Designing a Greener Future: One Step at a Time | Dato Lewre Lew Fong Voon

Key Concepts:

Early Life and Career Beginnings:

The speaker was born in the 1950s into a family of 16 children.
His parents were rubber tappers, and at the age of eight, he began helping with rubber tapping, waking up early to tap latex before sunrise.
He describes a tough childhood, strengthened by the experience and rooted in the beauty of nature.
After school, he worked in a shoe company for three years.
In 1987, he started his own company called Rundi Enterprise (pronounced "Lu").

International Exposure and Breakthrough:

In 1991, Rundi Enterprise was selected to attend the largest shoe exhibition in the world in Düsseldorf, Germany (GDS).
He attended the exhibition for three consecutive years (1991-1993) without securing any orders.
In 1994, he returned to GDS and successfully secured two international orders from Japan and Lebanon, marking a significant breakthrough.

Collaboration with Jimmy Choo and Brand Launch:

In 1995, Jimmy Choo visited his booth, and they became friends.
Jimmy Choo invited him to his studio in London, where he learned a lot and attended parties with celebrities and royalties.
After 10 years of business selling to 40 countries as an OEM and even designing for spy school, he launched his own brand called "Lur" in 1997.
Jimmy Choo returned from London to support the launch.

Designing for Royalty and Collaborations:

Over 40 years in the shoe business, he has designed for many royalties around the world.
In 2012, he was asked by the British Chamber of Commerce of Malaysia to design a shoe for Kate Middleton, which was presented as a national gift by the Queen.
In 2014, he was honored to design a pair of shoes and a matching bag for the First Lady of China at the request of the Queen.
He has also designed for many queens and royalties in Malaysia.
From 2010 to 2012, he collaborated with top designers at London Fashion Week, including Bandeli from Miracle, Aardis Verms from Poland, and John Rosher from Hong Kong.

Malaysia Book of Records and Shift to Sustainability:

In 2017, celebrating his 20th anniversary, he designed a pair of shoes that entered the Malaysia Book of Records for being worth 5 million.
He began to question what was next after years of building his business.
In May 2024, he visited George Yam, a door maker and president of the Timber Council of Malaysia, and discovered technology to turn waste oil palm trunks into wood.
He decided to create high-heel shoes from this material.
Around the same time, Augustine of Sunway College of Fashion introduced him to Piñatex, a pineapple leather from Japan.

KL Green Fashion and Sustainable Initiatives:

He learned about the environmental impact of the fashion industry, with 92 million tons of textile waste burned or dumped annually.
He collaborated with Kung to create KL Green Fashion, focusing on sustainable materials.
They use pineapple leather, apple leather, and oyster shell and PET bottle fabric sourced from Taiwan through Sunway Fashion Hub.
The speaker wore a garment made from oyster shell and PET bottles and shoes made from oil palm trunk wood.
KL Green Fashion aims to promote sustainability and nurture younger generations by working with them on new cultural heritage and storytelling in sustainability.
They are collaborating with young designers from House of Anter, who create art pieces inspired by Malaysian culture, such as batik prints.
They plan to develop their own Malaysian sustainable materials.

Call to Action and Conclusion:

The speaker hopes KL Green Fashion can create a global impact and inspire younger generations to save the earth through recycling and sustainable materials.
He envisions sustainable materials being used in various products, from furniture to corporate gifts.
He pledges to continue inspiring people on this journey and believes that collective effort can make it happen.
The speaker concludes by encouraging the audience to design not just shoes and apparel but a green future.

Designing a Greener Future: One Step at a Time | Dato Lewre Lew Fong Voon | TEDxSunway University