WITH their spiky hair, all-black outfits and unfriendly expressions, Freddy Lim, Max Lim and Jason Wong look like rebellious street punks. They are into T-shirts with abstract motifs, cryptic slogans and bold colour splashes - allseen as being angst-ridden and dark.

Tough outside, softer inside : MeowMoo's designers Max Lim, Freddy Lim and Jason Wong say they are not what they seem. Photo/ BRYNA SIM

But the three design students at Temasek Polytechnic - all 19, but with big ideas and even bigger dreams - are young entrepreneurs, having started their own T-shirt design label, MeowMoo, about two years ago.

The initial conceptualising for the venture was in 2004. They then held trial runs in June 2005, and were subsequently awarded a $50,000 grant by the Spring Singapore-run Entrepreneurship Talent Development Fund in October 2005.

With that, they had enough capital for an official launch in February this year.

Today, their T-shirts are being sold on consignment basis at four different locations: Far East Plaza, Queensway Shopping Centre, Bugis Icon and Bugis Village.

Unlike the tough image they project, their clothing label, MeowMoo - combining two of the most docile mammals - betray their true personalities.

'We are not what we seem. We appear fierce, but that is because we want to make a strong statement with our personalities and designs,' explained Freddy, the group's director and leader of the team.

'We appear fierce, but that is because we want to make a strong statement.' - Freddy Lim

Max is the corporate communications executive, but ironically makes some of the strongest statements, while Jason, the design head, is the most reserved of the three.

There is clear camaraderie among the three, who have spent many sleepless nights coming up with their designs.

Photo/ ALAN LIM

'We started off with more than 20 people. But after a while, we made it clear that we needed a solid core team. So we restructured and now it's just the three of us,' said Freddy. But he is not worried about the group's small size, as he is grooming Jason and Max to be co-leaders as well.

The trio see their designs as innocent, cute, serious and dangerous at the same time. Suitable for the fashion-conscious - from grungy streetsters to punk rockers - the T-shirts are targeted for young people between 16 and 23.

Creating a good design can take anything from one day to a week, and they rely on hobbies and their Christian faith for inspiration. 'We're very into martial arts like Ken-do and Ninja-do, and God is an important part of ourlives,' said Jason. Fragments of Bible verses as well as Samurai images can be seen in their designs.

They currently sell about 30 T-shirts - each for $25.90 - per week, and expect to break even in about three to four months' time. They are also looking for more stores to retail their T-shirts at.

Next up will be apparel for girls, as well as an accessories range. 'Some of the girls want to buy our designs, but the cutting of the T-shirts is rather big,' explained Max.