Meet The Female Collective: Emily Loke
Sure, they’ve got style, but they’ve also got the ideas, body of work and point of view to set themselves apart from the #influencer crowd – and shake up the local creative scene. Meet the founder of Paper Tiger Press and lifestyle blogger Emily Loke, one of six new members in the Female Collective.
Burberry Prorsum silk-blend dress and wool jacket, Burberry
Tall and elegant, with thick dark hair framing her freckly porcelain skin, there’s something undeniably classic about this 33-year old. The luxe letterpress company, Paper Tiger Press, that she founded five years ago attests to that. Well-known among the local social elite and It creative crowd for its elaborate, almost fantastical wedding invitations, it’s a testament to how traditional, bespoke art forms still reign in this digital era. In fact, next on the cards (no pun intended) is a retail line, she reveals.
A fashion fiend (she did a short stint at a magazine, then Prada after graduating with a design degree from Toronto’s OCAD University), she notes the parallels between the industry and her work: “In both instances, when something is beautifully and carefully made, you can literally feel the quality of workmanship and materials used. I’m fascinated with texture, so I’m always drawn to rich fabrics in clothing – silk, brocade, lace, lamé. As a result, I try to recreate such tactile pleasures in my designs.”
Currently living between Los Angeles and Singapore, she has also recently gained a following for her namesake beauty and lifestyle blog, which she runs on the side. She likens makeup to art supplies, and the site (www.emilyloke.com) is full of postcard-perfect images with a distinctly cool Californian vibe, and a down-to-earth approach to distilling the latest trends and products.
She says: “People want to see faces, and take something away. I’m not an expert, but I like being able to give random bits of advice. And there’s definitely power in makeup. Makeup is the most beautiful, ladylike armour a girl can wear.”
An adapted version first appeared in Female’s October 2016 issue.
Like this? Meet fellow Female collective members Bella Koh, Marie Soh, and Charlotte Chen.