Can Love Bonito triumph over a D2C model under threat?

Singapore-headquartered womenswear label Love Bonito is pushing the limits of what it means to be a direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand at a time when retailers are struggling to grow amid a global economic downturn.

Technically, D2C brands sell almost exclusively through digital channels. By bypassing intermediaries, online-native brands aim to lower operational costs while still reaching a wide audience.

The Love Bonito leadership team / Photo credit: Love Bonito

But companies have realized that this D2C model has to evolve. In 2017, Love Bonito opened its first physical store in Singapore. Since then, its offline footprint has grown to 16 retail stores across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Hong Kong.

Today, its Singapore business makes up around 50% of overall sales, the company says, with its international operations making up the other half. In some markets like Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, Love Bonito is also tapping into third-party marketplaces to reach more shoppers.

“A direct-to-consumer brand means having that direct access to a consumer, whether it’s online or offline,” Love Bonito CEO Dione Song tells Tech in Asia. “At the end of the day, we’re a brand, and we want to speak to a customer in the most relevant way, wherever she is.”

This is why Love Bonito is building a female ecosystem that goes beyond fashion, ostensibly to remain relevant to its core audience of Asian women. It’s doing that through partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and by engaging its customers through content on wellness and health.

In October, it acquired local activewear brand Butter (now rebranded to Cheak), just a month after it made a minority investment in Singapore healthtech startup Moom.

An ambitious international expansion is also underway: The firm plans to open a US store in 2023 with the eventual aim of listing in the country.

Building a “house of brands”

Song says Love Bonito’s products provide an “Asian sensibility” that many brands – even those based in Asia – don’t pay attention to when it comes to tailoring, fit, and design.

This might mean creating dresses that come with pockets or tops with adjustable shoulder straps that are comfortable for female customers even during that time of the month, increasing how often these clothes are worn and for how long they’re kept.

Like Love Bonito, Butter’s activewear espouses the same characteristics of being high-quality, affordable, and suitable for Asian body types. Under Love Bonito, it can leverage the D2C firm’s existing capabilities across sourcing, production, distribution, and the supply chain.

Photo credit: Love Bonito

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