Beauty in Perseverance: Sherlyn Tan, Twenty3

What inspired you to start your own fashion brand?

I was working in Groupon and had worked my way up to becoming the Business Development Director. I realised I enjoyed creating business processes and registered the name Twenty3 to remind myself of my ambition of creating my own company, even without knowing what sort of business it would be. I just wanted something that could financially support my dream of being a performing artist. I had sold pre-loved clothing through my old blog and had a good eye for what Malaysian girls liked, so I decided to turn Twenty3 into an e-commerce website selling clothing I sourced from Thailand. It was only in the middle of our first year that I began manufacturing some of my own simple designs under the Twenty3 label.

What's the biggest challenge you've faced in launching your brand? What's your biggest success to date?

Early in 2015, I faced a barrage of social media bashings, accusing me of reselling stocks I’d purchased through Taobao (a Chinese website for online shopping). It was a big blow not just to me personally – I was suffering from depression and low self-esteem – but also to the reputation of the brand, which is the most important thing in retail. I decided to accelerate my plan to convert Twenty3 into a local designer label, by grooming young talented designers and merging their creativity with our fast fashion efficiency. Thankfully, we were then given the opportunity to present our first designer collection at KL Fashion Week 2015, and the subsequent media coverage really helped elevate the branding. My biggest success is winning the Alliance Bank SME Innovation Challenge 2015, the biggest entrepreneurial award for SMEs in the country. Seeing my colleagues go out of their way to come up with creative ways to canvass for votes, all fighting for the same goal was very rewarding. Building a business from scratch is a long, lonely and thankless road, so it was very encouraging to receive that recognition from senior business leaders such as Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin of EcoWorld. It’s given me the drive to push Twenty3 even further in 2016.

From depending on suppliers, you've finally started designing your own line. Isn't that difficult for someone who doesn't have a fashion design background? Do you have a mentor? 

We have a team of young, fantastic designers who were trained in top schools such as Raffles College and Central Saint Martins in London, so I don’t have to do the designs anymore! I want Twenty3 to be like a practical business school for them, to learn the business of fashion. They teach me about design, and I’ll teach them about selling.

What's your vision for Twenty3?

I want Twenty3 to be a platform to inspire our customers as well as our staff to constantly push themselves, and to break their own limits. Through our designs, campaigns, and events, I want our people to recognize their true worth, and to keep on fighting. There is beauty in perseverance.

What's your advice for students who wish to establish their own business someday?

It’s not going to be perfect when you start something, so don’t take your sweet time planning the perfect business. You’ll be stuck in analysis paralysis. Don’t overthink it, just take the first step and jump, and learn to build the plane on your way down. Push yourself, challenge yourself, just do it now and think about it later – that’s the best and quickest way to learn about your business. Ideas are easy to come by, it’s the execution that makes or breaks businesses, so just keep persevering.

Read the rest of the interview in this issue of EasyUni Guidebook: March 2016 - available in major bookstores and newsstands today.