By Harpers Bazaar on 26 February 2021

Big dreams start with the boldness to embrace change instead of sticking with the status quo. 

And that’s exactly what Rebecca Ting and Daniel Chew, the founders of home-grown label Beyond The Vines, did in 2020 when they rebranded the business amid a pandemic—making the switch from a pure womenswear label to a design studio whose offerings span multiple product categories. 

On the decision to “hit restart, refresh and reset” after five years pushing just womenswear, Chew says: “As we gained traction, we wanted to explore more and push the boundaries in design while keeping the ethos true. We wanted to peel the layers off to show our truest selves, raise the bar and be proud of what we’re putting out there.” 

This change in direction culminated in a sprawling new design studio that sits on over 2,200 sqft of prime real estate in Ngee Ann City. Step through the doors and you’ll find everything from ready-to-wear womenswear, menswear and kidswear to stationery, homeware, bags, caps and even masks—think the cult favourite Dumpling Bags as well as design-led products such as the reversible bucket hats, camping-inspired mugs and AirPods cases in the brand’s “A World Beyond”range. It’s also where you’ll find the label’s very first family collection, “Ready Steady Go!”, which was released in early February.

Design is always at the forefront

Clearly, much thought had been put into the rebranding. “Everything— from the products to the communications to the store itself—is conceptualised in-house,” says Ting proudly, who goes on to share that they designed the entire store by themselves. “We wanted to create a store that has great vibes—from the music to the colours, atmosphere and products. We wanted to create a store that has a personality of its own.”

Staying true to its ethos of making good design accessible to everyone, Beyond The Vines, which currently has boutiques in five countries (Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Australia), also serves as a launch pad for local designers. “One of the most fulfilling things for me is that our brand is able to serve as a platform as well as a display and retail space for our generation’s most courageous creatives,” says Ting. “At the core, we greatly believe in this and feel very blessed that we get to create an environment to help keep dreams alive.” 

“Not only do we want to create livelihoods for local designers,” adds Chew, “we also want to create products that are uniquely Singaporean and designed in Singapore.” 

Read more here.