By Raffles Runway

“Why create? Why spend 3 hours drawing and making something from scratch for a one-time show?”

It’s easy for us to face these questions time and time again. It’s even easier for the title of this article to catch one’s attention, and you’re probably reading this because we’re pretty sure there isn’t any other JC in the country with a CCA like ours. If you take a good tour around the school, you may come across a little enclave with a group of students sometimes nodding off with a pencil in hand, or perhaps tangled up in thread and rolls of fabric. Now this group of students calls themselves Raffles Runway, or really just “Runway”. It is home to the most tight-knit, yet diverse bunch of 8 students brought together by nothing but an extraordinary love for fashion design, but it takes more than this love to show that Runway is really more than just that.

For each and every one of us, as well as those who join Runway, the journey has and will begin with overwhelming genuineness, individualism and of course, an undeniable love for fashion. With a dedicated time and space for us to nurture this passion, it overflows and manifests itself in the form of eclectic garments and eventually in the annual “RProject” in May. This is why motivation and a strong sense of teamwork as a member of Runway is pretty much mandatory. Every year’s RProject kicks off another exciting year of exploration and discovery – an exposition of the collective creative genius of the Runway members. RProject is organized, curated and planned down to the last detail by our member designers, and together with talented student models, the equation is complete, evident through our successful “RProject: Origin” show in 2017. As the biggest event on our CCA calendars, preparation for the show begins almost a year before the event itself, and the direction that the show takes and its unique theme is completely up to the senior batch’s discretion.

However, the extravagance and glamour of a fashion show aren’t the same behind the curtains. Joining Runway is a definite test of self-motivation and you’ll soon find that the ability to multitask will be more than obligatory. Come in with a personal voice and a portfolio, and find yourself immersed in practical garment construction, styling, editing, make-up, photography and housekeeping alongside CCA members who all have a common goal. If you join Runway, it is no doubt that you can also look forward to make-up lessons, idea development workshops and even sessions where we really just sit down together and critique each other’s designs, consistently striving to bring out the best in each other.

As of now, we hold our sessions from 2–5pm each Wednesday, but you may find yourselves particularly busy as the show approaches each year. Perhaps you might have to stay till late in school sewing garments together and tying up any loose ends. Nonetheless, this wouldn’t be a chore if you’re committed and enjoy your time in Runway with like-minded people, because really, we’re all here for the same reason.

During a less busy time of the year however, Runway also has a part to play in the annual Open House at the beginning of the year. During Open House, we exhibit our garments from last year’s show in a showcase walk, where student models who have been selected through auditions have a major role to play in putting our CCA, as well as what we do, out there to the public. With that, if you are interested in being a part of the Runway family as a model, do free to take a shot at auditions held for J1s in February and September every year :-)

If your heart flutters watching runway shows, if you spend just a tad too long flipping through fashion magazines, or you really just are that little bit too much in love with everything fashion design-related, we guarantee you won’t be the only one here at Raffles Runway. It all begins with that hopeful trip to the room you never thought was occupied, and the rest of it will be nothing but a priceless voyage of self-exploration and development. With that said, if you have a stack of sketches on hand waiting to be made into a dream come true on the runway, Raffles Runway is probably the place for you, so hang on tight to those sketches and we’d love to see them at trials! :-)

So if you ask any Runway member: Why create? Why make something out of those three hours in a day that’s already just too short?

We’re pretty sure each and every one of us would really have nothing to say but: Why not?