An interview with Vice and Vanity

  Meet Vivi Masturah Lim and Aaron Kao, the duo behind home-grown brand, Vice and Vanity. Since their incorporation in January 2006, Vice and Vanity has been dishing up stunning pieces of necklaces, bracelets and brooches to satisfy the fashionista in all of us.

Besides gracing the runway with renowned fashion label Baylene, Vice and Vanity has also been scoring raves from Harper's BAZAAR, Juice, Seventeen, Her World, Revolution and I-S Magazine with their original designs.

When prompted, Vice and Vanity warned against crocodile attacks, nuclear fusion or genetic experiments when taking care of their pieces. Not that we are going to risk wearing the designs anywhere near these areas! WeFew braced ourselves for an exclusive interview with Vice & Vanity. Enjoy!

WeFew: Tell us a little about your background and what made you decide to set up your own label?
V&V: It happened by accident, during a period in our lives when we were bumming around after a long holiday together. Vivi had left her fashion retail job and I was practically a bummer playing drums in a band and having graduated from art academy, was trying to etch a living being a starving artist. Being our nosey selves, we were curious about my mom’s hobby of beading and we started to string together some stuff ourselves. It got serious after a friend approached us to place some items in his shop and it snowballed from there.

WeFew: What does Vice & Vanity stands for?
V&V: Vice and Vanity!

WeFew: How would you describe the Vice & Vanity design style?
V&V: We are constantly evolving. But recently we feel a certain degree of maturity in our designs.

WeFew: Tell us about your latest collection.
V&V: We want to create collar pieces and they came from sketches of abstract shapes. It was a time when we wanted to move away from identifiable aesthetics. I realised we already had that tendency in the last collection titled ‘One Two’. We also wanted to challenge ourselves to break away from the typical acrylic silhouette style adopted by many designers and to stretch a 2D raw material into an end product with more volume, dimension and layering.

WeFew: Are your designs influenced by global, or local, trends in the broader design world – like fashion? Or is it more personal?
V&V: A little of everything actually.

WeFew: What are the challenges you have faced working for yourself?
V&V: We have to keep rolling or we’ll become mouldy.

WeFew: What motivates you when you’re in the studio?  A particular type of music? Advice you once received? A certain goal?
V&V: Music – Certainly, Advice – yes, Goals – Definitely!  Most of all, good reviews and compliments and great feedback spur us to work harder!

WeFew: What do you like best about your job?
V&V: We don’t have to be in the rush hour squeeze and we are answerable to ourselves.

WeFew: Do you have a favourite online source of inspiration / blog / ezine? What is it?
V&V: No favourite in particular, it’s mish mash of everything we absorb.

WeFew: In terms of design, which piece is your favourite out of all your collections?
V&V: Every piece will give an outfit a different feel, it’s hard to put a full stop to a favourite one actually.

Visit www.wefew.net/shop/vicevanity to pick up a delectable design today.