Cover Ghostboy co-founders Cyii Cheng and Han David reflect on building an independent fashion label from the ground up (Photo: Amru Shakir)
Ghostboy co-founders Cyii Cheng and Han David reflect on building an independent fashion label from the ground up (Photo: Amru Shakir)
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The Kuala Lumpur-based fashion label Ghostboy traces the evolution of a Gen Z brand shaped by digital culture
Instagram once felt like a live marketplace, where drops unfolded in real time and comment sections quietly turned into bidding wars. Pieces would go up and within minutes, they were gone–fast, competitive and a little chaotic. That was where Ghostboy first began to take shape.
What stood out wasn’t just the speed, but the pieces themselves. Think upcycled denim, distorted tailoring and playful cuts that blurred gender lines. During the Y2K revival of the pandemic era, nostalgia and digital culture began shaping how a new generation dressed. The pieces felt experimental yet grounded in a recognisable, youth-driven design language.
Today, Ghostboy is known for its playful interpretation of youth culture, where gender-fluid dressing meets experimental silhouettes and a distinctly digital sensibility. And what began online has grown into an independent fashion label with customers across Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and the United States.
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Above Ghostboy at the KLFW 2025 runway (Photo: Hariz Amsyar)
Ghostboy at the KLFW 2025 runway (Photo: Hariz Amsyar)
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Across its recent collections, Ghostboy's design language has continued to evolve. While its early identity was rooted in upcycled denim and reconstructed silhouettes, newer collections reveal a softer, more nuanced side of the brand. Symphony No. 7 explored movement, layering and fluidity through draped silhouettes and delicate detailing inspired by musical compositions, while Apartment turns towards the familiarity of everyday dressing, reworking wardrobe staples through Ghostboy’s playful lens. Together, they reflect a label growing more refined without losing its experimental spirit.
For co-founders Cyii Cheng, 28, and Han David, 29, it all began as a workaround. “We didn’t have a website and didn’t know any other way to sell. So we just posted everything online and asked people to comment if they wanted it,” said Cheng.
Around 30 pieces would drop at a time in Instagram carousels, each release quickly taken over by the comment section. Sometimes, a single post would attract around 100 comments within 20 minutes. As demand grew, it became clear this was no longer just a side project.
Above Han David
Above Cyii Cheng
Han David
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Now with a website and a physical store in SS2, Petaling Jaya, Ghostboy operates on a very different scale from its early Instagram-drop days. But its financial rhythm remains the same. Built without outside investors, every ringgit earned has been folded back into production. In the early years, nothing was taken out, only reinvested.
It became a cycle of making, selling and rebuilding. The first year of Covid brought unexpected demand, but the second revealed the volatility behind it. “Today, every decision has larger consequences because we have a growing company to manage,” the founders said.
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Above The Ghostboy flagship store in SS2, Petaling
Jaya (Photo: Amru Shakir)
Above Recent drops are available at their store (Photo: Amru Shakir)
The Ghostboy flagship store in SS2, Petaling Jaya (Photo: Amru Shakir)
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They were still in their early twenties when Ghostboy started, building it on instinct and urgency. As it grew, so did the cost of creation; campaigns, production runs and inventory planning shifting from ideas into real financial weight. “There were many creative ideas we wanted to pursue, but we had to work within our budget and find alternative ways to achieve them.”
Campaign imagery became one of the brand’s most defining tools, even as it remained one of its most expensive. They were, however, fortunate to collaborate with people who believed in the brand. Photographer Nelson Chong, a visual artist working across film and photography, shot their first collection and continues to shape the visual language of Ghostboy today.
Cash flow became a discipline in itself. Early on, everything was reinvested with little forecasting. Over time, it evolved into a more structured approach, balancing demand, production cycles and risk. With Cheng’s background in finance and David’s in fashion, Ghostboy sits between two worlds: structure and instinct. Alongside the creative output came the quieter mechanics of fashion taxes, compliance and financial planning.
Above (Photo: Nelson Chong)
Above (Photo: Nelson Chong)
(Photo: Nelson Chong)
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Ghostboy’s early visibility didn’t come from campaigns, but from momentum. Haul videos, styling posts and creator content began appearing organically, without direction or paid influence. International attention, they explain, was never engineered. Influencer support was rarely paid for. Instead of chasing markets, Ghostboy followed where demand naturally surfaced. Stockists, pop-ups and then a more structured international presence followed. Today, its audience spans Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and the United States, with the US emerging as a key market.
Rather than targeting a particular market, Ghostboy attracts a particular kind of wearer. One drawn to experimentation, identity play and clothing that resists convention. That ethos carries through every touchpoint, from campaign imagery to styling breakdowns, process notes and behind-the-scenes glimpses.
Our products aren’t made for a specific country. They’re made for a type of person, and that type exists everywhere.
As the brand matured, so did its internal structure. Around 20 per cent of each collection is left deliberately experimental, while 80 per cent is designed for wearability and demand. It creates a deliberate tension, between runway-like expression and everyday reality. Statement pieces that define the visual identity of Ghostboy, balanced with grounded essentials that sustain it.
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Today, independence comes with a different kind of pressure. Rising shipping costs, complex logistics and an unpredictable global landscape continue to shape how the brand operates. Yet it also offers something many larger labels struggle to hold on to: speed.
“We can move fast. We can adjust,” said Cheng. What has shifted most is not the creativity itself, but what sits behind it. Margins, forecasting and cash flow now sit alongside design decisions, shaping what gets made just as much as inspiration does. Ghostboy began with Instagram drops and comment sections. Today, it exists in a different fashion reality. Building the brand is no longer the challenge, sustaining it is. Independence is no longer a phase, but a constant negotiation between creativity and survival.
Credits
Photography: Amru Shakir
Aliya Qarina is the Junior Style Writer at Tatler Malaysia with an interest in fashion and beauty. Her writing often focuses on contemporary style, beauty culture and emerging trends.
