore, Try Sutrisno, Editor-in-Chief, PEARS Magazine, presented the publication’s ethos of tackling social issues through the lens of fashion and beauty, alongside their expansion into digital content and creative direction. This was followed by a conversation between us on navigating the joys, evolution and challenges of independent print and digital publishing across Jakarta and Singapore.
Identity, Memory & Futurism: The afternoon traversed an emotive show-and-tell by Nur Aqilah Zailan from Studio Gypsied on Javanese batik as a living medium where personal histories, generational artisan techniques, and heritage intersect. Jien Goh from WGSN gave an enlightening presentation on the unexpected parallels between trend forecasting and gardening — framing trends as natural lifecycles from seed to bloom. And Pit Firdaus Aris from Studio Vetyver explored the cultural production of garments, space, and identity across Singapore’s urban landscape.
Academic Community: Dr Angelene Wong and Faith Cooper engaged in a dialogue on engaging communities through somatic research, historical archives and academic rigour.
The day culminated in an open Townhall Dialogue asking a fundamental question: What can we do, individually and collectively, to advance Southeast Asian fashion discourse?
FASHION & MARKET FORUM 2026.
Make Space for Southeast Asian Fashion
That question brings me back to the central call to action of the forum: Let’s talk more about Southeast Asian fashion. Let’s write and publish more on Southeast Asian fashion. And let’s be confident about what we can individually and collectively contribute to Southeast Asian fashion discourse, and by extension, to global fashion discourse. We are part of global fashion, and we must actively shape its conversations. We have to speak for ourselves and make space for ourselves. We have the creative agency, and we have the capabilities to see it through.
“We are part of global fashion, and we must actively shape its conversations. We have to speak for ourselves and make space for ourselves. We have the creative agency, and we have the capabilities to see it through.”
In Gratitude
Pulling off the full-day forum required the support of many, and I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to our sponsors and partners:
Art Agenda: For generously providing their gallery space. My husband, Zineng, Founder & Director, Art Agenda, alongside his colleague Jess, helped us get the space ready. Zineng also curated a special exhibition to resonate with the forum’s themes.
The Community Coffee: To Xue Qi and Leanne for keeping us fueled throughout the day with delicious beverages. (And if you are keen to learn more about The Community Coffee, listen to the Up-Front podcast episode featuring founder Aslam).
Kebun Ijo Flowers: To Ricky, who took my brief of “Southeast Asian and weird”, meant in the best possible way, as a collectively confident and creative departure from convention, and put together an inspired botanical installation.
Audio-Technica Southeast Asia: To Shaokai, Managing Director, for putting together a selection from his personal vinyl collection, and to Junel and Vincent for introducing the limited-edition Hotaru turntable and music to us.
Marketplace Contributors: To PEARS Magazine and clothes press for filling our long display tables with publications and merchandise for a delightful shopping experience.
As we engaged in conversations throughout the day, I was reminded that fashion offers possibilities not only for creativity but also for connection. The FASHION & MARKET FORUM 2026 was not just a one-and-done event; it was a gathering of intent. I am grateful to everyone who stepped through the doors, and I look forward to future conversations and creative alliances that will undoubtedly bloom from the time we shared, and the space we are creating for ourselves and each other. Here’s to FASHION & MARKET FORUM 2027, and all that we accomplish in the in-between.
If you would like to hear from speakers and attendees about their takeaways from the forum, click here. The team would also like to thank Xingyun Shen for penning a reflection on her experience at the forum, which you can read here.