The Closet Lover
Bertilla Wong, co-owner of online boutique The Closet Lover
PROFILE by Serene Chua
If you speak of multi-tasking, surely this pint-sized dynamo does it better than most of her schoolmates at the National University of Singapore. Meet Bertilla Wong, a Sociology major by day, budding entrepreneur by night.
At 21, Bertilla is one of the owners of a successful online clothing shop, The Closet Lover. Co-owned with her elder sister, Brianna, the blog-shop has grown tremendously from its humble beginnings in 2007. Today, what started as a venture for pocket money has grown into a thriving online business with a main office and two brick and mortar spaces to boot. It is also doing well enough for Brianna to quit her full-time job to focus her efforts on the online boutique.
The Closet Lover started off as an importer for women’s fashion, bringing stylish garbs from places like Thailand and China to the Singaporean fashion scene. Slowly, with the confidence from a pool of dedicated followers, they begun to manufacture garments inspired from renowned luxury fashion houses. And indeed, this was a move well played. The Closet Lover has since seen an increase in sales. The number of subscribers to its mailing list has swelled by almost 50%.
What this means for Bertilla, however, is the growing demand for time and energyfrom her. The key to do well in this highly competitive market, for Bertilla, ‘is to have regular launches so as to keep up with the latest trends, and also to keep loyal customers with continued excellent customer service.’ She said: ‘I’ve even had acquaintances and strangers coming up to me to tell me “Good job!” That was really heartening.’
While some may consider her focus (or the lack thereof) on schoolwork a tad skewed, Bertilla sees it as a ‘beginning to something big’. The idea of being her own boss and not having to take orders from anyone, to her, makes the lack of time for herself a worthy sacrifice, even if it means having to reply emails, design the site, edit photographs and study the latest fashion trends till the wee hours.
Come next year, she hopes to challenge conventions and push the boundaries, by further expanding the business to where she can bring it. Plans in the pipeline include launching a new line of garments designed by the pair. Bertilla can then add another feather to her cap – the title of a Fashion Designer.
If you speak of multi-tasking, surely this pint-sized dynamo does it better than most of her schoolmates at the National University of Singapore. Meet Bertilla Wong, a Sociology major by day, budding entrepreneur by night.
At 21, Bertilla is one of the owners of a successful online clothing shop, The Closet Lover. Co-owned with her elder sister, Brianna, the blog-shop has grown tremendously from its humble beginnings in 2007. Today, what started as a venture for pocket money has grown into a thriving online business with a main office and two brick and mortar spaces to boot. It is also doing well enough for Brianna to quit her full-time job to focus her efforts on the online boutique.
The Closet Lover started off as an importer for women’s fashion, bringing stylish garbs from places like Thailand and China to the Singaporean fashion scene. Slowly, with the confidence from a pool of dedicated followers, they begun to manufacture garments inspired from renowned luxury fashion houses. And indeed, this was a move well played. The Closet Lover has since seen an increase in sales. The number of subscribers to its mailing list has swelled by almost 50%.
What this means for Bertilla, however, is the growing demand for time and energyfrom her. The key to do well in this highly competitive market, for Bertilla, ‘is to have regular launches so as to keep up with the latest trends, and also to keep loyal customers with continued excellent customer service.’ She said: ‘I’ve even had acquaintances and strangers coming up to me to tell me “Good job!” That was really heartening.’
While some may consider her focus (or the lack thereof) on schoolwork a tad skewed, Bertilla sees it as a ‘beginning to something big’. The idea of being her own boss and not having to take orders from anyone, to her, makes the lack of time for herself a worthy sacrifice, even if it means having to reply emails, design the site, edit photographs and study the latest fashion trends till the wee hours.
Come next year, she hopes to challenge conventions and push the boundaries, by further expanding the business to where she can bring it. Plans in the pipeline include launching a new line of garments designed by the pair. Bertilla can then add another feather to her cap – the title of a Fashion Designer.