Spreading His Wings

From bespoke handbags to accessible collections and womenswear: Singaporean luxury designer Ethan Koh opens a new chapter for his label.

- YANNI TAN

Scores of celebrities, including Hailey Jennifer Lopez, British Bieber, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and Carina Lau, are already faithful fans of EthanK. Such a feat is truly impressive, especially for a young brand born in 2011 when its founder Ethan Koh was still a student at Central Saint Martins.

From its beginnings as a custom maker of bespoke exotic leather handbags, the past decade has seen the brand in a flurry of expansion and evolution. Ethank diversified its offerings to include perfumes and candles, steered away from made-toorder pieces towards more accessibly priced and readily available collections, and extended its presence from its original home base in Harrods, London, to other parts of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

And that's not counting his numerous global pop-up ventures, which included a collaboration with Galeries Lafayette in Paris and an event launching a Harrods private members' club in Shanghai. As his clientele grew, he also started hosting intimate VIP shopping retreats, which he calls "collectors' reunions", in swanky locales such as the French Riviera.

While the local style set warmly welcomed the opening of Ethank's first-in-Asia flagship boutique at Scotts Square in October 2021, they have even more reason to celebrate now with the recent launch of a one-of-a-kind womenswear collection.

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"For a brand known for its handbags and accessories, this move may be quite surprising. In Southeast Asia, a luxury handbag is regarded as a status symbol, but to some, a beautiful dress or jacket is more important," says Koh, who has made these two garments the stars of his new capsule fashion collection named The Shield.