Behind the scene of SIX&TWELVE..

Some photos from the shoot that Baby and I did together some time back. I had an extra slot on hand so I just texted him to bring some clothes along for a short shoot together! Because I was always the one shooting my models, it's really awkward when I had to stand in front of the camera myself! Make me feel so damnnn self-conscious.

By the way, we had the camera on timer mode and had this remote control thing where we just have to press and the shutter will go off in 3..2..1 :)

I realized I haven't blogged much about why I started SIX&TWELVE.

Well, guess I have to go a while back to where I was in JC. I didn't really like the idea of going to a JC because I thought I'm learning stuff that I won't be using in future and it's really wasting my time. What's more, I really hated the subjects and all. It's like.. I will never be a Chemist in future so why am I mixing alcohols and acids in the lab? So I proceeded to withdraw from my JC and started looking around for new schools.

My first choice was to Retail Management in TP. You may ask me why, because it's such a new course (my batch was the 3rd batch). I had a friend in there, and she introduced me to it and I really found it interesting. We learn things that has design elements in it (more about it later), and it got me pondering over what I want to do in future. Should I just take a diploma in Business? Or Accounting & Finance? I knew Tourism was out of the question because I have zero interest in it. Then I started thinking about whether I will be helping my dad out with his business in future. I guess not.. I kept asking myself where the hell does my interest lie in, and as I kept reading about the different courses, it suddenly struck me.

I'm not someone who can endure the 9-5PM job routine. I'm someone who needs to be my own boss, needs to have control over what I'm doing, and I must like what I do. So I concluded that I'll be my own boss in future. Haha I know right, what a naive thinking. And I just simply settled for RMT in TP.

& you know what? As I go through the 2 year course, I slowly had a vision of what I want in future. We first learnt about fundamental marketing, which got me so hooked onto the subject, I knew I was going to go somewhere in this direction. Then I got into contact with subjects such as Merchandise Buying, Visual Merchandising, and this was where I started thinking.. I have the skills, can I be my own boss? Then I learnt more along the way, and this.. desire to want to set up my own brand grew so much I knew I had to fulfill it.

Then I graduated in a blink of an eye, and had 5 months of holidays to myself. Along came a friend who asked me if I want to set up a BS with her, and I immediately agreed! I didn't plan it to last this long, what I had in mind was, this is the first step to setting up my own business, and I need this experience! That was when I finally can put the skills I learnt in TP to practice. It was a lot of work, and I didn't expect most of it. But I enjoyed the process.

Then things happened, and I owned SIX&TWELVE myself now. I'm secretly proud of it to have come thus far, and really hope it will continue to grow. Yea I know it's nothing compared to bigger brands out there in this blogshop-ophere. But you need to build something from scratch, look back, and see how much both you and the brand have grown to know how I truly feel.

Lots of people ask me what's going to happen to SIX&TWELVE when I come over to Melbourne for my further studies. I have been planning, in fact months ahead, when I get to know that I'm coming to Melbourne for sure. I didn't want to just put it aside and then reviving it after 2 years. 2 years can be a short or long period of time, and we won't know what will happen all this time. So I am truly and really grateful when I knew that my dear sister was willing to help me with all the logistic side of SIX&TWELVE back in Singapore. So now, all your parcels received are packed by her :) She's new to this, so do give her more time to learn okay?

All in all, I just want to let people know that this brand, is my baby. And I'm so so proud of it. I work very hard for it. In fact, I'm working on it everyday: from drafting out designs on what to launch or manufacture, choosing sample colors, going through our samples, making sure that customers' emails get attended to and that they receive their parcels, what'sapping my sister to make sure everything's going well and so on.. There's so much to do behind the scene and I'm really glad for people who helped us in a way or another. Be it our models (Shuhua, Zoe, Shine I love you girls!), our suppliers who're ever patient with me, and even the guy who rents us his studio. They're all so helpful and I think I must really count my lucky stars to have met them. & of course, all our customers who have been SO patient with us. There're some nasty ones we've met, but all the e-mails sent back to us telling us how much they love our pieces simply just made my day and let me forget about those nasty or dead buyers. :)

I've learnt a lot during this (almost) one year too. I used to be someone who can't open up to people, and because of SIX&TWELVE, I have to and I'm glad I did. I've met so much more people, learnt how to socialize (a fair bit), and how to speak up and approach people.

So if any of you girls are looking to set up a blogshop, one thing you really need is this fire within you. You really need to love what you're doing, be prepared to meet all sorts of people, and well, good luck! :)

By the way, we have launched a brand new collection! Do support us okay, teehee, have got a new manufactured piece featured too! :)