A new wave of home-grown entrepreneurs in the fashion and beauty industries are pushing the boundaries - literally.
Slowly but surely, Singapore brands are making their presence felt overseas, from high-end boutiques in New York and London to emerging retail enclaves in Hanoi.
Take South Molton Street, one of London's trendiest shopping enclaves for fashionistas in the know.
It seemed set to languish as a Singapore-free zone when veteran designer Celia Loe - one of the first local designers to venture abroad - decided to give up her eponymous boutique there three years
ago.
But Singapore returns to the street later this year with the arrival of a Strip outlet, a grooming franchise owned and run by Cynthia Chua's Spa Esprit Group that has been such a success story here.
'We are working the recession to our advantage,' the entrepreneur told Urban.
'It's usually quite difficult to get a space on South Molton Street as they prefer top international brands. But now the market is softer.'
London is only the beginning. Chua has already opened outlets in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Dubai, and has her eye on entering China this year.
In 2010, you may very well see Strip and Browhaus outlets in New York's hip Chelsea district.
'Cities like New York and London are highly competitive and developed when it comes to grooming services and I believe the services we are offering can compete with the best,' she says.
'Going international has always been my vision, and I think there is a lot of advantage in building our brands in cities where the big boys and trend leaders are.'
Her role model when it comes to brand expansion is American coffee chain Starbucks. 'They saw a gap in the market and filled it, that's why their growth has been so explosive. My aspiration is to make our brands international market leaders.'
Joining her in the invasion of the world's top cities are fashion brands like The Link's Alldressedup, which is currently sold in multi-label boutiques and high-end department stores in 17 markets around the world and was recently featured in the June issue of British Vogue's High Street Supplement.
The invasion also includes FJ Benjamin's Raoul, which is currently sold in markets like Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
A New York showroom in trendy Soho - which will be used to display the line to American buyers - is in the works, says FJ Benjamin chief executive Douglas Benjamin.
Home-grown beauty brands are also making inroads into overseas markets.
Skincare brand Skin Inc will open outlets in Indonesia, Vietnam and China, and make-up label I Nuovi Professional (Photo 3) is already available in several South-east Asian and Middle East markets and is looking to expand into Egypt and China.
Both brands take pains to point out to consumers that their products are made in places established in cosmetics development such as Japan and Europe.
Still, foreign expansion is not an easy road. One challenge for local brands is Singapore's relative lack of history in terms of fashion and beauty heritage.
I Nuovi chief operating officer Patrick Sng says: 'Singapore is not known to be a leader in these fields. Even for Singapore consumers, we have to deal with the general perception that imported products are always better.'
Skin Inc founder Sabrina Tan, 35, has a different take on the challenge of marketing Singapore brands overseas: 'People don't really care about nationality as long as the product works.
'Singapore brands are also associated with integrity and a transparent working process. We lay everything on the table and don't tend to beat around the bush.'
Notes Kim Faulkner, the acting chief executive of Get Singapore, a new initiative to promote locally designed products from home-grown companies: 'Consumers overseas associate Singapore brands with values like reliability, quality and efficiency.
'We are seeking to move away from these stereotypical perceptions, to create something with greater emotional appeal and personality.'
Luke Lim, chief executive of A.S. Louken, a branding and retail consultancy that has helped brands like footwear chain Charles & Keith penetrate foreign markets, believes one way to do this is to develop a strong design culture through measures like setting up design schools.
'Good design is one way to develop brand value and give a product an emotional badge,' he says.
Home-grown designers like Ashley Isham, 30, and Rivy Ng, 33, show that the relationship between stellar design schools and stellar brands is an intimate one.
Ng studied at New York's Parson School of Design and decided to launch his label (Photo 4) there in 2005.
'Having studied and worked in New York and Europe for the past 15years, it seemed only natural to start the Rivy Ng label there,' he tells Urban.
His designs are stocked at top boutiques around the world, including Chicago's Ikram, which counts United States First Lady Michelle Obama as a loyal customer.
He recently moved part of his business here
'as it was always a goal of mine to have a base
in my home country'.
He adds: 'Logistically, it is also the perfect way to manage the South-east Asian region. I would love to open a boutique here in the future.'
Ashley studied at London's Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design and has flourished overseas, with boutiques in London and celebrity clients like Kylie Minogue.
Recently in town for the Audi Fashion Festival, he was invited to design limited-edition bottles for Coca-Cola.
A year ago, he opened his first flagship boutique in Singapore and is optimistic about the global prospects for local talent.
He says: 'Singaporeans always strive for excellence - it is ingrained in us in school.
'But this also means we can get too comfortable and become afraid of exploring new options. There's nothing wrong with seeing what's out there and pushing the boundaries a bit.'
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THESE LABELS
Alldressedup
Launched in 2005 by The Link's founders Tina Tan-Leo, 48, and Lionel Leo, 52, and designed by principal designer Sven Tan, 29.
Found in: The brand holds sales campaigns twice a year for buyers in top fashion capitals like New York, Milan and Paris during their respective fashion weeks.
Seventy stockists, including exclusive department stores Saks Fifth Avenue and Lane Crawford, carry the label in 17 markets such as Italy, the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Along the way: The label's spring/summer collections have always been strong, but designer Tan did have to spend more time in wintry climes to improve on the fall/winter collections, which now include more styles of coats and jackets as well as knit garments.
World domination plan: The celebrity endorsement factor for Alldressedup is growing slowly, with stylists for celebrities like Lucy Liu, Keira Knightley and Wendi Murdoch checking out the label. Buyers from Ikram, Michelle Obama's favourite Chicago boutique, have also come to suss out the brand's offerings. Next year, look out for Alldressedup's first standalone stores outside of Singapore. The brand is mum on details but says 'the Middle East is very important for us'.
Raoul
Launched in 2002 as a men's brand by retail group FJ Benjamin, it has since added a well-received womenswear line.
Found in: Dubai, Bahrain, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, where a new, 2,500 sq ft flagship boutique has just opened in a premium mall in Manila.
Along the way: Raoul is an old family name but has led some overseas customers to assume the brand was of Italian or Spanish origin, says chief executive Douglas Benjamin. Recently, the brand got an unexpected endorsement from French haute couture designer Dominique Sirop, who was in town for the Audi Fashion Festival and went shopping at a Raoul boutique. Benjamin says he was pleasantly surprised to see Sirop in a Raoul shirt when the two met for dinner.
World domination plan: Next up for Raoul (Photo 5) will be a showroom in New York for American buyers and inroads into London and Paris via multi-label boutiques. 'It's the beginning of a long journey. The dream is to have stores everywhere in the world one day,' says Benjamin. 'It will happen but it will take time.'
Spa Esprit Group
Launched in 1996 by entrepreneur Cynthia Chua, 37, this lifestyle group today owns brands like Brazilian waxing service Strip, brow-grooming service Browhaus and Qi Mantra, which offers massages inspired by traditional Chinese techniques. All these brands are being introduced to overseas markets because of their distinct concepts and relatively cheaper start-up costs, says Chua. 'A spa, for example would require more working capital and more complicated logistics.'
Found in: The Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Dubai (where promotional materials, by the way, are not allowed to mention the word nipple).
Along the way: The witty, naughty advertising campaigns for Strip and Browhaus have caught the attention of top titles such as US trade journal Women's Wear Daily, which featured Chua along with the likes of designer Stella McCartney in 2007. Says Chua: 'I'd love for people to start seeing Singapore in a different light because of our brands' creativity and innovation.'
World domination plan: New outlets will open in London, Shanghai and Beijing this year, and some are planned for New York next year. The Chinese name for Strip in China will be Jie Tuo (the Chinese characters for 'clean' and 'strip'). Chua believes there is room for growth because 'all cities move in the same way. Urbanites want the same things'.
This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times.
