Three young, designer-led Singaporean brands to watch

[SINGAPORE] One gave up a promising career in consulting, another is a successful musician, while the third is an interior designer of commercial spaces with a desire to explore other creative fields. All are fresh young talents who started their own design-led brands across apparel and accessories last year.

And they are among the more than 300 names that are hoping to make a lasting impression at the biannual Boutiques Singapore, now in its 24th year.

The three-day fair, which has a Spring/Summer and a November Gifting edition, has grown from a showcase of just 17 brands with an expatriate focus to one featuring a 50:50 balance of local and expat brands.

This year, a record number of new fashion and accessory labels will join other independent, design-led brands in the fashion, furniture, lifestyle, food and children’s categories. There are also experiential dining concepts, workshops and lounges.

“When I first started Boutiques in 2002, I realised that there was so much creativity in Singapore, but not necessarily enough platforms that would connect them with a wider audience,” says Charlotte Cain, Boutiques Singapore’s founder who came to the city-state from Denmark in 1989 and started a pottery studio.

In curating the fair, one criterion is that a founder from each brand must be always present.

“(It) has always been about creating a platform where independent creatives, especially emerging local designers, can share their work in person and connect directly with shoppers,” Cain explains. Equally, she wants visitors to discover new brands they might not have come across otherwise, and to meet their founders in person for a deeper appreciation of their work.

Four years ago, she also started giving grants in the form of a financial subsidy, marketing support and mentorship to emerging local talents at each edition.

Several local brands that started at Boutiques have gone on to open physical stores, including bedding brand Sojao, shoe label Palola and artisanal matcha brand Matsu Matcha.

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Among the appearances this year are three labels that were birthed just last year – grant recipients Goliath Outdoor and Days of Ever, as well as Liau.

Goliath Outdoor

The North Face, Arc’teryx, Patagonia, Columbia. These are established names in outdoor and adventure apparel. But if a new domestic brand were to hit the big time in the future, it could be Goliath Outdoor.

The seeds for the home-grown brand were planted when avid mountaineer Kenneth Wong’s second-hand jacket from a reputable brand failed him while he was on a technical mountain climb in the Himalayas. “I was at about 5,500 metres and there was a thunderstorm. Water soaked through the jacket. I was freezing.”

He had bought it because a new one was too pricey, “even for a working adult with a very comfortable salary”, while mass-market brands did not meet specifications. By then, he’d graduated and started his dream job at a large global consultancy.

But one day, while he was on an overseas posting, he realised he would rather be eating cup noodles on a mountain than the expensive wagyu steak in front of him.

“If I were to work really hard, I could be like the manager who was with me then – with two kids back home,” recalls the 29-year-old accountancy graduate. “The salary was great, but I asked myself if that was really the life I wanted to live. And I was like, maybe not.”

That’s when he left the corporate world to create his own high-performance gear to fill a gap for quality, yet accessible, options in the market. But while Wong was good with strategy and numbers, he needed someone strong in marketing and building a solid personal brand.

For that, he roped in former university mate Maribelle Su, 26, as a business partner. The outdoor-lover also runs her own social media agency.

Together, they launched a founder-focused video about Goliath on social media in July last year. The viral video was followed by more reels showing them separately testing their apparel in real-life adventures – and sometimes very bad weather.

On one trip, the jacket from a well-known brand that Su’s partner was wearing during torrential rain got soaked through after an hour or two. The Goliath sample jacket, however, kept her dry.

“So I passed him mine and I used my backup, and our shell jacket kept him dry for the remainder of the hike, even though it was raining for a good six hours straight,” Su recalls.

After receiving many inquiries, Wong and Su started a crowdfunding campaign that netted them more than S$82,000 in 30 days. Orders now come from across the world, including the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

As for the label’s name, Wong explains that it was due in part to his late mother’s courageous battle against breast cancer.

“Throughout that time, it was very difficult juggling hospital visits, uni life and projects. Every day, I felt like there were so many giants to face. So the (biblical) story of David and Goliath really resonated with me, and how with a little bit of faith and courage, you can really defeat whatever giants that are in front of you.”

Goliath’s pieces are assembled in China by the same manufacturers behind the world’s leading outdoor brands. The prices start from S$99 for a short-sleeved merino base layer and up to S$269 for its signature shell jacket that protects the wearer from the elements while remaining breathable.

“Our prices are very attractive and many people are also buying because of features that can’t be found in other brands.” For example, Goliath’s shell jacket has seven functional pockets, including a dedicated ski-pass pocket, two-way zippers with waterproof backing for extra defence, a three-way adjustable, helmet-compatible hood, and a fleece-lined chin guard for comfort.

Meanwhile, its convertible pants can quickly transform from long trousers into shorts. It comes with zip-off leg panels which stow into an integrated pouch, with a hook and colour-coded zippers to make re-attaching the panels foolproof.

“Eventually, our goal is to go global and appeal to the bigger markets,” says Wong, adding that snowboarding companies have reached out for potential partnerships, while boulderers are using Goliath’s pants. “So we’re going to be focusing slightly more on hiking, snowboarding and bouldering.”

Liau

When performing with her beloved instrument of choice, erhu player Calista Liaw is unconventional – at once strong, sensual and mesmerising. Despite being just 26 years old, her image as a contemporary Chinese musician, just like her talent, has been carefully cultivated over the years.

And now, the energetic virtuoso who has played at everything from sold-out concerts and corporate galas to private events for luxury brands, is crafting a parallel career based on another passion of hers – fashion.

Under the label Liau – a play on her surname – the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music graduate is offering apparel and bags that reflect her distinct identity.

“I like to wear a lot of black and white; very sophisticated but loud pieces with an edge,” says the soloist and creative lead at non-profit arts entity The Teng Company, where she spearheads its division for immersive, multidimensional and high-impact bespoke experiences.

“I dress up a lot as an erhu performer, which in Singapore, is kind of unseen and unheard of. That was how I built my USP (unique selling point) and made my career succeed.”

Likewise, Liau – officially launched in August last year – fills a gap between cheaper, “cookie-cutter” fast-fashion brands, and luxury labels that “might be a little out of my budget”. It caters to a niche market of people who “vibe” with her creative vision.

The designs are also practical. A pair of skorts for instance, has extra-large pockets in which Liaw carries everything from her house keys and lipstick to a mobile phone. “It really has to be functional because I run around a lot and sometimes don’t carry a bag, so everything just goes into my pockets.”

Liaw personally shops for the fabrics herself – something she has been doing from years before, when she experimented with creating outfits for herself – and works closely with a local seamstress to have her designs realised. The bags are made in Bangkok and China.

Prices range from S$138 for a pair of satin skorts to S$348 for a shoulder bag in calfskin with leather floral applique – all of which she personally models. She also makes custom pieces, including a wedding outfit comprising an oriental-style top and lace pants for someone who found Liau online.

She also crafted a pair of shorts and a matching top with French lace detailing for F1 TV analyst and presenter Ruth Buscombe, who wore the outfit to the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix on race day.

For Liaw, Boutiques will be her label’s first real-life event, with the savvy entrepreneur admitting it has been taxing running Liau as well as preparing for and performing in back-to-back shows.

“Because of the way I brand myself, my performance career has an expiry date. So my biggest goal would be for Liau to become a much bigger, creative label. Then I can still curate artistic performances with fashion and music without necessarily being on stage.”

Days of Ever

Chew Rui is one of the rare breed of young adults who stayed with the same employer for a decade. After graduating from Temasek Polytechnic with a diploma in retail hospitality design, she’d worked non-stop as an interior designer for commercial spaces. And she had become tired.

That’s when she decided to “explore something else”, taking a year off to travel the world, covering places from Asia and Europe to South America.

“That was very liberating. I knew that design is something that I wanted to do; but I also wanted to be a well-rounded creative rather than be labelled as just an interior designer,” says Chew. She sees jewellery design as an opportunity to translate some of the ideas she had but could not realise in interior design.

“It was very natural for me to go into jewellery because it felt very personal, unlike interior design, which is for people using the spaces,” she adds. “I like the idea that there is personal meaning attached to jewellery, but when it’s passed into your hands, it forms a different kind of meaning for you.”

So from designing spaces across 100 to 10,000 square feet, she started working on creations on a far smaller scale. As a starting point, Chew taps into her feelings before extracting forms from there. She then uses 3D printing – sometimes up to 30 or 40 times per item – to get the prototype designs right, before refining minor details and letting them go for production in South-east Asia.

And just like that, her jewellery line, Days of Ever was born in April last year.

“The name plays on the words ‘day’ and ‘ever’, because I wanted this idea of having moments that we preserve forever,” explains the petite 31-year-old.

The art-like pieces are sculptural, organic and quietly expressive, reflecting elements of nature such as water, mountains and landscapes that she likes. “If you look at it, you can understand my aesthetic,” says Chew, whose pieces are stocked by local fashion label In Good Company. “My customers are people who really resonate with my brand and understand the ideas behind it.”

These include design-savvy creatives “with a bit of disposable income”.

Her earrings, rings and necklaces are made in sterling silver and plated with rhodium or gold vermeil. Prices range from S$125 for an ear cuff and can go up to about S$1,000 for a more complicated piece.

“Creatively, I love what I’m doing. I feel like there’s so much to explore and there are so many things that I want to do.”

Boutiques Singapore: The Spring/Summer Edition 2026 returns to the F1 Pit Building from May 15 to 17. Tickets start from S$8 for a single-day pass. Children under 12 enter free.