Down Memory Lane: The Peranakan Lace & Flower Collections
Celebrating a decade of one of Choo Yilin’s most iconic designs
Nearly a decade ago, we introduced what would become one of the most defining motifs in Choo Yilin’s journey — the Peranakan Flower and Peranakan Lace collection. What began as a deeply personal homage to heritage, place, and craftsmanship has since taken on a life of its own.
In this reflective Q&A, we revisit the story behind the collection with founder Yilin: the creative challenges, unexpected public response, and why this particular design continues to resonate across time and cultures.
The Choo Yilin Peranakan Lace Jade Drops in Rose Gold
Q: Did you know the Peranakan collections would become such an iconic part of Choo Yilin’s story?
Yilin: It’s been almost a decade since we launched the Peranakan Lace collection. And this is probably the most iconic motif of Choo Yilin’s history. We obviously love every single collection we put out, but we cannot control how the public responds to what we create. And the public reaction to this collection absolutely blew our mind. We have consistently sold out on every run we have created and it’s been almost 10 years.
Q: Was there anything unexpected about how the collection was received?
Y: This is, without a doubt, the most copied of all our collections. For some time, our community would send us photos of our beloved motif spotted in different retail outlets. They always meant well, and were often more outraged on our behalf than we were ourselves. We were deeply touched by that support, but eventually we had to ask them to stop, simply because we didn’t quite know how to feel about it. The truth is, our feelings were raw. When you’ve spent 18 months pouring your heart into creating something, it’s almost impossible to see it with any kind of objectivity.
The Peranakan Lace Jade Ring
The Peranakan Flower Jade Donut Studs
Q: How do you feel about it now, with the benefit of time and hindsight?
Y: With hindsight, we’ve become a little more at peace with this. Wise mentors have reminded us that when something is truly loved, it will inevitably be copied. It’s part of what happens when work resonates. And perhaps counterintuitively, the more copies appear, the more it reflects the strength of the original creation and the community who holds it close.
What we’ve also come to see is that the copies never carry the same soul. Whether it’s the proportion of jade to gold, or the joyous harmony of colour in the gemstones, something always feels just slightly off. And it reminded us of a truth we hold dear: people may replicate a product, but they can never replicate its soul.
Q: What was the creative process like behind the Peranakan motif?
Y: This motif was surprisingly challenging to perfect. It took us 18 months trying to get the proportions and colour combinations JUST right.
It was one of our love letters to the Peranakan culture, an abstract reference to the Joo Chiat neighbourhood: the strong colour contrasts of the Koon Seng Road Shophouses that brought to mind Wes Anderson-meets-Ancestral Altar.
It also drew from Chinese lattice work and delicate Kebaya lace that was directly influenced by the Dutch, the Malays, the Straits-Chinese.
“It was one of our love letters to the Peranakan culture, an abstract reference to the Joo Chiat neighbourhood”
The Peranakan Flower Trio Bangle
Q: How did your community from outside Singapore respond?
Y: Our non-Singaporean Choo Yilin community said they fell in love with it because it reminded them of the ethereal delicate Edwardian lace-work that Cartier pioneered in the early 1900s — “But with colour” instead of diamonds, they pointed out. “My English Grandmother had something similar, but with diamonds,” another one said.
And perhaps that’s why this collection appealed to so many people. It spoke to so many across different cultures for so many different reasons.
To those of you who have loved the Peranakan Lace & Flower pieces all these years: thank you for seeing what we saw. And to those discovering it now: welcome to the story. It’s one that continues to unfold, ten years on.
The Peranakan Lace and Flower collections are available in limited quantities, exclusively on chooyilin.com during the The Influencers Before Us digital trunk show from 5th to 7th December 2025.