Archive for the ‘fashion’ tag
The seller interview: Sharon Siew (@cate_com_sg)
Tell us a little about your background.
I’d never really considered starting my own fashion business until I turned 24. My dad was in the Singapore Air Force and he was posted to Perth, Australia for work when I was 14. I majored in accounting and quantitative finance at the University of Western Australia, and upon graduating with honors, returned to Singapore and stepped foot in the corporate world as a management trainee in finance within local media behemoth Singapore Press Holdings who turns out the national daily, the Singapore Straits Times. My love for fashion had been inspired by reading Australian fashion magazines while at high school and university.
Although the nature of my studies and work had been highly numeric, I always had a creative bent that yearned for an outlet somewhere. I sought it with a move to marketing with Raffles Hotels and Resorts, where I picked up insights into branding for the iconic Raffles Hotel. All through this time, my dream of starting a business in fashion and marketing continued to beckon. I still remember the defining moment when I decided, over Häagen-Dazs ice cream, to take concrete steps towards realising my passion and I left the corporate world. I started out knocking on doors with no fashion experience or contacts, just a passion to launch a thriving online retail fashion store and champion talented fashion designers from our region, and presenting them to the world.
How did Cate get started?
The idea came to me one night of the blue two years ago. Now I was pretty certain that someone surely would have created an online fashion retail store stocking the collections of Asian designers. I shop online and I know there were Australian websites stocking collections by Australian designers, but there were no websites that pulled together apparel and accessories from the wider Asia Pacific region, and I felt especially that the Asian designers were under-represented online. We had our own fashion weeks and fashion festivals, and we were covered in the regional press at least that I knew of, but more often than not, ladies would not be able to get their hands on anything that caught their fancy. Timing-wise, the fashion industry in key Asian cities were only just beginning to develop, mature and find their voice.
Here I was, in cosmopolitan Singapore, seeing indie designers produce highly wearable pieces that were in equal parts elegant and edgy, at attractive price points thanks to low cost production and smaller marketing budgets. The result is that customers get to enjoy sophisticated designs influenced by popular Western culture yet also infused with our rich and diverse Asian heritage, by labels that are just waiting to be discovered. So I started developing Cate from this premise.
Tell us a little bit about the items you sell at Cate. What sorts of pieces do you specialize in?
Cate sells mostly indie apparel, followed by accessories and LUXE travel guides. We specialise in coolly elegant silk dresses and tops, effortless pieces that trend towards the classic, although we do love our designers who bring a twist to the classics and we also like items that are a bit edgy. We like relaxed tops but there are also lovely fitted pieces. To sum it up, we are all about effortless contemporary dressing.
What makes Cate unique in the online retail space?
We are still very new, of course, and to date, we have 23 brands on Cate. I feel that we are unique just by our brand mix. We carry online exclusives with brands such as Farah Khan, Nicholas, Burgundy, ReshamM, KOOPS by Keith Png. Keith for instance, is a fashion designer and recently, a TV host who regularly dresses celebrities and singers in Singapore and Hong Kong. ReshamM and Farah Khan both have delightful capsule resort collections comprising lovingly embellished dresses and playsuits. Theirs is a coolly modern look resplendent with signature embellishments in the form of silk wrapped roses and ruffles, beading and embroidery. Burgundy, another favourite label of mine, always reminds me of Bottega Veneta and Calvin Klein in their design aesthetic – timeless, sophisticated and just so quietly luxurious. Alldressedup is another fast-growing label that was featured on Germany’s Next Top Model in May this year. I adore their finishings, their play on colours and layering potential. Cate carries the widest range of their collection online.
Cate is great for ladies who appreciate the little-known and being in-the-know about emerging brands that could be the next Ashley Isham or Andrew Gn. As you know, shopping indie means owning a design that is produced in limited quantity. And it’s also great for intrepid travellers who have been by the region for work or play and in that time, having found a fashion brand they liked during their travels, realise it’s available on Cate! Or vice versa, be introduced to the brand online and go check out their boutiques when they swing by, I’d like that!
Are you originally from Singapore?
Yes, I was born in Singapore, and apart from my seven years in Perth, this has always been home. I’d jokingly say that we have brought Singapore’s Orchard Road online! Ok ok, in a small way for a start.
How do you market or promote your site?
Locally, we prize editorial mentions and endorsements in local press and magazines. Online, our site is search-engine friendly and we also use Google adwords, list on a number of shopping directories, put out press releases and e-newsletters regularly to customers and press, including inflight magazines because we want to see the word about Cate spreading beyond Singapore and Asia. I am always actively looking for cost-effective ways to promote Cate.
How do you use Twitter to help with your business?
I was introduced to Twitter by a good friend a few months ago, and was intrigued by the Twitter race between Ashton Kutcher and CNN, and how Ashton and Demi twittered in support of Susan Boyle, helping to propel her to international stardom. Suddenly the world seemed so much smaller. I put up a page for Cate but have only recently customised Cate’s twitter page and started twittering more regularly. To date, we still have a very small following and I hope to see that increasing! I’d like to connect a bit more with fellow twitterers and have two-way dialogue going on. I’ll be getting an iPod touch soon, and should be more linked in then.
Do you have any tips or advice for someone just getting her/his own business started?
Do your research, and have very clear goals and objectives and work towards that. Often, the small business owner IS the business and you have to learn to juggle the many roles until the business stabilises and you can have your own team working with you. Focus is so important! Having sounding boards in the form of mentors, close friends or spouses is great for injecting a good dose of objectivity in your planning. Also, work to your strengths and outsource those areas you are weak in or have absolutely no knowledge of. And most importantly, believe in yourself, and persevere!
