Love, Bonito has kickstarted its evolution into a well-rounded, holistic womenswear brand with its recently launched activewear line, cheak.
The 2020 pandemic brought the world to a halt, but not for creative entrepreneurs who spent their days brainstorming, planning, and executing ideas at home.
This was the case for Olivia Yiong, co-founder of cheak, who spent 9 hours a day working on the production during the pandemic. We got the opportunity to speak with her during the brand’s soft launch recently.
Cheak, a play on the word “Cheeky”, is Love, Bonito’s sister brand and activewear line. Previously known as the label “butter.”, the re-branding came about when Love, Bonito acquired butter. in response to its successful Series C funding round. The acquisition and new launch reflects its aligned mission to advocate for women empowerment and confidence in the Asia Pacific regions.
The inspiration for cheak comes from Olivia’s struggle of finding chic, affordable activewear that fit Asian body types well. What makes cheak stand out in the current activewear market is its attention towards comfort and fit for the Asian women body types. This includes attention to sizing, colors, climate, and preferred sporting activities.
The current line has 12 styles in a range of colors and sizes. Based on selected fitness activities, one can choose the fabric that best suits their needed level of support: Base Core, a tighter, more supportive fit, or Base Flex, a looser, more comfortable fit.
The Base Core range is intended for high intensity workouts such as HIIT, spin, and running. It is sweat-wicking and compressive, which gives full support during dynamic movements. Base Flex is ultra-soft, comfortable, and silky smooth. It is better suited towards low-intensity activities such as yoga, pilates, or barre classes.
At cheak’s launch event, we viewed its product showroom, which consisted of the two ranges of fabric — Base Core and Base Flex — in a multitude of styles, colors, and sizes. From leggings to sports bras to bike shorts, the plethora of options proved there was something for every individual to showcase their character and personality. From personal experience as a fitness fanatic, it was easy to see how new customers could find a perfect fit to make them feel confident in the gym.
When we asked Olivia what she wants others to feel when they wear cheak, she said, “Confidence. Confidence is the main thing we want people to feel when they wear our brand. We want women to feel confident in the gym, and having comfortable yet stylish clothing is the cherry on top”.
“We looked at different countries and their activewear trends. For example, in New York and the U.S.,the fitness culture scene is usually bike shorts with brighter colors like bright pink, whereas in Singapore, you see people preferring leggings and lighter, pastel colors,” said Olivia when asked about the inspiration for the designs..
But it doesn’t end there, Olivia and her co-founder Tiffany Chng have a lot in store for the brand. She shared that shoppers can look forward to a new drop this December.
cheak has just launched publicly on Friday, October 21st and is available to purchase now on both Love, Bonito and cheak’s website. The line is also available in all Love, Bonito stores around Singapore.
