‘Patience is the real strategy’: How Indonesia’s ‘LV of scarves’ expands to Singapore and beyond
Buttonscarves eyes global expansion, riding on US$2.3 trillion halal economy
Lionel Lim
The strategies and stories that shape today’s leaders.
[SINGAPORE] Dubbed Indonesia’s “Louis Vuitton of scarves” by some, Buttonscarves, founded in 2016, is popular among Muslim women in South-east Asia for its premium offerings.
Now, years of sustained growth have encouraged the Indonesian modest fashion brand to look beyond its home region for new customers.
The brand, which already has physical stores in Malaysia and Indonesia, recently opened its first Singapore store in Jewel Changi Airport, a move that its CEO and founder Linda Anggrea said is key to its global expansion strategy.
“We want to use Singapore as a pilot project to see what else we can do next,” Anggrea told The Business Times at Jewel after the store’s opening on Oct 18.
The company’s expansion plan comes against a backdrop of a growing global halal economy.
Globally, Muslim consumers spent US$2.29 trillion on halal products and services in 2022, up 41 per cent from US$1.62 trillion in 2012, according to research from Salaam Gateway, a Dubai-headquartered organisation that tracks the global Islamic economy. That spending is forecast to rise to US$3.1 trillion by 2027.
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Buttonscarves’ growth since 2016 has been driven strongly by Muslim women in South-east Asia, a region that is home to the largest Muslim population in the world, and where incomes have also generally risen over the past few years.
Anggrea is now ready to experiment with Buttonscarves’ approach to reaching a wider audience, leveraging Singapore’s connectivity and demographic mix.
The eventual aim for Buttonscarves is to successfully break into the Middle Eastern market, where there is a potentially large audience and where incomes are generally higher than most of South-east Asia.
The brand’s Singapore store represents a lower risk option than to enter the Middle East aggressively right away, said Anggrea. For one, the city-state’s proximity to Indonesia means logistics costs can still be kept at a manageable level.
“Dubai is similar to Singapore, with many types of people and many types of style, but we don’t know yet if it’s the right strategy to open a store there directly; that’s why we’re trying Singapore first,” Anggrea said.
The company is also eyeing Turkey and has already created a subsidiary there.
Singapore marks the third country where Buttonscarves has a physical store. Anggrea said some successes with a non-Muslim clientele gave the brand confidence that its products could appeal even to a broader audience as well.
“Our store in Kuala Lumpur, in Pavilion (shopping centre) has so many Chinese tourist buyers, so that gives us the insight that we can target not only Muslim women.”
Modesty as fashion
While its primary clientele are Muslim women, Buttonscarves often does not position itself as a brand that caters predominantly to this demographic. Instead, it couches itself as a modest fashion house whose products can be used by those who wish to dress modestly yet fashionably.
Buttonscarves operates in the affordable luxury category and focuses on using higher-quality materials and novel designs to set itself apart. Its scarves currently sell at around S$75 apiece, making it more expensive than many scarves found at markets or e-commerce platforms. Yet, it is also priced a lot lower than those made by fashion houses such as Loro Piana or Louis Vuitton.
“I see the scarf as a universal product that can be worn not only by Muslim women,” said Anggrea. “For an Indonesian lady, because most of us are Muslim, we eventually wear the scarf as our hijab, but in other countries people wear scarves for style.”
Buttonscarves has since expanded into adjacent products such as female clothing, bags and accessories.
Buttonscarves is also the flagship in a group of nine brands that fall under the umbrella of the Modinity Group. Modinity earned revenue of between $80 and $100 million in 2024, a spokesperson said previously.
Right timing
Part of the growth can be attributed to a combination of growing incomes in South-east Asia, coupled with government pushes for a more halal economy in countries including Malaysia and Indonesia. Both countries have actively promoted Islamic banking, and Indonesia wants all cosmetics sold in the country to be halal-certified by October 2026.
“A large Muslim population, growing middle-class affluence, and the desire to live an ‘Islamic lifestyle’ combine to present a ripe opportunity for brands to target the Muslim population in the region,” said Afra Alatas, a senior research officer at the Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute.
She noted that there is also an increasing desire for Muslims in the region to adhere to their faith as they get richer.
“There is a growing demand for luxury items meant for religious practice or obligations,” she said. “These include designer headscarves and prayer garments, high-quality prayer mats, and even personalised Qurans.”
Three questions with Buttonscarves founder Linda Anggrea
Q: Was there a pivotal moment in your career or personal life that changed your approach to leadership?
I don’t think there was one single, dramatic moment that changed my approach to leadership. It’s more like a collection of small moments, the quiet ones that no one sees.
Every time a plan didn’t go the way I hoped, every time a team member surprised me with their growth, every time I had to choose between what’s easy and what’s right, those moments shaped me more than any big milestone.
Leadership, to me, isn’t built in one breakthrough. It’s built in how you show up every day, in the small decisions, the conversations after a tough meeting, the times you admit you don’t have all the answers. Those are the moments that change you.
Q: What is one piece of “unconventional wisdom” you swear by that most business schools would tell you is wrong?
When I built Buttonscarves, we didn’t start with massive capital or global resources; we started with a story, a belief, and a community.
Sometimes, the smartest move is to pause, listen, and build slowly but meaningfully. You don’t have to be the first to move, you just have to move with purpose. In a world that celebrates acceleration, I’ve learned that patience is the real strategy.
Q: When you feel burnout creeping in, what’s your non-business-related "panic button” activity or routine that reliably resets your focus?
When I feel burnout creeping in, I turn to moments that reconnect me to family, and creativity outside the office.
Whether it’s spending undistracted time with my children, going out with my husband or eating good food, these routines help me reset and gain perspective.
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