Ashley Chiam And Parveen Hassanbhai On Finding Their Fashion Tribe
Two Comme des Garçons collectors discuss community, challenging the norms, and finding their niche.
By Gracia Phang - published
Ashley Chiam is an art curator and co-founder of art platform and design studio Supper House, while Parveen Hassanbhai is a senior PR manager who has spent her career in industries spanning across fashion, art, F&B and hospitality. Their paths crossed in a community they hold close to their hearts—one that surrounds their common admiration for Rei Kawakubo and love for Comme des Garçons.
Founded in 1969 by Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo, cult-favourite brand Comme des Garçons is not for the faint of heart. Her designs are known to redefine what is traditionally seen as beautiful or “normal”; a bit of an “anti-fashion” fashion, if you may. Deconstruction, distorted silhouettes, disruption—Ashley and Parveen find their tribe in those who appreciate this aesthetic and embrace it in their everyday life. While Parveen incorporates hers with other varying designers and brands that complement it, Ashley goes in head first with his entire wardrobe filled with Comme des Garçons pieces, and even acquiring runway pieces seeing them as art forms in itself.
Ahead, we speak to Ashley and Parveen on their journey.
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Ashley Chiam
When did you first fall in love with fashion?
Fashion has been something that has fascinated me from a very young age. I had wanted to be a fashion designer, but well, my parents didn’t think of it much as a career back then, but look at me now.
What, or whom, formed your most impactful fashion-related memory?
I can’t pinpoint just one, for there are may. One of them is definitely the period where John Galliano was at Dior—it contributed a lot to my formative years and ways of looking at things, and also how I multitask, poking my fingers in every pot I can find. That attributed a lot to make me the creative I am today.
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Harper’s BAZAAR Singapore celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and our tagline is “Where Fashion Lives”. Where does fashion live for you?
Fashion, for me, lives in all the spaces between my identity as a person, my memories and my aspirations. I think it also lives in how we all envision our lives, and how we live our lives, simply or decadently. Like fashion and style, I feel fashion has never been confined to just clothes alone, it lives on in the many aspects of living. Whether it is in the architecture, hospitality, art, music, and the list goes on.
As someone working across creative spaces, I think fashion lives in how we imagine our lives to be. How it is lived, and how it will be presented.
Who are the brands and designers that you collect or admire?
It has to be Comme des Garçons, and Rei Kawakubo only.
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Describe your style.
Shapeless and formless. Dressing to be challenged. Though again, in a tropical place like Singapore, it is not as easy as it seems, and only if there are special events and place-to-place transfer. So it is on two extremes that I dress: very casual or very elaborate.
The first issue of Harper’s BAZAAR Singapore was published in November 2001. What were you doing then, and how was your style different as compared to now?
Back then, I was still trying to find myself. I am not sure what I was doing back then, to be very honest. I was probably dressed in basics and in my minimalist era; a far cry from what I am now.
What is your thought process when you get dressed up in the morning?
These days, I dress for myself, and also for the torrid weather conditions that we face.
What projects are you currently busy with, and what excites you in the near future?
I am currently working on some new residential proposals with modularity and scalability in mind. We are also working on two teamLab solo presentations running up to 2027. There are also plans to put together a Comme des Garçons archival showpiece presentation in Supper House juxtaposed against local artists and their values—this has always been what we have been working towards as a moving goal.
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Parveen Hassanbhai
When did you first fall in love with fashion?
It has always been there, but I think it became more personal when I realised I didn’t have to follow what I was seeing—that I could make my own choices even if they didn’t quite fit in.
I grew up around fashion without realising it. My mom and aunt worked in fashion and beauty at Charles Jourdan, and my aunt spent more than 20 years at Burberry. Even in my family, there has always a strong sense of dressing—my grandparents in their chappals, salwar kameez, kurta. It was never styled or curated; it’s natural. I’ve worked in PR for many years, and closely with brands, but my relationship with fashion has always been more instinctive. Now, at this stage, its about refining what already feels right.
What, or whom, formed your most impactful fashion-related memory?
I was introduced to Comme des Garçons at 17 by my cousin. I didn’t fully understand it at the time, but it stayed with me. It wasn’t trying to be traditionally flattering or “beautiful”, it challenged the norms, which I learned to love and find comforting.
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Harper’s BAZAAR Singapore celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and our tagline is “Where Fashion Lives”. Where does fashion live for you?
For me, it lives in memory and that tension between fitting in and not wanting to. It isn’t about perfection or traditional ideas of beauty, its more about how you choose to exist in your body. I like the idea of how clothes shift the focus away of being “looked at” in a certain way, and that feels quite freeing.
Who are the brands and designers that you collect or admire?
Comme des Garçons has always been a constant, and everyone under that umbrella. I really do admire brands like Simone Rocha, Martine Rose, Jean Paul Gaultier (specifically in the ’90s), Chanel, Issey Miyake and Martin Margiela, just to name a few.
Describe your style.
I would like to say consistent and insular. I tend to stay within the same silhouettes and tones. But also recently, an outfit repeater.
The first issue of Harper’s BAZAAR Singapore was published in November 2001. What were you doing then, and how was your style different as compared to now?
From what I can recall, 2001 was a mix of things: listening to Aaliyah, reading Harry Potter etc. Style-wise, it wasn’t really my own yet. My mum was dressing me up, and I think I was shaped by everything around me.
What was your thought process when you got dressed up this morning?
Panic and freaking out—a mix of nervousness and excitement. I usually play some music, spend some time with my dog. That usually helps me get settled in.
What projects are you currently busy with, and what excites you in the near future?
I’ve so many exciting things lined up from June onwards till the end of the year. Stay tuned!
Photographer: Scott Tan
Creative Director: Windy Aulia
Digital Director: Annabelle Fernandez
Producer and Style Editor: Gracia Phang
Associate Art Director: Alice Chua
Hairstylist: Greg Oh
Makeup Artist: Rina Sim using Chanel Beauty