By Crescencia Chay
5 February 2018
ETHEREAL – Where Varsity Chic Meets Otherworldly Glamour
ethereal
/ɪˈθɪərɪəl/
adjective
- extremely delicate and light in a way that seems not to be of this world.
Imagine lush, laidback beats, hypnotic electro-jazz and elevator muzak – all layered atop an 80’s dance-pop baseline.
Such chilled-out psychedelics evoke the Tumblresque aesthetic that defines the music microgenres of chillwave and vaporwave: a vibe that is undeniably chic and ethereal.
It is this very same aesthetic that graces the limited edition NTU ETHEREAL T-shirts.
ETHEREAL is the creation of NTUSU’s Student Engagement Executive, Vanessa Ong.
Like the word itself, the inspiration behind ETHEREAL came in an almost otherworldly eureka moment. Struck by the plethora of faculty-based school shirts in NTU, Ong and her team were drawn to the idea of designing a T-shirt for ‘the entire NTU student body, regardless of school’.
Cue months of zealous effort and preliminary designs – as Ong and her team took on this initiative with much fervour. “We wanted to come up with a unique design that no one has ever seen before, while incorporating a touch of NTU’s spirit – thus the lion. We also wanted to make it different from other school T-shirts, by making the design more contemporary and modern, which inspired the psychedelic colours!”
While many would feel trepidation at the prospect of starting something new, Ong took on the ETHEREAL project with refreshing enthusiasm, “I would say I took it in my stride and looked at the exciting aspect (of the project), instead of getting intimidated by the novelty of everything. It was fun!”
One thing’s for sure – the modern design and sheer heart behind this project marks ETHEREAL as an emblem of NTUSU’s mission in building an inclusive NTU community, in a manner so très chic.
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