Cover Rye’s founder, Bessie Ye
Rye’s founder, Bessie Ye
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Tatler Singapore sat down with Bessie Ye, founder of Singapore womenswear label Rye, to discuss its unique DNA shaped by her travels, local community ties, and a commitment to considered designs
Our interview with Bessie Ye takes place on the sidewalk outside the Joo Chiat outpost of her womenswear label Rye, in a setting as eclectic as the brand itself. Perched on 1970s folding chairs, with the brand’s rattan fans in hand, we chat while watching the neighbourhood go by. Greetings from loyal customers, neighbours and friends frequently interrupt our conversation, a nod to Ye’s strong community ties. This sense of connection is mirrored within the store itself, which serves as a showcase for her design passions, acting as a hub for creative collaboration.
Ye traces her love of fashion back to her teenage years, during which she held part‐time retail jobs; this set the stage for her studies in apparel design and merchandising at Temasek Polytechnic. Over time, her focus shifted towards the creative aspects of fashion. “I fell in love with the design process, although I wasn’t good at craft like my peers were,” she says.
Read more: A coastal sanctuary in Joo Chiat: Homegrown label Rye opens new store
Above Bessie Ye
Bessie Ye
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One of her most pivotal influences, she shares, was the runway shows of “avant‐garde fashion designers” such as Junya Watanabe and Rei Kawakubo. “The world of Japanese design shaped my entire perspective and [motivated me] to major in fashion design.” Her internship with Australia‐based Japanese designer Akira Isogawa, she adds, was a life‐changing experience that “shaped who I am as a designer as well as my design philosophy and sensibilities”.
It was her stint as a junior designer in the fast‐fashion industry that served as the catalyst for founding Rye. Dissatisfaction with the sector’s transient nature steered her towards embracing slow fashion’s principles. “Fast fashion is a different ball game that’s about cost, trends and speed. Deep down, my values have always been about a timeless style or making clothes that last,” shares Ye, who adds that she sought for more “thought and intention” when it came to creating Rye’s designs.
Above Rye’s Resort 2024 collection
Rye’s Resort 2024 collection
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The name Rye, a playful nod to her surname, captures her conviction that fashion can connect with the basic yet profound aspects of human experience, much like the staple grain. “Rye [struck me] as a good name for the basics, the essentials and the everyday—much like the way rye is used to make bread,” she says.
Ye, who launched Rye in 2016, further shares that she was “so young [then]; only 26. There were a lot of business decisions or operations I wasn’t familiar with. I had to learn as I go, especially with marketing”. Rye’s big break came with a pop‐up at department store Tangs shortly after its launch, but “it took us about six years (of operating digitally, and being stocked at Tangs and multi‐label collectives) before we went brick‐and‐mortar on our own”, she says.
Above Rye’s Resort 2024 collection
Rye’s Resort 2024 collection
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In 2022, Rye opened its first store in Cluny Court; this was followed by a second on Joo Chiat Road late last year. Having her own physical spaces allowed Ye to fully delve into her passion for interior design. “[With the stores], I was able to create an ambience where I can house my own collection. Every store offers different expressions for me,” she says.
Designed primarily in‐house, the Joo Chiat outpost captures the essence of Ye’s varied inspirations. Her visits to Sri Lanka, for example, manifest in the store’s design elements, such as the wooden columns supporting the clothing racks, which mirror those in the residences of the Lunuganga Estate, the country home of renowned architect Geoffrey Bawa. The striped upholstery on the chairs and ottoman, meanwhile, was inspired by that in Bawa’s Colombo home.
Ye’s love of artisanal collaboration shines through in her latest store as well. The aforementioned columns, for instance, were designed by Ye and crafted by a trio of local craftsmen, among whom is a seasoned Teochew woodturner—a rarity in Singapore. The custom rug in the changing room is likewise designed by Ye and realised by the Singapore‐based Tanchen Studio, which specialises in textiles.
These influences, along with the locale’s heritage, also permeate Rye’s Resort 2024 collection, which features an eyelet shirt adorned with lace squares resembling Peranakan tiles—and presented as the ideal choice for vacations such as Ye’s time in Sri Lanka.
With a third shop set to open this June at The Lo & Behold Group’s new lifestyle enclave at 46 Kim Yam Road, Ye is now eager to merge worlds. At the time of writing, she is planning an upcoming community event of a live drawing session held in‐store. This initiative is part of a broader effort to bolster Rye’s commitment to cultivating a creative community. “We want to bring people together for something we enjoy, while mingling and exchanging ideas,” she says. “We want to cross‐pollinate different creatives.”
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Nafeesa Saini is the Features Editor at Tatler Singapore, where she shapes long-form stories on culture, business, philanthropy, wellness, and the people driving change in Asia. With a deep interest in storytelling that intersects meaningfully with identity and impact, she has profiled a diverse range of visionaries, from scientific pioneers in AI and health to creative trailblazers and literary minds.
Nafeesa’s writing includes cover stories and profiles that spotlight influential voices, alongside commentary on the trends reshaping our world.
Off the clock, Nafeesa unwinds with fiction, a good thrift hunt, and ‘brainrot’ TikTok scroll—while always keeping one eye on her next cultural getaway, usually to Indonesia.
