SINGAPORE: In a climate of retail slumps and woes, one
Singaporean fashion label is aiming to use a new bricks-and-mortar
flagship store to help push the brand to greater heights. Known for its
unique contemporary-meets-traditional aesthetic, five-year-old local
label Ong Shunmugam officially opened the doors on Aug 18 to its new
home at creative indie enclave Chip Bee Gardens after relocating from
the Hong Leong Building in Raffles Place.
The 1,300 sq ft single-storey unit houses the multi award-winning fashion label’s office, design studio and retail offerings. They have been brought together in a space where customers can get a behind-the-scenes peek into the production studio where an Ong Shunmugam original is being made right before their eyes.
It is a major move for a homespun brand which has developed in the space of five years from being a local sensation to an international force to be reckoned with. With creations drawing on founder and designer Priscilla Shunmugam’s mixed Indian and Chinese heritage, Ong Shunmugam has been worn by everyone from former Nominated Member of Parliament and actress Janice Koh to US Ambassador Kirk Wagar’s wife Crystal at the White House state dinner.
For the 35-year-old, the opening of the new store marks a key development in the label's history.
“I think we had great growth for the past five years, simply because we introduced something very new to the fashion market in Singapore,” she told Channel NewsAsia. “We gave women what didn’t exist prior to this so that served us well. But you know, five years on, we are not a startup anymore. And you have to ask yourself a big question: ‘Are you contented and are you happy with where you are? Or do you want to go further?’”
These may be tough questions to ask against a backdrop of a Singapore retail environment perceived by some to have lost its uniqueness and which is fighting against the challenge of slowing economic growth. Nonetheless, Shunmugam thinks she has the key to survival.
“I think from day one right from the start, I knew that the key to existing and thriving in fashion was differentiation,” she explained. “There’s nothing more ... I mean, you can have capital, you can connections and you could have everything in place, but if you didn’t understand the need to put something on the table that didn’t exist before you, then things would be tough.”
It is a fine line between fiery creativity and savvy business know-how and Shunmugam’s got plenty of both. She chose to sit down with financial firm Deloitte to assess how she should take her brand to the next stage, after various offers and options came flooding in.
“There was too much at stake. And too many people who believed in us for me to stop. Or for me to be contented or to give up. So here we are five and a half years later with a very refreshed purpose and a great drive and also a very accurate understanding to get there, wherever that is … This is just the beginning!”
The 1,300 sq ft single-storey unit houses the multi award-winning fashion label’s office, design studio and retail offerings. They have been brought together in a space where customers can get a behind-the-scenes peek into the production studio where an Ong Shunmugam original is being made right before their eyes.
It is a major move for a homespun brand which has developed in the space of five years from being a local sensation to an international force to be reckoned with. With creations drawing on founder and designer Priscilla Shunmugam’s mixed Indian and Chinese heritage, Ong Shunmugam has been worn by everyone from former Nominated Member of Parliament and actress Janice Koh to US Ambassador Kirk Wagar’s wife Crystal at the White House state dinner.
For the 35-year-old, the opening of the new store marks a key development in the label's history.
“I think we had great growth for the past five years, simply because we introduced something very new to the fashion market in Singapore,” she told Channel NewsAsia. “We gave women what didn’t exist prior to this so that served us well. But you know, five years on, we are not a startup anymore. And you have to ask yourself a big question: ‘Are you contented and are you happy with where you are? Or do you want to go further?’”
These may be tough questions to ask against a backdrop of a Singapore retail environment perceived by some to have lost its uniqueness and which is fighting against the challenge of slowing economic growth. Nonetheless, Shunmugam thinks she has the key to survival.
“I think from day one right from the start, I knew that the key to existing and thriving in fashion was differentiation,” she explained. “There’s nothing more ... I mean, you can have capital, you can connections and you could have everything in place, but if you didn’t understand the need to put something on the table that didn’t exist before you, then things would be tough.”
It is a fine line between fiery creativity and savvy business know-how and Shunmugam’s got plenty of both. She chose to sit down with financial firm Deloitte to assess how she should take her brand to the next stage, after various offers and options came flooding in.
“There was too much at stake. And too many people who believed in us for me to stop. Or for me to be contented or to give up. So here we are five and a half years later with a very refreshed purpose and a great drive and also a very accurate understanding to get there, wherever that is … This is just the beginning!”
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