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Thu, Nov 01, 2012
The Star/Asia News Network
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She found her calling designing wedding dresses

Inspired by her own nuptials, a designer took the plunge and started her label of bespoke wedding dresses. One year on, it looks like she may have done just the right thing.

"I love working with happy people!" quips Celest Thoi. And no one is happier than the would-be brides who waltz into this 36-year-old's boutique in Publika, Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur, every afternoon, looking for that special dress to help them shine on their big day.

In that sense, Thoi - who began her career in Auckland, New Zealand in 2006 and came to Malaysia in 2009 due to reasons pertaining to family - is not just an up-and-coming bridal gown designer, but also a dream weaver. She would take women's hopes and desires and spin them into light, airy designs, but not before adding the Thoi trademark - a touch of casual nonchalance.

The floor-skimming dresses from her Celestial Spark Collection are hard to miss: strapless bodice adorned with the most delicate of laces and organza, embroidered bustiers accented by slivers of light-deflecting crystals, tulip-inspired skirts with ostrich feathers that cascade like an ivory-coloured waterfall as well as layers of tulle. "It's inspired by the whimsical and romantic," muses Thoi.

It is a fitting debut for someone who has spent her childhood as a quasi-artist, making Barbie doll dresses out of discarded threads and winning kiddie art competitions.

"I suppose I've always known I would be a designer one day; even my primary school art teacher said so," says Thoi, laughing. "You could say it's in my blood. My father is a landscape designer, and all my cousins design for a living, too."

But what to design exactly, this petite Singaporean-born Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts graduate, couldn't decide. She started by crafting accessories for her younger sisters, before moving on to designing T-shirts, which she peddled at Camberwell Market, Melbourne, as a post-graduate student.

All that changed when she got engaged to a Malaysian in 2004.

"I didn't get a wedding planner to plan my two weddings. I did everything by myself, without any help, and all my husband had to do was show up on the day!" she exclaims.

As for the dress, she wore "something with an empire line and long detachable sash" which she created. It cost well below RM5,000 (S$2,000) because she purchased her own fabric and had it made with the help of a local seamstress.

"It's simple and timeless," says Thoi. "I'm small so I don't want to be overwhelmed by a huge frou frou dress."

The wedding, meanwhile, went off without a hitch. It also made Thoi realise that this was her calling. "I guess you could say I enjoyed planning my own wedding so much that I just refused to stop!" she says, chuckling.

She soon established a bridal boutique at her base in Auckland, winning the hearts of the local clientele with her clean lines and modern, graceful aesthetic. After her big move to Malaysia, however, Thoi took a break from business and worked as the creative director for bridal house PrettyinWhite. Her first collection, Celestial Collection, graced the Malaysia International Fashion Week catwalk in 2009. It was only in 2011 that she finally mustered up the courage to launch her own namesake boutique specialising in made-to-order wedding gowns.

"It was difficult," she says. "I felt like I was starting the business from scratch because New Zealanders and Malaysians want different things. The Kiwis look for dresses that are simple and can be worn outdoors, while over here, the women go for big dresses, big skirts, big everything."

Much of it, in Thoi's opinion, is influenced by the choice of the wedding venue. "They usually have outdoor weddings in New Zealand. These are very intimate; a gathering of close friends and family. It's the opposite in Malaysia. Doing it in hotel ballrooms that can accommodate hundreds of guests means that you need a big dress to stand out," she says, adding that "there is no room for error", either way.

Claims Thoi: "It's about working till you get it right."

Nevertheless, business is brisk these days and stress levels are at a minimum, judging from her relaxed demeanour and her occasional grins and giggles. She speaks with honesty and frankness, even admitting that celebrity approval is "important" because "that's how people recognise your work".

But even though she may not have a star-studded résumé filled with big-name clients, being female in a male-dominated industry gives Thoi an advantage that has eluded many of her male peers: a thorough understanding of the female figure. This doesn't mean that she doesn't encounter the occasional setback, however - sometimes in a form of a bridezilla.

"There was this woman who called me up every single week to ask if her dress was ready, even after I told her multiple times that it would be finished in three months. There came a point when I felt like throwing in the towel. I persevered, anyway, but not before telling her to relax," confides Thoi. But apparently, no wedding is too grand, and no bride too bossy for her. "I do understand where she's coming from, though. She has every reason to be excited."

More unusual is the time when she received a request from a bride who wanted to incorporate a part of her mother's old wedding gown into her own. "It was tricky because the lace on her mother's gown was already mottled. I had to do a lot of beadwork to hide it," she says.

Despite her clients' demands, Thoi had managed to retain her own philosophy - simplicity - in her designs. Gowns that bear her name are effortlessly elegant, not to mention practical as well. "Practicality is soooo important because brides are not models. You have to design with their bodies in mind," she says.

While Thoi acknowledges that she is no Vera Wang, she is trying to change the public's attitudes that going international is always better.

"They tend to overlook local designers for international ones. The problem here is that you can be wearing Vera Wang's diffusion line and people would still think it's glamorous even if the quality is not up to par. Ultimately, it's the local designers who suffer," says the couturier, whose website is called celestthoi.com.

So how will Thoi know when she's made it? "When I see my design replicas in Petaling Street," she jokes.

Despite the obvious challenges, she has enough enthusiasm to pit her work against that of the big boys of bridal and to keep her going for years. "I don't think I'll ever be sick of doing this," she continues, smiling serenely. And with a new "top-secret" collection in the works, Thoi looks set to stick by her words.

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