Blue Ginger was founded by Patricia “Trikkie” Quek in 1976 to develop designer apparel and furnishings based on the batik style from Southeast Asia. Her dream is to bring this traditional artform into modern, everyday use.

Designer Batik

Trikkie develops her own batik designs and works with local designers for the fashion styles. Her designs reflect her multi-cultural upbringing since she incorporates ideas from Asia, America and Europe into traditional batik. Even the cloth is special: “light, cool and it doesn’t wrinkle much.” The fabrics are high-grade 100% cotton or quality rayon. All of the items have a smooth feel, yet wear well even with daily use.

Rich and Famous Customers

With such a varied line displayed in a hotel as famous as Raffles, it’s no wonder that Blue Ginger designs are used by people from many countries and varied positions. Her clothing is worn by wives of nation’s Presidents, famous performers and multinational CEOs; and her furnishings grace the homes of the equally famous.

Origins

The name “Blue Ginger” comes from Peranakan culture (Peranakan refers to descendants of Chinese immigrants to the Straits area of Malaysia and Indonesia). It was inspired by Mrs Lee (the mother of the Singapore Minister Mentor) who was Trikkie’s cooking teacher when she and her husband returned to Singapore from the US. As Mrs Lee taught Trikkie cooking she also taught her about the local culture, and she often repeated a common ingredient in those dishes -- “lam keong”, Cantonese for “Blue Ginger”. So when Trikkie needed a name for her company using a traditional art, she immediately thought of “lam keong”, Blue Ginger.

Build Talent Philosophy

From the beginning Trikkie wanted to encourage the local arts in Singapore. So she worked with graduates of the local design schools and hired people from the area to produce the batik designs and sew the cloth. Later, entrepreneurs worked with her and took her ideas to other countries, incorporating their own styles into their products. Trikkie continues with this philosophy, bringing out new lines and fashion styles to match the times, but retaining the tradition of batik and the soul of Southeast Asia.

Hand Made In Singapore

We make our batik products the old fashioned way, by hand with quality, using tools and techniques perfected over centuries. Our craftsmen use wax for the "resist" (marking of places that should not be dyed) and then soak the material in dye vats for extended periods. We then cut the fabric accordingly to the specific design and sew the final product ... all in our plant in Singapore.
In addition we periodically refresh our lines with new styles from modern clothing and product designers.