Jewellery brand By Invite Only sets its sights beyond Singapore after 17 years at home

[SINGAPORE] After 17 years of building its base in Singapore, local jewellery brand By Invite Only is ready to take a big step overseas and establish the brand in key South-east Asian markets. 

The brand is set to open its first regional store at The Gardens Mall in Kuala Lumpur in the middle of October this year.

Founder and chief executive officer Trixie Khong said the brand focused heavily on strengthening its Singapore operations before venturing abroad.

“Our intention was... to build up our space as the market leader and make sure that we had done everything we could in our home country before stepping outside,” she said. 

This domestic focus helped the brand scale quickly. Today, By Invite Only operates five physical stores in Singapore and an e-commerce platform that ships to more than 30 countries worldwide. 

At its peak in 2025, the brand had eight stores locally. However, it has since consolidated its footprint as part of what Khong described as a broader “shuffling and pivoting” phase.

For its latest financial year that ended in December 2025, By Invite Only recorded a year-on-year growth of 13 per cent. Physical retail contributed about 60 per cent of sales, while e-commerce accounted for the remaining 40 per cent.

Overseas sales through online channels made up about 5 per cent of total revenue. Malaysia was the brand’s largest overseas market, contributing to 38 per cent of overseas sales. This is followed by the Philippines at 20 per cent and Australia at 15 per cent.

For FY2026, the company is not chasing aggressive growth, said Khong. Instead, it is aiming to maintain its growth as it prepares for regional expansion. This marks a shift in mindset for the company, which has grown every year since it started.

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“It was actually a hard decision for us to say: this time, let’s not talk about growth,” she said. 

Malaysia as the first step

Malaysia was a natural choice for the brand’s first overseas store, given its proximity to Singapore, cultural similarities and existing online demand, said Khong. She added that the new Kuala Lumpur branch will serve as a test bed for how the brand performs outside Singapore.

The team will closely track weekly sales, product replenishment and customer feedback to better understand local buying behaviour, and tailor product offerings accordingly.

Khong expects some of the brand’s bestsellers in Singapore – including the tennis bracelets, basic hoops and products from its Miffy collection – to also sell well in Malaysia.

Even before the Malaysia store opens, Khong said, By Invite Only has already planned its growth strategy for the next 15 years.

She noted that while there is no need to rush the process, the long-term plan is to eventually have more stores in Malaysia and a presence in the Philippines. For the latter, she said the team is still exploring the market and is currently looking at pop-up opportunities.

Pop-ups have provided the brand with a way to assess customer behaviour before committing to a permanent store. This helps the team understand shoppers’ buying habits and the operational considerations involved in opening overseas. This includes payment methods, staffing and store rental.

“When you serve a customer and close the transaction, that is actually where the most valuable learning is,” Khong noted.

One key event that gave her the confidence to take the brand regional was a Singapore Tourism Board (STB) supported pop-up in Hong Kong in November 2023.

By Invite Only had been invited to participate in a weekend market held as part of STB’s “Unboxing. Made in Singapore” event which featured homegrown brands. At the event, a group of tourists from the Philippines recognised the brand, having come across it previously in Singapore and online.

The encounter was memorable for Khong as the brand had not invested in overseas advertising at that time.

“Everything overseas was organic because we had... poured everything into our Singapore market,” Khong said.

That made the team realise the brand was beginning to travel beyond Singapore through social media, word of mouth and its designs.

“Our designs were starting to speak for themselves,” she added.

IP as a market-entry strategy

A key part of By Invite Only’s regional strategy is its intellectual property (IP) collaborations.

Its Miffy jewellery collection was launched in Singapore before it was extended to Malaysia and the Philippines. The move followed strong customer demand in those markets.

The collaboration came about as the team was exploring a Mid-Autumn Festival collection and wanted to build on the rabbit motif in the traditional festival story. Instead of creating a generic bunny design, the team pitched the idea of using a licensed character.

“So much of our process is organic,” Khong said. “From there, we learn what gives us results, and then we double down on what works.”

The collection helped By Invite Only reach customers who were new to the brand but already familiar with Miffy.

Khong sees such collaborations as a useful entry point into new markets because it creates familiarity and trust. 

The brand plans to take on two more IP characters this year, with Malaysia included in the launches.

Building the team for expansion

By Invite Only is also focused on strengthening its next layer of leadership to support the regional expansion.

The company is currently helmed by Khong and her husband, Steve Shaw, who is the chief financial officer.

“We need to start building our next-level leaders,” she said, adding that the focus is on identifying people who can help take the brand forward.

For the Malaysia store, the company plans to send one of its marketing managers to be temporarily based in Kuala Lumpur. On the retail side, it is looking to appoint someone internally as store manager, with the aim of eventually developing that person into an area manager.

“We should always look at our own team first, and give our team the opportunity before we hire externally,” she said.

Expanding with intention

For Khong, the aim is not simply to grow bigger, but to grow more intentionally.

“We should be more intentional in the way we pursue not just the top line, but the kind of company and brand we are building,” she said.

Her advice to other local brands looking to expand overseas is to “take a bet” on themselves.

She added that while Singapore offers local brands a relatively safe and supportive home market, they should not underestimate their potential overseas.

“If we can make it in Singapore, I feel we can make it regionally,” she said.