More than two decades after graduating with a degree in electrical and electronic engineering, Ms Felicis Lim decided to pursue her passion for Fashion at MDIS.

From IT consultant to fashion designer: How she switched careers confidently to pursue her passion

The MDIS School of Fashion and Design provided Ms Felicis Lim with a platform to explore a new field – and she now has her own capsule collection

By Marianne Tan

Aug 8, 2022

Ms Felicis Lim is an experienced engineer and IT consultant who is also leaving a mark in a very different field – fashion design.

She has her own capsule collection on SHEIN, the world’s largest online-only fashion company, and was selected as a finalist for a fashion design competition organised by the publication FashionWeekOnline.

All this, despite not having had work experience in the competitive fashion industry.

For more than two decades after graduating with a degree in electrical and electronic engineering, Ms Lim handled multiple large-scale computer system projects in companies across a range of industries. Her heart, however, has always been in fashion design.

“I’ve always been good at art and design, but it wasn’t a traditional career path that my parents were supportive of when I was younger,” explains Ms Lim. “At this point of my career though, I wanted to see what I was capable of in this area.”

Pursuing a life-long passion

In 2018, Ms Lim decided to finally bite the bullet. She resigned from a leadership role in a tech company and signed up for a three-year United Kingdom Bachelor of Arts course at Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) School of Fashion and Design.

Through her coursework, she gained hands-on experience with every aspect of fashion design and textile – from creative research, and garment and textile construction, to the creation of her own marketing collateral.

Her eight-piece collection with SHEIN was one such project, which she put together as part of the SHEIN x Designer Incubator programme. Students enrolled in the fashion design course are afforded opportunities to work on projects with industry partners, and participate in local and international competitions, industry visits, and events.

In 2021, Ms Lim graduated from MDIS with first-class honours. She has since returned to her former employer in the tech industry and hopes to continue contributing to both the fashion and technology fields.

“While my degree was in fashion design, I can apply the skills that I developed during the course to other areas such as product design, user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design, and even film and media editing to my current job.”

Knowing what the role of fashion design entails has also given her the confidence to kick-start her own line of face masks.

To mid-careerists looking to pursue a life-long passion, she has this piece of advice: “There will never be a perfect time to follow your
dream – just do it while you still can.”

Visit www.mdis.edu.sg/school-of-fashion-and-design for more information.