Thomas Wee is very late. But it's a trait not alien to the man, and you figure the wait is worth it for the very interesting soundbites he is likely to give. And you are not disappointed.

The veteran designer, who burst onto the fashion scene after being a finalist in the first Young Fashion Designer Contest organised by Her World magazine in 1978, may be physically diminutive, but has been something of a giant in Singapore's fashion industry for almost 35 years.

He has designed both men and women's ready-to-wear as well as bridal wear under the labels Mixable, Preta, Sino, Luxe and Made in Heaven.

Then he "retired" in 1997 to teach the next generation of aspiring designers at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts for 11.5 years.

"When I retired, I was occupying the top of the Singapore designer position," says the man who doesn't quite believe in mincing his words.

"During those years I was teaching, I was sitting on the fence, watching and waiting to see who will take over my place. But no one did in 11.5 years!"

Then in 2008, Mr Wee unexpectedly returned to designing because influential fashion director, Daniel Boey, wanted to choreograph his show and asked him "to do a comeback, make some noise".

Plus, Mr Wee wanted to see if he could still gain the support of media and customers. "I wanted to see their response and to show what Thomas Wee is."

He got his answer - his clothes were a hit.

Having made a successful comeback, Mr Wee, who was voted by CNN Power List as one of the 30 people who have shaped Singapore, moved on to other shows.

He was one of three top Singapore fashion designers who opened the Women's Fashion Week 2011.

He showed a full collection of demi-couture in the country's first haute couture event attended by the president of the Federation Francaise de la Couture du Pret-a-Porter, Didier Grumbach.

The latter loved his collection and approached Mr Wee, telling him it should be shown in Paris.

But Paris will have to wait. Last year, he launched a full collection of womenswear and a capsule collection of menswear at the Digital Fashion week, and also a Special Presentation of demi-couture pieces in conjunction with French Couture Week 2012.

His collections are now available at multi-label boutique, Coda at Scotts Square, where prices range from about $300-plus for a top to $3,000 for an evening dress.

Things are looking so good that there are plans to open a Thomas Wee boutique in the near future.

"People who don't appreciate my clothes need labels to feel good," he states.

"My clients are the more poetic people. They really know what they want. They are intelligent women who don't have to ask their husband, 'nice or not?'"

The "King of Jackets" as Mr Wee is called for his perfectly tailored suits, is also known for his cutting techniques, architectural lines and signature "single seam" process where clothes are made with just one seam.

"I don't try too hard," he says of his design principle.

"I do something new but not tedious. It's effortless because my infrastructure is there, my workers are used to it. Once you know the technical part, you can do a one-seam dress that looks good on a woman without puckering."

The very strong signature in his work comes from his know-how in clothes engineering and his sensitivity to fashion progression.

"But I move away from adopting and adapting a trend as I can work within my signature style. My strength is that every piece of garment can be mixed and matched with all the other items that I design."

Involved in every step

The 64-year-old takes pride in the fact that he is involved in every step of the tailoring process - from sourcing for fabrics, pattern making and cutting to the final pressing of the outfit.

"I control everything and am not dependent on pattern makers and cutters to deliver what I want. If you have all these things in your mind but the clothes don't turn out the way you want, the end result is very painful for a designer who is an artist," he points out.

And local labels have to look and feel designer, he insists.

"A lot of Singapore brands, if you remove their labels and hang them on one rack, they all look similar, like they came from one contract. How many have a signature look of their own? And do you smell luxury?"

This is why he questions how other Singapore designers get by without pattern makers who are professionally trained in a very good fashion institute or dress-making school.

"There are local, Hong Kong or Asian dress-making schools in the 1980s and '90s and most pattern makers are Chinese educated. This group of people have worked so long, how many of them go to branded boutiques on Orchard Road to do market surveys? How many have seen or touched, let alone worn a Dior or McQueen? If not, how can they put out something that is comparable to the foreign brands?"

He is unapologetic in his views about local designers who want a fast track to designer status without putting in the necessary work in learning the craft.

"Every young designer wants to become a designer but wants other people to solve their problems. They can't rectify their problems and they don't understand why the jacket is not hanging well, the skirt is not falling properly."

What they need to do is study for themselves how nice clothes are made.

"In 1982, I went to Paris and was dying to see YSL's black Smoking Jacket. I saw the store's huge copper doors and inside, three well-dressed girls in black looked at me - a scrawny Chinese guy - coming in.

"I took the jacket and looked at the seams and inspected the fabric and everything. And how did I achieve my jackets' cut?

"I fell in love with Armani suits and jackets. I couldn't get hold of one, so I borrowed a few from a friend. I unpicked the lining and opened it up to see what kind of interfacing, shoulder pads etc, he used.

"So I learnt. I understood why a woman wearing an Armani jacket can drive because the back stretches enough.

"And why a local jacket is disproportionate, hangs back when you wear it and its sleeves are too big. So you knock off the fit and technique but not the design. There are a lot of things you can learn."

He lets on that all those years he was teaching, he numbed his desire to craft his own collection of clothes.

"But if you ask my students, all of them will tell you they loved those years I taught them because I was wicked but they always loved my humour, my dry wit," he says wryly.

"A lot of them have been with me for three years, and they may not be cut out to be fashion designers, but I've made them better people in terms of taste and having a more sophisticated lifestyle."

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