"IF YOU WANT TO SHOWCASE WHAT YOU HAVE TO THE WORLD YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO BENCH AGAINST OTHERS, WHETHER LOCALLY, REGIONALLY OR GLOBALLY, AND THAT NE MUCH POLISH COME WITH A LEVEL OF NOT SO INTENTIONALITY. IT'S NOT ABOUT HOW EXPENSIVE OR BEAUTIFUL OR AESTHETIC YOUR SPACE IS, BUT ABOUT HAVING AN INTENTIONALITY WHEN YOU'RE CURATING CONCEPTUALISING AND DISPLAYING YOUR PRODUCTS, AND THINKING ABOUT THE STORY THAT YOU WANT TO TELL. THAT'S HOW PEOPLE CAN THEN UNDERSTAND YOU AND IN TURN SUPPORT YOU."
One of the things that jumps out about New Bahru - the lifestyle cluster that has taken over what was formerly Nan Chiau High School on Kim Yam Road in River Valley - most is that it's really nice. The brains behind it, the home-grown hospitality giant The Lo & Behold Group, seem to have it so well thought out, as if to leave zero room for imperfections.
Its list of 40-plus tenants reads like the crème de la crème of Singapore-based, mostly millennial-run creative businesses - from Kaia Nelk's cult art and design shop Studio Yono, founded online just two years ago, to Rishi Naleendra's critically acclaimed Sri Lankan restaurant and cocktail bar Kotuwa. Regardless of background, all are tried-and-tested successes that have been tasked to come up with something fresh for New Bahru - the top-in-class assembled to help this remodelled institution score high in creativity and culture, if you will. (Studio Yono opens its first standalone store while Kotuwa unveils an exclusive new location and look on site.)
This story is from the August 2024 edition of Female Singapore.
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This story is from the August 2024 edition of Female Singapore.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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