Singapore’s clothing scene grew up online. Many of its best-known labels started as blogshops or side projects run by friends who saw a gap between what was on offer in the malls and what young, style-conscious Singaporeans actually wanted to wear, and built full-fledged fashion houses from there.
That founder-led, direct-to-consumer instinct still runs through the market today, from Southeast Asia’s biggest homegrown womenswear brand to tiny, design-led labels reviving the cheongsam and samfu for a new generation. Add a wealthy, highly online, English-speaking population and a regional shopper base across Malaysia, Indonesia and Hong Kong, and Singapore punches well above its size for a streetwear clothing brand as much as for a considered, design-first label. The twelve brands below capture that range.
Overview of 12 Singaporean Clothing Brands
- Love, Bonito – Southeast Asia’s largest homegrown womenswear brand, built for the Asian fit.
- Ong Shunmugam – a contemporary label known for reinterpreting the cheongsam.
- Benjamin Barker – a menswear house specialising in classic and vintage tailoring.
- Depression – a genderless streetwear label with a punk and goth edge.
- In Good Company – a minimalist, timeless womenswear and menswear label.
- Arcade – a couple-founded blogshop turned playful, trend-driven fashion label.
- GINLEE Studio – a sculptural womenswear label at the intersection of fashion and industrial design.
- SABRINAGOH – a B Corp certified label built on minimalist, sustainable design.
- Youths In Balaclava – a Gen-Z design collective that showed at Paris Fashion Week.
- Collate The Label – a sharp, classic womenswear label from a Love, Bonito co-founder.
- Dear Samfu – a label reviving the traditional samfu for modern everyday wear.
- Rye – a minimalist womenswear label focused on timeless wardrobe staples.
Love, Bonito
Location: Singapore
Founded: 2010 (as a blogshop from 2005)
Price level: Mid-range
Product type: Women’s ready-to-wear
Style: Everyday, Asian-fit womenswear
Website: lovebonito.com
Instagram: @lovebonito
Love, Bonito started in 2005 as BonitoChico, a secondhand clothing blogshop run by childhood friends Rachel Lim, Velda Tan and Viola Tan on LiveJournal. In 2010, the trio rebranded to Love, Bonito and shifted from reselling to designing and manufacturing their own pieces, built specifically around an “Asian fit” that adjusted rise, shoulder width and hemlines.
The brand has since grown into Southeast Asia’s largest vertically integrated womenswear company, with stores across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Hong Kong. Love, Bonito’s rise from a bootstrapped blogshop with under 500 US dollars in starting capital shows how solving one specific, overlooked problem, in this case fit, can carry a brand further than chasing trends ever could.
Ong Shunmugam
Location: Singapore
Founded: 2010
Price level: Premium
Product type: Women’s ready-to-wear, bespoke
Style: Contemporary reinterpretation of traditional Asian wear
Website: ongshunmugam.com
Instagram: @ongshunmugam
Ong Shunmugam was founded in 2010 by Priscilla Shunmugam, a former lawyer who taught herself dressmaking and pattern-cutting before launching the label, named after her Chinese mother’s and Indian father’s surnames. Her debut cheongsam collection, Guardianship, launched in 2011 and reframed the traditional garment through a lens of modern, empowered femininity.
The label has since shown at Paris Fashion Week and been exhibited at the National Museum of Singapore, making Shunmugam only the second Singaporean designer to receive that honour. Ong Shunmugam is a strong example of how deeply personal heritage, treated with genuine craft rather than nostalgia, can carry a fashion label onto an international stage.
Benjamin Barker
Location: Singapore
Founded: 2007
Price level: Mid to premium
Product type: Menswear, tailoring
Style: Classic and vintage-inspired smart-casual
Website: benjaminbarker.co
Instagram: @benjaminbarker
Benjamin Barker was founded in 2007 by Nelson Yap, who named the label after a sermon he had attended about living generously, choosing “Benjamin” for its biblical meaning of son of the south. The brand focuses on dress shirts, tailored suits and smart-casual staples with a vintage-leaning sensibility.
The label has grown to around ten retail outlets across Singapore, with additional retail in Australia and Cambodia. Benjamin Barker shows how a menswear brand can build lasting loyalty by staying narrowly focused on classic tailoring rather than following every seasonal trend.
Depression
Location: Singapore
Founded: 2006
Price level: Mid-range
Product type: Unisex streetwear
Style: Punk, goth and Japanese-influenced streetwear
Website: depression.com.sg
Instagram: @depression.sg
Depression was founded in 2006 by Kenny Lim and Andrew Loh, who started the label after growing frustrated with their day jobs and unable to find affordable versions of the Japanese-inspired streetwear they loved. What began as a small t-shirt brand grew into a genderless label known for deconstructed cuts and predominantly black collections.
The founders have since shown at Berlin Fashion Week and Seoul Fashion Week, and count celebrities like Adam Lambert and the Black Eyed Peas among their fans. Depression also runs Sects Shop, a multi-label concept store, showing how a founder-led streetwear brand can grow into a broader platform for the wider scene it came from.
In Good Company
Location: Singapore
Founded: 2012
Price level: Mid-range
Product type: Women’s and men’s ready-to-wear
Style: Minimalist, timeless essentials
Website: ingoodcompany.asia
Instagram: @igcasia
In Good Company was founded in 2012 by a group of friends including Kane Tan and Sven Tan, built around quietly confident, trend-resistant pieces released in three capsule collections a year. The brand carried only womenswear at first before launching menswear in 2017.
The label has since expanded into Indonesia and Thailand while staying deliberately small in its collection sizes rather than chasing volume. In Good Company demonstrates how releasing fewer, more considered pieces can build a more loyal following than constant new drops.
Arcade
Location: Singapore
Founded: 2006
Price level: Mid-range
Product type: Women’s, men’s and children’s clothing
Style: Playful, trend-driven, timeless
Website: aforarcade.com
Instagram: @aforarcade
Arcade began as a blogshop run by Min Poh before her now-husband and co-founder, Collin Goh, joined and led a full rebrand into Arcade. Poh and Goh personally handled everything from photography to delivery in the brand’s early days, turning a side project into a full-time business.
The label now runs a concept store at Funan and produces collections for men, women and children, with each design taking two to three months to bring to life. Arcade’s founder-run, hands-on origin story reflects how many of Singapore’s biggest homegrown labels started with two people and no outside funding.
GINLEE Studio
Location: Singapore
Founded: 2011
Price level: Premium
Product type: Women’s ready-to-wear
Style: Sculptural, industrial design-influenced fashion
Website: ginleestudio.com
Instagram: @ginleestudio
GINLEE Studio was founded in 2011 by Gin Lee and Tamir Niv, two designers from fashion and industrial design backgrounds who bring 3D elements like geometric pleats into wearable pieces. Their combined international backgrounds, spanning Israel, London, Shanghai and Singapore, shape the label’s distinct visual language.
The brand has introduced a made-on-demand production system to reduce overproduction, alongside an in-store experience where customers can help make their own pieces. GINLEE Studio shows how pairing two very different design disciplines can produce a genuinely distinctive aesthetic rather than a diluted compromise.
SABRINAGOH
Location: Singapore
Founded: 2009
Price level: Premium
Product type: Women’s and men’s ready-to-wear
Style: Minimalist, structural, sustainable design
Website: sabrinagoh.com
Instagram: @sabrinagoh
SABRINAGOH started in 2009 as a single consignment rack in a multi-label store, originally under the name ELOHIM, before founder Sabrina Goh relaunched it under her own name over a decade later. The label has built its identity around minimalist, structural pieces that move between menswear and womenswear influences.
SABRINAGOH earned B Corp certification in 2024 and is now stocked internationally in department stores across the United States and Japan. Its growth from a single consignment rack to a globally stocked, certified sustainable label shows how patient, design-first growth can eventually outpace faster, less considered competitors.
Youths In Balaclava
Location: Singapore
Founded: 2015
Price level: Mid to premium
Product type: Unisex clothing, accessories
Style: Non-conformist, deconstructionist streetwear
Website: youthsinbalaclava.com
Instagram: @youthsinbalaclava
Youths In Balaclava emerged in 2015 as a Gen-Z design collective of over a dozen members, most without any formal fashion training, who describe themselves as pushing back against Singapore’s more buttoned-up cultural norms. The label caught international attention after a chance connection with a London-based photographer who documented youth culture.
YIB has since shown at Paris Fashion Week as part of Dover Street Market’s presentations and expanded into handcrafted silver jewellery alongside its clothing line. The collective’s rise shows that a strong, authentic point of view can matter more to international buyers than formal training or industry connections.
Collate The Label
Location: Singapore
Founded: 2015
Price level: Mid to premium
Product type: Women’s ready-to-wear
Style: Sharp, classic, refined womenswear
Website: instagram.com/collatethelabel
Instagram: @collatethelabel
Collate The Label was founded in 2015 by Velda Tan, who had co-founded Love, Bonito years earlier before leaving to pursue new ventures. The label focuses on sharp, refined pieces built around ruffles, pleats and peplums rather than the more casual, everyday styling she was known for previously.
Collate The Label shows how a founder with a proven track record can successfully build a second, distinctly different brand rather than repeating the same formula. It is a useful example for entrepreneurs weighing whether to diversify a personal brand into multiple labels rather than one.
Dear Samfu
Location: Singapore
Founded: Early 2020s
Price level: Mid to premium
Product type: Women’s everyday wear
Style: Nostalgic, deadstock-fabric samfu revival
Website: dearsamfu.com
Instagram: @dearsamfu
Dear Samfu was founded by sisters Theresa and Trixie Chua, inspired by a visit to their grandmother’s wardrobe and her collection of samfu, the two-piece top-and-trousers combination once worn daily by Chinese-Singaporean women. Theresa leads design and production while Trixie oversees marketing and finance, splitting the label along their existing professional strengths in architecture and accountancy.
The brand sources quality deadstock fabric from a small factory in Thailand and produces in small batches rather than at scale. Dear Samfu shows how a single inherited garment, examined closely enough, can become the foundation for an entire brand built on memory rather than trend forecasting.
Rye
Location: Singapore
Founded: 2016
Price level: Mid to premium
Product type: Women’s ready-to-wear
Style: Minimalist, avant-garde-leaning basics
Website: r-y-e.co
Instagram: @r__y__e
Rye was founded in 2016 by designer Bessie Ye, drawing inspiration from Japanese designers like Junya Watanabe and Rei Kawakubo to create timeless pieces with exaggerated silhouettes and unexpected details. The label has since opened a concept store and expanded into lifestyle offerings beyond clothing.
Ye has built the brand around collaborations with local designers and artisans, treating the label as a platform for Singapore’s wider creative community rather than a solo project. Rye is a good example of how a genuinely minimal aesthetic, done with care, is often harder to execute well than a maximalist one.
Other Notable Singaporean Clothing Brands
- Charles & Keith – global Singaporean export best known for shoes and bags, alongside apparel.
- Klarra – affordable, mix-and-match workwear label popular for professional wardrobes.
- Mash-up – quirky, print-driven label regularly featured at Singapore Fashion Week.
- Max Tan – experimental, avant-garde designer favoured by Asian fashion insiders.
- Esse – slow-fashion label focused on sustainably made everyday essentials.
- Inventory – sister-founded, made-to-measure tailoring and streetwear label.
Frequently Asked Questions about Singaporean Clothing Brands
Love, Bonito is by far the most widely recognised Singaporean clothing brand, alongside established names like Benjamin Barker and In Good Company.
Love, Bonito has the widest regional reach of any Singaporean clothing brand, while Ong Shunmugam and Youths In Balaclava have both shown at Paris Fashion Week.
Yes, SABRINAGOH holds B Corp certification and GINLEE Studio uses a made-on-demand production system, alongside Dear Samfu’s use of deadstock fabrics.
Singaporean streetwear brands like Depression and Youths In Balaclava tend to blend Japanese and Western subculture influences with a distinctly local, non-conformist attitude.
Most established brands like Love, Bonito, Benjamin Barker, Arcade and SABRINAGOH sell through their own websites and ship internationally.
Yes, Ong Shunmugam reinterprets the cheongsam and Dear Samfu revives the traditional samfu, both updating heritage garments for modern everyday wear.
