Taking root: Ong Shunmugam goes global

Priscilla Shunmugam is a woman on a mission. Her five-year-old luxury fashion label Ong Shunmugam is hitting a major milestone — opening a new headquarters in indie enclave Chip Bee Gardens today. The 1,300sqf space fuses the front and back end of the business, with the design and production studio in the midst of the retail area so that customers can witness an Ong Shumugam creation being made while they browse the racks.

The new premise is a long-held dream come true for the 35-year-old founder and designer of the label, who confessed to sulking for a week when she was informed they had to move out of the brand’s former space at the basement of Hong Leong Building as the building was about to undergo major renovations: “I have a fondness for the Hong Leong Building space even though it was small and humble — it was the beginning of it all and it was proof that people loved us no matter what because it wasn’t a fancy space.”

The new premise is designed by edgy young spatial design firm FUUR and features a strong South-east Asian-with-a-twist concept that is at the heart of Ong Shunmugam as a brand. The cashier is meant to resemble the shape of the traditional sampan (a small wooden fishing boat) that harks to Singapore’s kampung heritage. Typically South-east Asian materials such as wood, rattan and terrazzo tiles also feature heavily in the chic yet homely interiors, which took two months to complete.

“Most retail start-ups are not be able to fully express themselves in their first location because of financial or operational challenges. Once upon a time, we could not afford to express ourselves in a space exactly as we want it, but now we can afford it,” she said.

The business has grown from strength to strength, with revenues doubling steadily year on year. The company turned profitable in its first year—a rare occurrence in the fashion industry—and its revenue for the first half of this year has already surpassed its total takings last year. Shunmugam attributes its strong performance, particularly in the face of strong global economic headwinds last year, to the brand’s unique aesthetic of heritage-meets-modern.

“When we first came onto the scene in 2011, people took notice of our work as it was very distinct and very fresh,” elaborated Shunmugam. She draws upon her mixed Indian and Chinese heritage, and her mother’s extensive wardrobe of cheongsams, as inspiration for her distinctive modern-meets-traditional aesthetic. The Ong Shunmugam label is known for its use of luxurious, traditional fabrics such as batik and brocade and its strong focus on the artisanal, hand-sewn quality of its pieces.

Shunmugam determined from the get-go that she wanted to establish a vertical supply chain and take production of her pieces in-house. Last year, she had set up a team of four full-time staff on her design and production team to work on pieces from her custom and ready-to-wear line; the latter is also outsourced to three additional teams outside of the atelier.

“One of the first things I picked up was that a big fashion house always established an internal production team. I had no doubt at all that I knew I was pitching way up high; I knew I was being slightly ridiculous,” said Shunmugam. This is typically a practice of haute couture houses like Chanel, and, unsurprisingly, Shunmugam is also unveiling a new custom tailoring and bridalwear line to accompany the launch of the new flagship space, simply named Ong Shunmugam Custom.

The most intriguing aspect of this new line is that Shunmugam plans to incorporate elements of traditional cultural costumes such as the Punjabi suit, sari, sarong kebaya and baju kurong, in addition to the cheongsam, to her customised pieces. “We want women to know that we are paying the same amount of attention to the different cultural heritages here; we need to be sensitive to these cultures as a true South-east Asian brand,” she explained. “We are living in contemporary times, so why hasn’t our local heritage fashion changed and evolved? Why does the cheongsam and sari have to stay exactly the way it was in the 1960s?”

The question of whether an aesthetic so rooted in the heritage of our little corner of the world map can be embraced abroad is one that begs to be asked, since Shunmugam is gunning to make the label a global success. She defines global success as a brand that has boutiques in all the major fashion capitals, shows regularly at Fashion Weeks and is stocked at all the biggest fashion retailers like Barneys, Colette and Net-a-Porter. But she is taking baby steps for now — she has a three-year plan to enter the Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia markets.

“If Scandinavian and Japanese design can be transplanted around the world, there is no reason why our (South-east Asian) aesthetic cannot travel around the world,” retorted Shunmugam. “We still underestimate (Singapore’s) heritage and history. The biggest hurdle for a homegrown brand hitting the big time on the world fashion stage, said Shunmugam, is the lack of a thriving fashion industry here.

“We don’t have a proper fashion manufacturing and textile industry; our fashion schools still aren’t able to produce students of a certain calibre in terms of design, technique and attitude and we don’t have enough local success stories in the fashion scene. Locally, I see that we have a responsibility to being committed to taking care of our identity and being committed to that individuality; and at the same time, being a profitable business. So that at least the kids and parents of those kids who want to go into fashion will be more accepting of them choosing this as a career path.”