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Student Feature: Adiya Poonoosamy - Fashion Designer in the making.

Student Feature: Adiya Poonoosamy - Fashion Designer in the making.


"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

We bring to you Adiya’s journey towards becoming an aspiring Fashion Designer. It was through her hard work and practice in the right direction, that she found herself several steps closer to her dreams and goals! Read on to find out more about this youth’s beginnings and challenges.

Introduce yourself!



Hi! My name is Adiya Poonoosamy (Instagram: @adiya_p), I'm 17 and I'm from Mauritius! Since I was a kid I have loved being creative, drawing and painting for fun. I also really liked styling outfits from my mom's closet and my own - even making bags and jewelry from duct tape or old denim jeans. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to go study in Canada but I never knew what major to choose.

However, when I moved to Singapore, I got more and more interested in fashion and style! One of our classes at Singapore American School was called Catalyst and for the class, I decided to design my own body-inclusive, sustainable and timeless swimwear collection. Eventually, I researched the best Fashion Schools in Canada and Ryerson University in Toronto was the one I liked best.


What inspired you to take the route of becoming an aspiring Fashion Designer?

I love creating and designing original pieces that I can wear and that everybody and every body can wear too! I am very dedicated to changing the fashion industry and making it more inclusive to all body shapes and sizes. I want to create clothing that makes everyone feel truly confident and comfortable in their body.


Why did you choose to take up a course with Fashion Makerspace?

For my Catalyst project, I had to learn how to sew as one of my goals and I knew some basics of sewing, but I had never used a sewing machine before. So I decided to take Sewing 101 & 102 (Starter Bundle) at Fashion Makerspace. Both classes were really interesting and hands-on that I learnt a lot during that time!


Adiya being super focused in our Starter Bundle class!


Later, when I knew I wanted to pursue Fashion in University, I had no idea how to start a portfolio so I reached out to Fashion Makerspace for guidance. It was a really informative and helpful experience to meet such knowledgable and skilled people.


Fashion illustrations by Adiya!


I took the Illustrator class where I learnt all about drawing models using shapes and templates. Additionally, I took Fashion Illustration 101 where I learnt how to hand draw my own realistic designs on models using copic sketch markers. This really helped to visualise my design and adjust it to make sure it looks good in real life!

Lastly I took a custom class, which you can arrange with Fashion Makerspace, to sew up my original design! With great support from my teacher, I picked up the skills and learnt all the steps for sewing my garment. This class helped me so much in my portfolio making process as well because sewing a garment was my top priority.


Share with us a time when you encountered an obstacle while developing your portfolio and how you overcame it.

I had never sewn any garment from scratch before. So an obstacle that I encountered was having to unpick the thread and resew pieces of fabric as they were not aligned correctly! There were quite a number of trials and errors but each time I learnt from each mistake and became better at sewing!


What are your aspirations for the future?

I have many goals for the future, some of which are to design my own line, possibly have my own brand and make lasting changes in the fashion and modelling industry. I also wish to become a model who advocates body acceptance and supports brands that have the same values as me!


An advice that stuck to you while on this journey is?

Some advice that I have is that you are smarter, more talented and stronger than you think! It's easy to get into your head and think that you are not good enough but I learnt throughout this journey that you are not meant to be perfect. No one is. You are meant to keep growing and learning every day and to find yourself and what you love in the process!


The final product! Modelled by Adiya herself.


Truly an inspiring and motivational youth! The team at Fashion Makerspace will definitely be rooting for Adiya in her future endeavours. No dream is too big and no dreamer is too small - if fashion, sewing or any form of art has been your goal since young, it's never too late to start!

As many of you may have seen from our other channels, our classes will be going online - so you can learn something new in the comfort of your home! If you want to learn more about our online classes, you may visit our newsletter here.

Excited to start on some classes? You can browse our virtually live classes, where our trainers will be with you in real time in video call! If you prefer to learn at your own time, our E-Classes encompass videos and tutorials, perfect for the hustling and the bustling.

Thanks for reading this far and tune in for more student features!

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