Daniel Boey, the festival's creative director, says being nimble is critical for local designers: "Looking at the labels I've curated for the fest, all of them - from the established to the raw and new - have a strong signature look, a business model that strengthens their brand proposition, and the foresight to pick up on business and digital trends before the pandemic hit."

When the government instituted a circuit-breaker period in April, brands that quickly pivoted online - such as State Property, Maisha Concept, GINLEE Studio and Binary Style - did better-than-normal sales, selling out even their premium items whose price points previously deterred online shoppers. The Front Row festival is making a big push to make Singapore and Asian brands more visible online where they can hopefully find a wider global audience to further drive digital sales.

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