Page 22 - December 2022/January 2023 #177

Empowering the

VivoCity, Singapore

Everyday Woman

Love, Bonito is Southeast Asia’s largest vertically integrated, omni-channel
womenswear brand and since 2010 they have been catering to Asian women
who were struggling to find apparel that suits them. In this interview, RLI sits
down with Dione Song, CEO of Love, Bonito to learn more about a company
that inspires women to finds strength through adversity and to achieve and
realise their fullest potential.
he company believes they are not just in the business of “Our vision is to evolve into a female ecosystem. We will expand our
fashion, but in the business of women. They are committed to offerings to support women through various phases of their life in and
Tjourneying with their community through various seasons of beyond fashion.”
life, with apparels ranging from The Staples to LYLAS (their bridesmaids Beyond their physical expansion, the company is excited to be
line) and Embrace: Maternity to their Kid’s collection. expanding into additional categories including active apparel and
Over the past 12 years, Love, Bonito has grown to more than 300 wellness products. The business has begun this process with the
people strong and is proudly headquartered in Singapore. Last October, acquisition of butter., a Singapore-based women-led activewear brand
the company clinched US$50M from their Series C funding round and and a small stake investment in Moom Health, a Singapore-based
they plan to venture deeper into and beyond fashion, to be a true life natural healthcare start-up. This marks Love, Bonito’s commitment
partner for the everyday Asian woman. towards building a holistic female ecosystem with a house of brands
Today the brand operates 17 physical retail stores with six situated in that have been thoughtfully curated for the everyday Asian woman.
Singapore, five in Malaysia, three in Indonesia, two in Cambodia and one Recognising the pivotal role social media plays in the modern retail
in Hong Kong. In addition, their e-commerce sites ship to 20 countries world, the company adopts an omni-channel approach to provide
worldwide with dedicated websites for Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, customers with a seamless shopping experience, whether they are
Indonesia and Japan and an international website serving customers from shopping online from a desktop, via a mobile device or in a brick-and-
the rest of the world. mortar store. Song explains that social media has given them a great
As part of their international expansion strategy they have recently opportunity to hear feedback from the ground up and have an immediate
launched one store in each of the markets Hong Kong, Indonesia reaction to improve customer experience.
and Singapore. Most recently, one store opened in December at “We have leveraged our global platforms Facebook (280k likes),
Singapore’s Waterway Point, following a launch on 12 August at Instagram (446k followers), LinkedIn (24.4k followers),
Grand Indonesia shopping mall in Jakarta and a 22 July opening of TikTok (78.3k fans) and our newly relaunched
its first-ever flagship store at 30 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong YouTube channel to stay in touch with our
which also doubles up as the brand’s first brick-and-mortar store community and potential employees,” Song
outside of Southeast Asia. highlights. “Moving forward, we are also
“Looking ahead, we plan to supercharge our efforts in key working on having a more diverse and inclusive
international markets such as Hong Kong, the Philippines and the influencer pool, where we
US since these markets have collectively shown triple-digit growth look forward to partnering
over the past year and we see a lot of potential in them. In addition, with like-minded profiles
we aim to double down our efforts in omni-channel markets namely from different life stages,
Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia,” explains Dione Song, CEO of with different body
Love, Bonito. shapes and skin tones.”
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