Describing the design ethos of Duxton as “California chic”, Sangalang says: “It’s that amazing messy-haired look that someone spent hours doing but they look like they just walked out the door [looking like that].” We are in Duxton’s showroom-cum-office located directly above Monument, and the charismatic couple is giving me a feel of their fabrics. Their spirited presentation tells me this is going to be a fun interview. Sangalang is vivacious and animated while Ramos is a little more contained — both as passionate and both 37, born just eight days apart, and there are just good vibes all round.
Duxton’s casual, yet quality, everyday essentials centre around the classic tee and its many iterations, along with a collection of short-sleeved shirts in funky prints. Going global
In choosing where to set up Monument two years ago, the couple deliberated between Singapore, Holland and Venice Beach in downtown LA. “Singapore won because we thought what we’re doing is quite different and unique to the space,” says Sangalang. They brought in gourmet coffee and tea from San Francisco as well as independent designers from the US that had yet to make their way to Asia, and it was here that they fell in love with the fashion world and decided to start their own label. Monument is a good testing ground for Duxton, its first point of sale, where its pieces retail for between $75 and $165. Plans for global expansion are already underway. In August, Sangalang and Ramos took Duxton to trade shows in LA and Tokyo. They are also in discussions with retailers in Singapore and the US to stock the brand. In the pipeline is also the development of men’s bottoms to complement the current collection of tees and shirts. Womenswear is not on the horizon, though. “Right now, we want to make sure we understand the market that we’re serving — that it meets the needs of what our clientele is asking for. Once that’s done, then we’re open to everything and anything,” explains Sangalang. Getting external investors to this self-funded enterprise is not on the cards yet either. “People who know Monument know the aesthetic we cater to, so we got quite a lot of offers for funding from early on. But we want to know the lane we’re swimming in before we add additional folks in the kitchen. We’d possibly be open to it after Year One,” she estimates. Ramos adds: “Between now and then, we are keeping our eyes open for partnerships and collaborations that we think would be interesting for the brand to grow, while keeping the team lean.” Adventurous entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia
The day Ramos and Sangalang arrived in Singapore four years ago, their driver dropped them off near a kopitiam on the corner of the street of their first home in the city. They saw people carrying little transparent plastic bags of coffee by the string and thought, “Oh! So, that’s how everyone drinks their coffee in Singapore!” Sangalang reminisces with a laugh. The pair did “zero research” before the big move from New York, where Sangalang had just sold the company she founded and built, a tech startup that innovated IT solutions in the HR space. “Okay, we did some research. But a lot of how we make decisions is with our gut,” she says. Heeding one’s instinct does appear to be a go-to strategy for many entrepreneurs. Also, the couple was clearly ready to answer the call of adventure. Fresh off the acquisition of her company, Sanga lang had received a call from an old boss who offered her a position to head one of their international markets. “He said, ‘We have offices around the world; pick the office you like best.’ We’d never been to Southeast Asia before and thought it would be a really great experience. We’re quite open to new adventures and trying new things. So, we knew if we waited too long [to make a decision], we would’ve said, no, that’s crazy [and pass up the opportunity]. If you talk about it for a very long time, you can usually talk yourself out of anything,” she says. Once the couple made the decision to carpe diem, Ramos landed a role for a Seattle-based startup in Singapore. “So, three months after that call, we were here with all our stuff,” says Sangalang. Two years later, the pair found themselves at another fork in the road when their respective contracts were up and they were deciding whether to head back home to the US or stay on in Singapore. Baby Matilda helped tip the decision in favour of Singapore. “We got pregnant two years in and this is a wonderful place to raise children. We also want to make sure that we’re raising Matilda in a place where she sees us doing what we love and what we’re passionate about, and that we’re not just clocking in and out every day in a job we have to do, so that she gets inspired to do something that makes her happy [when she grows up],” says Sangalang. Add the element of risk-taking to their entrepreneurial journey and you have an inspired philosophy underwritten by passion. The couple barrelled into this new domain with no experience in the fashion industry, but their start-up approach to the business has helped the brand gain good traction in a short span of time. “The No 1 thing we did when we started was get a team together that has been in fashion who knew all the manufacturers that were well-respected in the industry, and those people are our directors and our sounding board,” says Sangalang. Ramos adds: “With our backgrounds in startups, there’s a measured approach in developing a product — whether it’s a tech product or fashion product — and that has played to our strengths in terms of executing quickly and making sure we know what the end-goal is, and taking all the other inputs into account.” The biggest challenge for the couple in bringing Duxton to the market while running the café and retail store is drawing a clear distinction between work and home. “It’s interesting when your business partner is also your spouse. And the biggest challenge for us is in making sure we’re not just talking about Duxton all day long, which we can really do. The key is balance,” says Sangalang. How are they even still together? I ask, tongue firmly in cheek. As the explosion of laughter subsides, the fun-loving twosome puts it down to complementary personalities — and skillsets. “I’m much more big picture-oriented in terms of planning the grander picture for the next five years and the milestones we need to hit along the way, whereas Dustin is very meticulous about where we need to be each day in terms of operations,” says Sangalang. Any advice for other married couples building a business together? “Don’t do it…” Ramos’ voice drops to a whisper, triggering another eruption of laughter around the room.
