Pat Liew

At age 44, Pat Liew walked away from a well-loved job of 15 years as Fashion Director to make a comeback on her own and on her own terms.

Inspired by the period of the British Raj, Pat created BritishIndia as a fashion lifestyle brand that appealed to people’s romantic longing for the past, not its history, but its beauty, elegance, integrity and style.

With five employees, she started her brand from a makeshift office which was her home still in the process of being completed, mortgaged to provide funds for this dream. The work was unending. It was a case of doing absolutely whatever that was needed, including personally painting her stores late into the night.

Within four months, she opened eight stores across Malaysia and Singapore. By the end of 1994, BritishIndia was set up as a vertically integrated group of companies.

Today, with over 200 employees to oversee six different collections per year, BritishIndia operates 20 of its own stores and 21 franchise outlets in South East Asia. Pat continues to drive the design team at BritishIndia’s 100,000 sq ft headquarters in Kota Damansara. White Elephant, Retail for Charity CSR by BritishIndia opened in November.

The fashion industry, she says, sets a punishing pace but it holds no more surprises for her. “I am always prepared. It’s a challenge that we face all the time.”