With Singapore’s transition to Phase 3 at the end of last year, we’re looking forward to more activities and things to do on our shores. That also means more opportunities to support independent businesses (especially those with a brick and mortar presence) that were badly hit – and continue to reel – from the aftermath of the pandemic. With that in mind, we got in touch with some of our favourite homegrown brands to see what’s in store in 2021.
Who: Lelian Chew, founder of the floral design studio
How has business been like since Phase 2?
“The events planning and decoration business has taken a major hit, as gatherings were not allowed for a large part of last year, further extending into Phase 2. Our retail stores, including one in the heart of Orchard Road in Paragon (pictured), continues to see lower than average footfall, given how people are still cautious about heading out. All these have been extremely challenging to manoeuvre through. We quickly pivoted and demonstrated renewed purpose to our clients. One major switch was a renewed focus on our retail arm. We transitioned a big part of the team into the online retail arm of the business. We invested heavily in our web store, expanding our collection online beyond just flowers to include decorative pieces vases and scents.”
What do you have planned from Phase Three to draw in customers to your business?
“Our most immediate goal is to launch our Lunar New Year collection. With most staying in the country to celebrate this year, we’ve prepared a very special home collection for our customers to host guests with style. There will be some exclusive Lunar New Year items available only in store, encouraging customers to pay us a visit and soak in the festive spirit in our beautiful 8,000 square feet headquarters at Delta House (pictured). Next in line is the launch of our professional series of flower classes in this new year. We’re also looking forward to hosting a new cohort of students in our atelier with a brand new syllabus and lineup.”
What is one must check-out item?
“If you’re looking for a limited-time festive item, then it will have to be our ever-popular Pussy Willow Bloom Box. It’s auspicious and easy to maintain, and a great addition to any home! It’ll come with a special addition this year, stay tuned on what this surprise will be!”
Keep up-to-date with The Floral Atelier here
Who: Edwin Low, founder of the design-led brand and gallery store
How has business been like since Phase 2?
“Business started off slow at the start of Phase 2, but we do see a substantial increase in the number of new local customers after the launch of our new project Singapore Blue – a porcelain collection inspired by Singapore which features a collaboration with 20 local artists.”
What do you have planned from Phase 3 to draw in customers to your business?
“We’re re-looking at the idea of a physical space now (currently situated at 265 Beach Rd) that most transactions appear to have shifted online. We will be developing a slew of free-and-easy workshop kits and sessions related to the porcelain craft such as making your own porcelain piece.”
What is one must check-out item?
“Definitely the Bento Porcelain Workshop kit. Customers can compose and create their own porcelain piece from a selection of more than 100 different illustrations by local illustrators. And we will fire the finished piece for them.”
Who: Walid Zaazaa, owner of the fashion and lifestyle concept store
How has business been like since Phase 2?
“Even with a decrease in the tourist crowd who usually visit our store because they heard about us in their home countries, we still have a very strong base of Singaporean and expat customers. Business in-store is stable, and traction online at www.manifestoshop.com is growing fast.”
What do you have planned from Phase 3 to draw in customers to your store?
“For 2021, we are working on introducing new brands and in-store experiences; like meditation sessions, artist collaborations and personal stylist sessions. We are also reevaluating how we can be more sustainable with our offerings and customer touchpoints. Besides rethinking our packaging choices and other current practices, we are looking into having a sustainability program in place that will include our customers and some charity organisations. The Manifesto team is committed to minimising our environmental impact and helping customers do the same in 2021.”
What is one must check-out item?
“If we have to choose between our top two favourites – the Lemaire Twisted Shirt or Mad Et Len Potpourri – it’ll have to be the alluring latter.”
Who: Afzal Imram, co-founder of the contemporary fine jewellery label
How has business been like since Phase 2?
“Business has been gradually improving since Phase 2. Recent sales leading up to the holiday season have been encouraging, and we are hoping to keep the momentum. Our international sales have been quite affected due to the lockdowns in the various countries. We have also seen a shift towards online sales, which is a nice development in the world of fine jewellery where clients normally want to touch and feel the actual piece before purchasing it.”
What do you have planned from Phase 3 to draw in customers to your business?
“We are moving into a brand new location on Armenian Street (pictured), right opposite the Peranakan Museum. This space will bring about a fresh experience, with the official opening in the first quarter of 2021.”
What is one must check-out item?
“Our Battuta emerald necklace (pictured). This stunning necklace features a classic green and black combination that is in vogue at the moment. And it’s the perfect size and shape to complement most outfits, adding a touch of sophistication to your ensemble.”
Keep up-to-date with State Property here
Who: Keng How, co-founder of the artisanal menswear label
How has business been like since Phase 2?
“It has definitely been better compared to while the store was closed. But, due to the lack of tourism, our sales are still down by 50 per cent or more.”
What do you have planned from Phase 3 to draw in customers to your business?
“We will be putting more focus on our online offerings, and turn our space into more of a showcase as opposed to retail. We will also be creating a wider range of handcrafted as well as overseas products. Additionally, we are currently developing more lines (fashion and lifestyle products) for different market and demographics.”
What is one must check-out item?
“The latest F. Classic Striped Linen Shirt. This product is made using the best materials and embodies the spirit of our brand.”
Who: PC Ee, co-founder of this design and furniture label
How has business been like since Phase 2?
“Since the global lockdown, we’ve seen a decrease in orders from our global stockists with physical retail stores. However, digital sales have picked up and our accessories have been popular during the festive season. We’ve supported our e-commerce stockists with value-added services like personalised gift-wrapping. We’ve also seen a little pick-up in demand for our bespoke furniture service, with the resumption of interior and construction projects.”
What do you have planned from Phase 3 to draw in customers to your business?
“We plan to present ‘Eclecticism’, a showcase that we’ve put together and put on hold since Milan Design Week 2020 was cancelled. With ‘Eclecticism’, we’ve united a group of designers and architects to design and produce a collection that captures the rich essence of Singapore’s diversity. We hope to organise a physical showcase in Singapore in 2021. Of course, it is entirely dependent on how the Covid situation evolves this year.”
What is one must check-out item?
“The Essential furniture line (pictured) that Singapore and UK-based Viewport Studio designed for us. It is an apt representation of today’s situation in the design and manufacturing industry. Essential is built from individually sourced timber blocks or beams that were rejected for use in the construction industry, and prematurely disposed of, due to minor imperfections. These unique pieces are selected by the studio and machined with the minimum amount of wastage to fulfil its function as furniture. The collection was awarded Furniture Design of the Year at the prestigious Dezeen awards 2020.”
Keep up-to-date with Industryplus here.
Who: Tremon Lim, the owner of the vinyl record store
How has business been like since Phase 2?
“Alike many other ‘non-essential’ retailers, we closed during the circuit breaker. And since the opening of Phase 2, business has definitely been affected. We had quite a fair share of overseas customers who patronise our store whenever they swung by Singapore. On the flip-side, we see an increase in local music lovers who started to become interested in vinyl collecting. So that’s been good.”
What do you have planned from Phase 3 to draw in customers to your business?
“We’ve started making changes to our operations since the start of Phase 2 up till today. Instead of holding back and laying low, we pulled in more stocks than before, making sure to have more new arrivals/titles every week for our customers. It’s challenging for many of our overseas business partners supplying the stocks as they are still facing the full force of Covid. But so far, we managed to make it work and customers are happy. We’ll continue moving forward and expanding further in 2021.”
What is one must check-out item?
“The newly released Bob Marley And The Wailers’ Legend (Abbey Road Half-speed master version) LP. This specialist artisan process results in a more detailed representation of the original sound source cuts, with a far superior high-frequency (treble) response, and richer and fuller low to middle frequencies. All tracks were mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios in London.”
Keep up-to-date with Curated Records here
Who: Prashant Somosundram, general manager of the independent cinema
How has business been like since Phase 2?
“With social distancing and capacity restrictions in place, cinemas are only allowed to operate at maximum 50 per cent capacity. Private corporate and social events have also been restricted. These factors have severely impacted the business. With the protocols in place, we have been able to instil confidence in the safety of the cinema-going experience and we are glad to see strong support from our community in returning to the cinema for the big screen experience.
We have continued to push streaming content on The Projector Plus to cater to our community members who still prefer to adopt a more cautious approach. Our film festivals, such as the French, German and Japanese festivals have continued to do well, selling out the reduced capacity halls.”
What do you have planned from Phase 3 to draw in customers to your business?
“Phase 3 has minimal impact on the cinemas as the only change would be that the maximum number per group has gone up from five to eight. We will continue to programme our new releases and festivals, with the programming for Singapore Art Week approaching soon.”
What is one must check-out event/screening and why?
“One should definitely check out our Singapore Art Week programming, which is a hybrid festival (both in cinema and online at The Projector Plus) with documentaries that are not easily available on the big screen. In cinema, we have screenings of 3 documentaries: China’s Van Goghs, Marcel Duchamp: The Art of the Possible (pictured) and Lucien Freud: A Self Portrait. On The Projector Plus, you can stream: Van Gogh & Japan, Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean Michel-Basquiat and David Hockney.”
Keep up-to-date with The Projector here
Who: Alicia Tsi, founder of the sustainable womenswear brand
How has business been like since Phase 2?
“Online business has picked up slightly, although we are still missing a big part of our customers who prefer visiting us at our popup stores and at in-person shopping events.”
What do you have planned from Phase 3 to draw in customers to your business?
“We will be hosting smaller pop-ups in conjunction with fellow brands. For example, we will be hosting a pop-up at Perk by Kate’s lingerie studio (pictured) at the end of January. We are also planning to host more IG Live sessions, and share more videos on IGTV so customers can check out our new styles and get styling ideas.”
What is one must check-out item and why?
“The Painter’s Jacket is a beautifully tailored jacket that’s crafted from a silk-cotton textile and complemented with Corozo buttons (buttons made from palm seeds) from Panama. It comes in two beautiful shades that lend a bright pop of colour to any outfit, and is a nod to a more tailored approach and design sensibility for 2021.”
Keep up-to-date with Esse The Label here
