Fashion & Botanical Design: Fawn World

Dennis Ng working with r y e, Tanchen and more

Dennis Ng is the founder of Fawn World, a botanical design studio and art practice in Singapore. Working at the intersection of fashion and botanical design, Dennis brings a bold, experimental approach and aesthetic to his arrangements. In particular, he sources locally to maintain their longevity, as well as to express his point of view to life. In this conversation, Dennis talks to us about recent projects with r y e and Tanchen. He also talks about his training and sources of inspiration as a floral designer.

Sprawling sculpture of pomegranates, heliconia and saga seeds with Tanchen's Saga Keychain for Tanchen's Pet-Nat Pet keycharm campaign. Photo by Isabell Hansen. Image courtesy of Fawn World.

Hello Dennis, could you introduce yourself and what you do?

Hello! My name is Dennis and I am a florist. I work on floral design projects via Fawn World, a studio I started in May 2024. 

Green pit viper. Image taken from Wikimedia Commons.

What do you think of the colour green? 

Green is a favourite colour of mine! I love the shade of green on a green pit viper. It is other-worldly.

Arrangement of papyrus grasses in the changing room of r y e's New Bahru boutique. Photo by Isabell Hansen. Image courtesy of Fawn World.

Could you talk about your work with fashion brands r y e and Tanchen. What was the process behind these projects?

With r y e, Bessie Ye, the founder is pretty tapped in with floral aesthetics and is quite sure about what she likes. They have a huge respect for regional craft, art and culture, so we try to incorporate regional botanical elements like ginger flowers, banana blossoms and other ingredients that have a deep cultural relevance in the region. Also very much like their clothes, we try to approach the arrangements at r y e with a more sculptural lean.

With Tanchen, the project we worked on was a campaign for their Pet-Nat Pet keycharm collection and was inspired by local flora and cultural practices like garland making. This allowed us to go hyper-local with the selection. 99% of the ingredients were sourced from local growers and markets. Tanchen provided specific inspirations for each keycharm. Some were inspired by the shape of certain flowers like hanging heliconia, and one was even inspired by fish eggs. We built the arrangements trying to evoke the feelings we would get when thinking of these things, and the environments they might be found in.

Arrangement of baby coconut spike at r y e's New Bahru boutique. Photo by Isabell Hansen. Image courtesy of Fawn World.

Working with flora and fauna in a tropical climate must have its geographical limitations and challenges. Could you describe some of them, and how you overcame them?

Many flowers from the European region wither pretty quickly in our climate! One of the ways we try to overcome this is to use a tropical plant or flower that looks similar to one from a colder region. For example, the blue sandpaper vine flower, petrea volubilis which thrives and grows in our climate looks close to a flowering wisteria vine which cannot survive in our climate.

What are some of your favourite botanical combinations both to create and to observe?

I love anything dark contrasted with something electric: black lily grasses pushing out a bright pink lily flower or a heliconia plant with dark purple leaves with neon red heliconia flowers! Also anything soft and hard, gentle but violent… here are so many examples in nature: flowering branches like cherry blossoms, flowering woody vines, the thorny rose and so on. We try to emulate this contrast in many instances, such as pairing foliage that look like swords with a soft bloom like a peony, or playing with colour using something soft and gentle next to something electric or super deep and intense.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Are there some practitioners based in South East Asia that you admire and learn from? 

We take a lot of our cues from nature itself. The element of naturalism is something we consider with all our work, as well as arts and crafts. I love This Humid House from Singapore. I worked there for 3 years before starting Fawn World. They are the GOATs. I also love PHKA and Bonne Casa from Thailand! 

“We take a lot of our cues from nature itself. The element of naturalism is something we consider with all our work, as well as arts and crafts.”

How would you describe your style?

Awkward, rough, chaotic.

Your work does not shy away from mixing disciplines and collaborating with other practitioners, can you tell me more about your attitude towards collaboration in your artistic practice?

I think there is a lot of potential in putting plants and flowers in these contexts that are out of the norm of the usual commercial bouquet or wedding installation. Working on these mixed discipline collaborations allows us to explore this. I think that this collaborative mixed-media projects are few and far between, and I would like to see them out there, so let’s do it. Maybe someone else  feels the same way I do!  

Sculpture with Tanchen's Malli Keychain inspired by garlands and jasmine for Tanchen's Pet-Nat-Pet keycharm campaign. Photo by Isabell Hansen. Image courtesy of Fawn World.

What are some trends in the floristry and fashion industry you see in South East Asia? And what feels most exciting for you right now?

I think yellow is going to have a moment in fashion in general. I cannot wait to see what the regional brands do with that. I love a good urine yellow or vomit yellow. In floristry, I see a lot of regional craft being incorporated into installations. I see a lot of garlands being used across the board but in Thailand I see them taking it a step up and exploring different weaving and beading techniques in a way that feels very contemporary. I think what feels most exciting for me in floristry is seeing whole new formats being explored, when I see a new way that bouquets are presented or a new format for a floral installation.

Lastly, do you have any projects coming up that you might want to share with our readers?

We are working on a summer product that is not floral, but will be very fun!

Thank you for having me! 

Learn more about Fawn World on Instagram @fawn.world or on their website here.