Picture a woman, eight-months pregnant with her son, alone at the void deck, sobbing. With nowhere to go after an intense fall out with her mother-in-law, she cried profusely and prayed for a house.
That was You Pin from many years ago. The You Pin today is a home-based seamstress whom we work with and has amazing life stories to share with us every time we pay her a visit.
You Pin started learning to sew at a young age of 12 because it was a skill her father had deemed necessary and suitable for women to learn. Struggling between her father’s demands and exploring her own passions through her youth, You Pin ultimately told us that she was thankful that her father had made her learn to sew. As she settled down and started a family, sewing became her main source of income and in the decades where she cut her teeth as a seamstress, she was led by a simple yet profound philosophy — “as long as it’s possible, I’ll make it.”
When we first came to You Pin, the project timeline was really tight and the cuts were not familiar to her. Thankfully, it was still somehow under the ‘possible’ category and we began a working relationship that has evolved to become more like a friendship.
She told us that working on our designs made her rethink clothing. Because of the variety of body shapes and forms we cater to, she had to reconsider how to make clothing differently. The sentiment is mutual. Working with You Pin made us rethink how we can better work with our seamstresses.
You Pin has an incredibly empathetic streak and dotes on our clients. Rather than simply working on the clothing as requested, she thinks on behalf of the wearer and the pains that they face. Through this, she has helped introduce details that made our apparels even more wearable!
We really cherish our relationship with You Pin and her collaborative input as a trade expert. The dramatic twist and turns in her life has made her one of the most empathetic people we have met. Our encounter with You Pin has really made us hope that as a brand, we could begin to promote empowering relationships not only with customers but also with the artisans we work with.
