Daniela Monasterios Tan
- MA Fashion Curation (Distinction), London College of Fashion, UK
- BA (Honours) Fashion Design, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore
Daniela Monasterios Tan is an accomplished fashion researcher and curator, specialising in the cultural and social significance of fashion. With a background in Fashion Curation studies from the London College of Fashion, she has gained valuable experience supporting curators and archivists in research and costume mounting. Her contributions have been featured in prestigious institutions such as The Barbican, Frida Kahlo Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, the Palais Galliera and Westminster University Menswear Archive.
In addition to her curatorial work, Daniela co-hosts the vodcast In the Vitrine with Dr. Nadya Wang, exploring the business, culture and pleasures of fashion with a specific focus on Singapore, Asia and beyond. She also collaborates with artist Stephanie J Burt on the collective A Stubborn Bloom, delving into femininity through the media of fashion, film and material culture. Their collaboration has resulted in a compelling series of films and earned them recognition as the National Library Board's Creative Residents in 2022.
In 2012, Daniela co-founded the fashion collective MASH-UP with Shaf Amis’aabudin and Nathanael Ng. The collective was awarded a seed grant and was part of the business incubator project Parco Next Next. The label participated in fashion shows in Singapore and Bangkok, and found commercial success regionally.
Daniela's academic contributions extend to publishing and presenting at prominent conferences such as Cumulus. Her work has been featured in publications like Bloomsbury Fashion Photography Archive and Critical Mass. She is a sought-after voice in contemporary fashion, frequently sought by fashion journalists for her insightful perspectives.
As a fashion design and theory lecturer at the bachelor's level, Daniela possesses a strong combination of industry knowledge, communication skills, creativity, research abilities and a collaborative mindset to effectively educate and inspire aspiring fashion professionals.
Professional Practice
Fashion curation and research
- The Salesgirl who Became Boss (2023) commissioned by DECK for Pictures in the Mind shown as part of Singapore Art Week
- CAPSULE 2009: Independent Fashion Design in Singapore (2022) co-curated with Josiah Chua, Fashion on Display
- Home Economics with A Stubborn Bloom (2021) Installation, Women in Film & Photography Exhibition, Objectifs Centre for Photography and Film
- Curatorial assistant to Circe Henestrosa, curator of Appearances can be Deceiving: The Dresses of Frida Kahlo which exhibited in various iterations at the Palais Galliera (2022), Brooklyn Museum and deYoung Art Museum (2020), Victoria & Albert Museum (2018) and Museo Frida Kahlo (2012).
- Curatorial research at White Line Projects, London, 2016 - 2017
- Assistant at The Vulgar, Barbican Art Centre, London, 2016
- Cataloguing and preparing material from the International Wool Secretariat Archive for digitisation under the guidance of London College of Fashion archivist Jane Holt, London, 2016
Selected public lectures
- ‘The Wonderful History of Home Economics: Changing Ideals of the Modern Singaporean Woman and Her Education in the 1970s-1980s’ (2021) Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall as part of the exhibition 'Modern Women in the Republic'
- ‘Creative Residency sharing: Teenagehood in 1990s Singapore’ (2022), National Library Board
Conferences
- ‘A Collective Memory of Fashion’, Front and (Off-)Centre: Fashion and Southeast Asia, 2023, The Courtauld London, online
- ‘Situating Fashion Studies in South East Asia: Practical Methods’, 2021, Digital Multilogue on Fashion Education organised by American University of Paris, online
- ‘The Threshold of Language: Design and Soma’, Cumulus, 2021, Rome/Online
- 'Making Replicas: Open Source Resources and the Potential for Remote Fashion Research', "The New Normal”: Sartorial and Body Practices of the Quarantine Era organised by Fashion Theory Russia, 2020, online
- ‘Re-Adoptions of the Aesthetic of Use in Contemporary Fashion’, Critical Fashion Studies Conference, 2020, Melbourne, Australia
- ‘Sustainable Design as Anti-Fashion’, Cumulus 2019, Bogotá, Colombia
- ‘Decentralising Fashion Through Emojis, Instabaes and Seapunk: Fashion-ology from a Singaporean Perspective’, 2017, Fashion and Media Symposium at Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA
Published writing
- ‘The Threshold of Language: Design and Soma’, Cumulus Roma 2021
- ‘Sustainable Design as Anti-Fashion’, Cumulus Bogotá 2019
- ‘The Aesthetics of Use’, Bloomsbury Fashion Photography Archive, 2017
Grants
- 2021-2022 - National Library Board (Singapore) Creative Arts Residency and grant to respond to archival research for ‘Elizabeth’s Diary’
- 2020-2021 - National Arts Council (Singapore) grant to develop a digital presentation for ‘Home Economics with A Stubborn Bloom’
- 2011-2013 Entrepreneurship grant for Mash-Up Collective from SPRING Singapore
Mash-Up achieved notable recognition and success in the fashion and design industry. They were chosen as resident artists at Funan Showsuite in Singapore in 2017 and participated in the 'Made in Asia' pop-up event in New York in 2016. They have conducted textile and design workshops in collaboration with organisations such as the National Library Board, H&M, Gap, and the German School Singapore. Their talent was acknowledged by a nomination for Best Emerging Designer in 2016. They have showcased their designs at renowned fashion events like Digital Fashion Week, Bangkok Fashion Week, and Audi Fashion Festival. Their products have been stocked in multiple stores across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. They were also selected as the Singapore-based designers to create three seasons of Feel the S.E.A. t-shirts for UNIQLO. They have collaborated with prominent brands such as Uniqlo, TOPSHOP, Lomography, and Pioneer. Their exceptional performance led to being recognized as one of the top-performing PARCO Next Next designers from 2012 to 2013. Additionally, they received a start-up grant from SPRING Singapore to support their endeavours. In 2017, they were the first fashion label to be commissioned by Chan+Hori to design a pavilion for DI/SINI, a visual arts festival.