How a Singaporean fresh graduate showed at Milan Design week, the most important design fair in the world

After Emeline Ong’s brother completed his A-Level examinations, stacks of his notes were left littered around the house for years – that is, until she decided to turn them into her first furniture collection, Pastille.

Stories of such resourcefulness abound among the new generation of industrial designers, and Ong is one such example. Her edge? She has big dreams and is not afraid to reach for them.

Last year, she shipped The Pastille Collection to Italy to showcase at Milan Design Week (MDW) in the SaloneSatellite exhibition. This year, she returned with a new series, Twinkle. The event is widely recognised as a prestigious international platform that only accepts the best and brightest.

“I was super shocked,” recalled the 27-year-old, when asked how it felt to receive the news that she had been accepted. “I remember I was at a bus stop and couldn’t believe it when I saw the email. It didn’t feel real until the day I started exhibiting – even after that, it still didn't feel real.”

What does feel real is her commitment to her chosen path. Ong might have started at the top immediately after graduating with an industrial design degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2023, but she is aware that she still has some way to go.

MUCH TO SEE AND LEARN

Her first exposure to MDW was in 2022, during a university internship with award-winning designer Gabriel Tan. Tagging along with him to attend, she was immediately catapulted into a world unlike anything she had imagined.

Brands and designers she had followed on social media or read about online came to life. That she could personally examine their works and projects was surreal. “It left a big impact on me because I love design and it was the first time I saw it celebrated on such a large scale, while also experiencing the scene up close,” she remembered.

Walking around the expansive show, she was particularly enamoured of the young designer exhibition, SaloneSatellite. While chatting with the creatives, she thought it would be a “great idea” to show there after she graduated. When term started, she conveyed this to her supervising professor, Patrick Chia, who committed to working with her towards this goal through her Honours thesis project, once he saw how serious she was about it.

Two years later, she was back at MDW, this time with her own booth, supported by the DesignSingapore Council (Dsg). On display were the Pastille and Buttercup Collections, made up of tables and wall hooks, respectively. Their pastel colours and round shapes evoked thoughts of sugary desserts good enough to bite into.

Even though the starting point was her brother’s study notes, arriving at this iteration involved months of experimenting. The tables are made from paper that has been shredded, compressed, and then bound with a type of plaster. A 3D printer was used to create the moulds to give them shape.

The choice of colours had a less technical slant to it, admitted Ong. “Patrick taught me that it is important for my pieces to say something about me, that I must have an identity as a designer. Because I really love colours and, in this case, since the shapes are soft and candy-like, I thought to give them pastel tones.”

It would be easy to imagine visitors stopping in their tracks to wonder if Ong’s pieces were furniture or food. In fact, there was another reason: that she came from Singapore, as evinced by the Dsg logo on her booth. “One of the most common things people told me was that it is their dream to work or visit here after they watched [the movie] Crazy Rich Asians,” she said, with a laugh.

While Ong is no ultra-high-net-worth Singaporean, she was definitely confronted with wealth-building opportunities. Several retailers from different countries enquired about carrying her collections, and she also had the chance to meet journalists and industry players. “I think it is quite good to have all these connections at such an early point in my career,” she admitted.

SOME WAY TO GO

Despite starting her design journey on such a high, studying it did not come naturally to Ong. Uncertain about what she wanted to do, she placed Interior Design as the fifth and last course of choice when she entered Singapore Polytechnic. Fortunately, she enjoyed it – but not as much as curating furniture to place in a space.

This led her to Industrial Design at NUS where, after taking a class under Chia, himself a furniture designer, she has kept to this path since. “I really enjoy making things and like how, when you put a table or a chair in a room, it can completely change the atmosphere,” she mused.

What has stuck in her mind the most is Chia’s advice to understand what her philosophy is and what type of designer she wants to be. “I was confused and also intrigued because I didn’t have the answers back then, which made me realise I didn’t know myself very well. This made me curious to find them.”

Ong is certainly well on her way to doing so, even if she acknowledges that her outlook will probably change as she matures. “For now, I am tending towards a style that is whimsical, soft and delightful. When you have my piece in a space, it will feel playful and fun.”

Inspiration for this direction is wide-ranging. It stems from designers like Helle Mardahl, Faye Toogood and Sabine Marcelis, to the confectionery plant in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the Japanese Sanrio universe.

At the moment, she is working more with fabricators to explore serial production in a bid to shift away from the handmade, DIY approach she started out with. Scaling up, she realises, is important for generating more revenue and sustaining her chosen path. In fact, Ong spent a week in early September in southwest France at a workshop hosted by British designer Sebastian Bergne on this subject.

Ultimately, she hopes to become an established designer herself, collaborating with different furniture brands like Magis and Sancal, or even selling works under her own brand soon. She would be equally happy to work with Singaporean designers who have shown in Milan before, such as Lanzavecchia + Wai, Studio Juju and Gabriel Tan. “I greatly respect and look up to them,” she enthused.

Aside from designing, Ong continues to participate in shows, with the Singapore Design Week 2025 being the latest. Her furniture was on display at *Scape and the FIND – EMERGE fair. Earlier in September, she reflected on her recent showing at MDW during a talk co-organised with the XTRA design store. Sharing the stage were two other emerging designers, M&T Design from Japan and Bundle Studio from Denmark.

At these events, it is practically a given that the topic of advice for aspiring designers will come up, and Ong is well-prepared for it. “Don’t be scared,” she sallied back immediately, when asked what she said. “There will be people who will tell you it is impossible, especially in Singapore. Don’t listen to what they say. If it is something you really want, you'll find ways to achieve it.”