THANKS to the wonders of the Internet, enthusiastic fashion lovers have been indulging in a productive hobby that comes in three simple words – Do-It-Yourself.

One of the most popular tutorials I recall checking out on the online fashion community is a shredded T-shirt on the Childhood Flames blog (http://bit.ly/shreddedtee) in 2008.

It caused such a buzz that high street stores were selling mass-produced versions a year later.

Not that anyone was complaining – doing it yourself would have taken at least six hours of meticulous ripping.

If you’re interested in fashion DIY tutorials that don’t take as long, local fashion site www.tonguechic.com, which I was formerly the managing editor of, has regular postings on the topic.

I’m not just trying to promote online tutorials but also to talk about what DIY means these days. Instead of just DIY-ing clothes for themselves, girls have taken the initiative to provide fashion for others and marketing it at the same time.

At the top of the ladder is Luxirare (www.luxirare.com). With the tagline “killer clothes and fine cuisine”, the anonymous blogger single-handedly creates some of the most desirable items anyone who loves fashion would want – leather biker jackets, custom-made leopard print camera bags, and chainmail jewelry.

Her stuff doesn’t come at a small price, but it is quality that would make some designers bow their heads in shame.

In Singapore, a handful of young entrepreneurs have been manufacturing their own designs as opposed to simply sourcing them. Word on the street is that their turnover is so high, physical stores were opened after the success of their online businesses. Check out www.ohsofickle.com.sg and www.schwingschwing.com for an idea of this.

In Malaysia, one of the best collaborative efforts between fashion lover and fashion designer has to be Ultra (www.theultraultra.com).

Ultra was founded by Tengku Chanela Jamidah and Anita Hawkins, who work closely with Raffles Design Institute graduates Jonathan Liang and Tengku Syahmi to produce cutting-edge clothes made from innovative materials like “Tencel”, which is a kind of cellulose fiber made from wood pulp, and salmon skin.

Instead of just selling the pieces from their website and interested stores, the dynamic team made waves on Treehugger.com for their efforts in raising funds to show their Autumn/Winter 2011 collection in Paris later this year. Kudos to them for reaching their target just last week!

On a personal note, my friends Michelle Pong and Jacinta Cheng and I launched Leftblock (www.leftblock.com) last year. Our penchant for asymmetrical and loud patterned pieces are not satiated by stores easily available to us, which led us to forming the fashion collective to make clothes for ourselves, and others in the process.

We source the fabric from our travels before sending them to seamstresses and selling them on the website. Just recently, pieces from Leftblock were displayed for sale at The Secret Wardrobe shopping parties around the Klang Valley.

The Secret Wardrobe (http://on.fb.me/thesecretwardrobe) can also be exemplified as a form of DIY, when it comes to shopping. Founders Christina Lye and Natalie Tong are best friends who felt that women deserved a different shopping experience.

They started a service where they personally shop for individuals who sign up with them. Items are carefully handpicked in Hong Kong before being shipped to KL for a monthly “Secret Shopper Party”.

Held in a service apartment, girls are invited in groups to shop, while networking and helping themselves to snacks and drinks at the same time. Invites are limited at the moment, but they will be expanding soon.

Hopefully these DIY examples might inspire you to do something if you love fashion. Instead of complaining when certain items aren’t available to you, make it happen your way. Anything is possible nowadays with the Internet.