Jamie QQ on reinvention through digital fashion

Jamie QQ on reinvention through digital fashion

A passionate proponent for digital fashion, Shanghainese Jamie QQ is a forward-thinking influencer who’s found the meaning of life in motherhood.

Lean and statuesque, Jamie QQ walks into the studio looking like a model. She also behaves like one. Despite us running late on the photoshoot before her, she is patient. She also knows how to work her angles with little to no direction – impressing our fashion director.

She is a consummate professional; something her 58,000 followers on Instagram can attest to. But beyond fashion visual creation on Instagram, she has worn many hats. The creative director and consultant at fashion virtual reality company Altava was a restauranteur of now-defunct Hamilton House in Shanghai and television producer. She’s also a serial entrepreneur.

Asked about the lessons she’s gained from her varied experiences, she says she follows her impulse. “When I look at my career trajectory, there is a common theme. I followed my mind. When I think of doing something, I follow through almost immediately. I don’t sit on ideas for too long. I have a curiosity for many things.” She’s also passionate about the journey. “The process is more important than results to me.”

Jamie, who cites Alexander McQueen and John Galliano among her favourite designers, is a successful fashion influencer on social media. But she confesses to wanting to diversify.

“Honestly, I’m using social media less and less these days. I believe there are more powerful ways of communicating. I’m searching for a way to communicate with a little bit more depth, and in a more collaborative manner. Instagram doesn’t really represent 10 per cent of what goes on in my head. I will continue to reinvent and evolve with my visuals, messages, or other formats. I want to work with creative, innovative minds to experiment and influence the expression of fashion, and make it more interesting than Instagram fashion.”

The projects she’s working on include ones centred around sustainability in fashion. “One of my future projects looks at how to reduce overconsumption that the industry poses. I want to change the way people consume fashion. Digital fashion is one of them.”

One way that she has done that so far is through Altava. “I invested in Altava because I truly believe in digital fashion, although it’s only worn by few people now. There’s so much waste and overconsumption in the fashion industry. With more people spending on digital platforms, fashion as an expression will inevitably be digitised. It’s exciting because it opens up a clean slate for new designers. Singapore has a unique position. We can be a forward-thinking tech hub if we start attracting global talents. Some cities host digital fashion weeks and Singapore is perfectly positioned to tap into that.”

All this talk of the future even extends to our conversation about her children, whom she says is where she’s found the meaning of life. “I’ve never felt this sense of happiness and achievement that I do now in raising my two kids. I delayed having kids for so long. I thought they’d get in my way of achieving certain things but they are my number one priority now. I also depend on them to guide me into the future. The world is challenging, and has changed so drastically. I look forward to journeying into the new world with them.”