Local labels are not only opening freestanding stores in Orchard Road malls, they are staking their presence in housing-estate shopping centres too, such as the newly-refurbished and expanded Tampines One
The Editor's Market opening at Tampines One in mid-August
At the newly-refurbished Tampines One Mall, opened and opening soon are two popular Singaporean fashion labels respectively: Love, Bonito and The Editor's Market. The 14-year-old Love, Bonito on level 2 welcomed shoppers two weekends ago. Outside the store yesterday evening, one of two women looking in said, "Good hor, 不必去Orchard 了(don't have to go to Orchard)." The delight on their faces was unmistakable . When we asked them why Love, Bonito's opening made them happy, the other said, "their things very nice, mah." Although a weekday evening, the store was busy. Three patient husbands/boyfriends, lined against the store window, were waiting for their wives/girlfriends to finish shopping. A luckier woman was accompanied by her mate and when they emerged, the fellow said, "See, buy so many for you." She gave him a peck on the cheek. He said, "I want got sound one." An audible kiss he received.
The Editor's Market occupies the first floor of the Frasers Property-managed Tampines One (formerly the DBS Tampines Centre and Pavilion Cineplex, both now likely totally forgotten) with an impressive and expansive frontage that appears to stretch over three units. Previously, the brand occupied a space on level two; they vacated the spot last year. Now, they are back, with dramatically bigger frontage. They are expected to open in mid-August, after National Day. To the immediate right of The Editor's Market is another SG label, From There On (their second store). Just as Love Bonito is rebranded from their debut as BonitoChico on the largely obsolete-now LiveJournal, From There On is a also a reincarnation of their former name Runway Bandits that also debuted on the same platform. These three stores add to what is already an impressive gathering of SG brands, including two of the oldest and earliest Tampines One tenants, Love & Bravery and menswear store Recoil.
Also at Tampines One: Love, Bonito
Tampines One's new fashion tenant mix indicates that retail landlords have increased confidence in local fashion brands and are willing to give them prime space—on level one, for example, or right in front of an escalator. The concentration of SG clothing brands at Tampines One is on level two: nine. Other malls, similarly, are apparently keen to court some of these fast-expanding local labels, including the quietly popular and growing Playdress. A leasing manager told us that landlords are happy to accommodate brands such as Love, Bonito and The Editor's Market, and would woo them because "they do drive traffic to the mall". Moreover, she added, "these are top-performing local brands. They pay their rents on time. And they add variety to the usual affordable Hong Kong/Japanese labels." If that is so, we are surprised that Beyond the Vines was not tempted by Tampines One to join the blitheful company of SG names. As popular as many of these brands are, they seemed to target one customer group: women with unquenchable thirst for the sundress.
On social media, Tampines One touts itself as "an iconic retail landmark in the East, a haven for trendy, fashion-conscious shoppers." This positioning perhaps enables it to ensnare this many local brands to open in its complex. In the revamped Tampines One, out of about 24 clothing/shoe/accessories shops, 19 are local. Or, an impressive 80 percent. This figure does not include homegrown cafés, such as Tiong Bahru Bakery and Sinpopo Coffee and home ware stores, such as Hooga and Alemuchi. CapitaLand's Tampines Mall, comfortably separated from Tampines One by the Tampines MRT station, by contrast, has significantly fewer SG fashion labels (other than gold jewellery shops): Only two are familiar and popular: footwear brands, our own "luxury" Charles & Keith and the humbler Pazzion. Further away from Tampines One, the numbers at Tampines Mall's immediate neighbour Century Square—also managed by Frasers Property—are bleaker. There is only one garment retailer: Bega (excluding the general clothing store Peniwern).
From There On opened just a week ago
The first mall to actively court SG brands—the post-blogshop labels and those inspired by them—was Plaza Singapura in 2018. There was even the mall's "first-ever underground #StyleFeed Fashion Party" in April of that year to launch their newly-zoned floor. Special guests invited to woo shoppers included KOLs Yeoh Mongchin of the Mongabong social media handle and Daryl Aiden Yow, who was later embroiled in a plagiarism scandal. Despite similar aesthetics among "Singapore's most well-known blogshop labels-turned-retailers", as Plaza Singapura described them via a media release, basement one housed at least ten SG fashion brands, including Runway Bandit (now, From There On) and the presently-popular (and also growing) Fayth. Six years on, Plaza Singapura remains the mall with a strong local fashion retail presence.
Many of these brands are not only spreading their presence across our island, they are expanding overseas too. Love, Bonito is in Cambodia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. The Editor's Market, too, have gone regional, including the Philippines, and as far as the UAE, where they have a not unimpressive string of seven stores. Still, SG brands, despite discernible improvements, have yet to score big on the design and quality front. Love, Bonito has four stores in Hong Kong, but, as one textile development professional there told us, "compared with HK brands, Love, Bonito still looks sad." This speaks as much about the market as our brands' willingness to produce better. But qualitative value is perhaps less important that wider reach. Still, it is hoped that with a more expansive market, SG labels can bring themselves to offer some semblance of the credible.
Playdress is the earliest fashion brand to open at the refurbished Tampines One
With the recent announcement of the "accelerator programme", Lighthouse, by venture builder Louken Group, and supported by Enterprise Singapore, there is even better opportunities for SG brands to branch out overseas. Louken Group, which describes itself as "a possibilities company", helps hesitant businesses navigate the uncertainties of starting up in foreign markets by offering business knowhow, connecting to key resources, even providing capital commitment. Some local fashion brands that have signed up with Lighthouse are Ginlee and the menswear outfit Graye. And their first port of call: Indonesia. Ginlee had a pop-up in Surabaya once, but that hardly constituted market penetration, let alone brand awareness. In November, these two clothiers and five other lifestyle labels will be in Indonesia for a pop-up that will test the market there.
To go regional, SG brands are up against some strong players, including the Philippines's much-trending Harlan+Holden, designed by Valentino alum Alessandra Facchinetti. The brand, with stores across both Manila and Jakarta, is known to go beyond the ultra-feminine and languid shapes that have plagued many labels here. While the business and aesthetical model of brands such as Love Bonito are unavoidable, we still do hope that better—in both design and make—is part of their business strategies. However encouraging the total number of local brands at Tampines One are, the figure is still dismally small, compared to the total for food outlets. Yet, it is encouraging that the mall has not succumbed to turning their complex into an eating centre. At Tiong Bahru Bakery yesterday evening, two women were seen with Love, Bonito's paper bags. It was heartening to see evidence that proved contrary to a rapidly declining offline activity: shopping.
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