Love, Bonito CEO sees a year of growth ahead

Before joining fashion retailer Love, Bonito as chief commercial officer in 2017, Dione Song used to dress only in black. She told herself it was an "edgy" look, but it was really because she was afraid of standing out. But after seeing her colleagues and customers wear colours with confidence, she became inspired to try out different palettes.

Since then, Song's mission has been to empower women through the brand. Appointed as the company's first chief executive officer in January 2021, her first course of action is to grow the business in multiple directions.

Global expansion

Love, Bonito started in 2010 when co-founder Rachel Lim noticed a gap in the market for clothing that catered specifically to the average Asian woman's physique. While its headquarters remain in Singapore, the company has since established offices and offline retail presence in Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia. It also ships to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US and 15 markets across Asia.

The company began with 5 or 6 full-time employees excluding directors in 2010, which grew to a 300-strong team to support its bullish growth plans. Last October, Love, Bonito raised US$50 million in a Series C round led by China-based private equity firm Primavera Capital Group.

Song says: "When it comes to expansion, we're ambitious. We see ourselves really being the brand for everyday Asian women globally. This means not just women in Asia, but also Asian diasporas in Australia and the US, for example."

She adds: "To understand local nuances in all key markets, it takes a really strong global team. We are also looking to expand our omnichannel, which means identifying the right cities where we can expand, with refreshing and experiential touch points in the stores."

In 2022, she hopes to tap opportunities in the US, which has seen rapid e-commerce growth in recent years. Love, Bonito will likely establish its first US-based store in California or New York, where she is currently "seeing good traction" in online sales.

Despite the new waters, the company will continue to design pieces catered for Asian women, Song notes. She explains that the typical Asian woman's proportions differ from that of women in other parts of the world. This can make shopping from international brands more difficult.

"Colours that flatter European skin tones might not necessarily flatter Asian skin tones," Song adds.

While its target audience remains mainly the same, international expansion means the company has to refine a few aspects of the business. Since 2020, Love, Bonito has added fall and winter wear to its collections to cater to the seasonal changes in markets outside South-east Asia.

The company also taps data to sharpen its marketing. For example, Song notes that women in Singapore prefer jumpsuits and dresses, compared to separate top and bottom pieces. Thus, its Singapore website home page and social media pages feature more of these single-piece items, as compared to that of other markets.

As the company reaches new audiences, Love, Bonito is also looking to diversify the women featured in its marketing campaigns, ensuring that customers everywhere feel represented when they see the brand.

In terms of pricing, Song notes that prices will be "slightly different" across markets, depending on competitors' prices, market demand, taxes and duties.

"When we think about pricing, we strongly believe in democratising fashion," Song says.

However, Song adds that Love, Bonito's "affordability" does not place it in the category of fast or disposable fashion. Instead, the brand aims to produce durable products to promote sustainability.

Meanwhile, Song notes that Love, Bonito's manufacturing, which predominantly takes place in China, will "not really be affected" by the expansion. However, she plans to invest some of the acquired Series C funds into the company's supply chain operations.

Says Song: "We have seen disruptions across the entire supply chain in the past years and have been working closely with various suppliers and partners to mitigate them as much as possible.

"We can increase the efficiency gains by introducing more data and technology to our full value chain. We're also ensuring a seamless experience for customers, from placing their orders to doing a return, for example."

A customer-centric approach

Song's mission is not only to grow the company's reach, but also improve its products and product lines. This is done by taking a customer-centric approach, ensuring that products cater to what women actually need.

For example, before launching its undergarments collection, Love, Bonito invited its customers to share their experiences, their grouses about currently marketed intimate pieces, and their expectations for the brand.

Song adds that the company aims to be "as inclusive as possible" in its sizing. This includes having sizes ranging from XXS to XXL, as well as developing a size grading which could "cater to most women".

"The size curve is determined by data from our customers' purchasing habits over the years. For Love, Bonito, the median size happens to be an S. So, day-to-day sample fitting is usually done on a fit model whose size is within the median range. For brand new collections to be launched later in the year, we also get ladies of different sizes to try on the apparels in the initial phase, so that they are able to provide feedback on the fit and material," she adds.

The CEO is also looking to add athleisure and "physical, emotional and mental wellness" into Love, Bonito's product mix. This is "still in the planning phase" and she does not yet have details to share.

"We've always thought of ourselves as being in the business of women, not just in the business of fashion. We also believe that the future of retail is not just about a single category; fashion retailers don't have to stay in their lane. So if you've built a very strong community with your customers, you can also cater to them very thoughtfully across different categories," Song says.

She adds: "Love, Bonito can be evolved into a female ecosystem, a lifestyle brand of choice for Asian women globally. That would be the aspiration."

According to regulatory filings, Love, Bonito posted S$31.4 million in revenue in the financial year ended Dec 31 2020, down from S$32.2 million in 2019 but higher than the S$27.8 million in 2018. At the same time, the company posted a S$5.3 million net loss in 2020, following the S$7.8 million loss in 2019 and S$1.2 million in 2018.

On this, Song says: "For us, it's really first focusing the narrative on growth. This means expanding thoughtfully and quickly into new key markets, but also doubling down on existing markets. We focus on expanding our footprint first, before developing more economies of scale."