Local brand Dzojchen aims to inject a touch of individuality with high street fashion pieces
By Cheryl Chia
We like to applaud local designers when they’ve done well and Dzojchen (pronounced doh-chen) is one that joins the list.
Based in New York and in Singapore, Chelsea Scott-Blackhall, creator of the high street fashion wear label Dzojchen has made waves in the industry with a cult and celebrity following.
Singaporean-born Chelsea Scott-Blackhall, started up Dzojchen in 2009 with almost no experience in the fashion world. She says, “‘Til today, if you look at my sketches, they are mediocre.
I always have to add descriptions so the factories know what I want. So, for two years, I took courses.”
Dzojchen means “wholeness” in Sanskrit, which Chelsea took to mean that there are no preconceived notions of what a brand should be. She says, “Clothing is automatically a judge of what we see, what we consider to be complete. Our persona or style is completely up to the wearer.”
Starting out as a mainly denim label as it “transcends through the seasons”, Chelsea eventually expanded into high-end street wear with leather pieces in 2011. Since then, Hollywood celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Lenny and Zoe Kravitz, and Mickey Rourke have been seen wearing Dzojchen.
“Initially, I thought selling to celebrities was really important. But there is also an equally large following of people who do not want to wear what the celebrities are wearing. You kind of lose the cult effect when you oversell to celebrities,” she says.
Dzojchen is stocked in Sydney, Zurich, London Paris, Dubai, Istanbul, New York, Los Angeles and Miami. However, Chelsea has chosen Singapore to be the base.
In Singapore, Dzojchen is stocked exclusively at Coda-Co and pieces range from $150 to $1,000.
Coda-Co is located at Scotts Square, 6 Scotts Road, #02-03, Singapore 228209.
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