Like all good things, every brand starts off small. We’d know better than anyone–we’ve helped over 800 clients both big and small start or continue on their success stories. However, when we started off, we weren’t exactly anything to write home about, either. It’s hard to be small–and it’s even harder to grow.
So in 2019, us Polytechnic kids gathered, in a little studio hardly bigger than a storage closet, in a world teeming with uncertainty a year away from a global pandemic, and asked: “Why not make it easier?”
Shirtual started in Singapore, a small country of big innovations and even bigger ambitions. Students are raised from birth to build and grow on their own, responsible for organizing everything from major school events to even ordering their own uniforms and specialized shirts.
Finding the right partners and vendors to trust was difficult, especially as a kid, of course–Zhi Yuan and Nathan knew this better than anyone. After going through school together for 15 years, they grew up knowing the struggles of sifting through different suppliers and vendors for school event apparel. Many years later, they started Shirtual with Justin (another engineering graduate) to fill this niche and make the lives of future Singaporean students easier.
Eventually, this venture branched off to more general t-shirt printing and manufacturing services, expanding to corporate gifts and various local events. Like most things during that time, though, the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in their budding brand’s works–but it opened up something new as well.
Picture the atmosphere at the time: businesses closed, employees sent home and many folks left with very little to do. At that moment, many workers in Singapore turned their productive heads to new ventures, like starting a coffee roastery, a Youtube channel, an arts and crafts store from home, and much, much more.
Among those ventures was the budding apparel brand owner, faced with more challenges than the rest. Owning an apparel brand is tough–not only is competition stiff, but many owners struggle to juggle design, marketing, finding suppliers, and distribution all in one go.
The learning curve for owning an apparel brand was simply too steep for many beginners. So, in the middle of the COVID-19 downturn, with schools closed and events business in decline, the Shirtual team sat together amidst their spread out in-house equipment and wondered: “Why not make it easier?”
It was a logical expansion of the resources they had at the time. Years of experimenting and creative pursuits led to the workshop accumulating over 30 different printing techniques and dozens of fabric variations, making their merchandising offerings some of the most elaborate and flexible in the industry. They just needed to find a way to use it.
The team’s first major client came in the form of a close colleague who had decided to open up a new clothing brand in their free time. It had been mostly an experimental endeavor, but the chic style and distinct streetwear of the brand took off amongst the Polytechnic community. Shirtual supplied the company’s collections, using the opportunity to expand their roster of shirts and outerwear to catch up with trends. Oversized tees, varsity jackets, sweatshirts, shorts, acid washes, embroidery, patches–it was the perfect testing ground to create new ideas and show it off to the community.
Later on, the team took the chance to approach even bigger aspirations. Rave Republic was the first major client to take a chance at the budding merchandising service. A great fan of fun and parties, Nathan first approached Asia’s number 1 DJ duo in the least likely places–Instagram DMs. Despite their relatively low profile, the famous DJ duo took a liking to Shirtual’s variety and all-in-one merchandising services, taking on a collaboration to create a new branch of apparel for their raves.
Various connections and support networks allowed the team to work with numerous brands across the world, stretching from Singapore to Japan to the US to even the remote parts of Russia. This is where the team started to pick up knowledge of the different logistical documents required to distribute to worldwide locations. Soon after, they began opening distribution and warehousing services for various clients, further relieving any stress on new local and international apparel brands.
All of this was a big enough push to make the team realize their potential, not just as a shirt and gift printing service, but as an all-in-one solution for promotional material and apparel brands. Their first humble studio quickly crowded with orders, demand vastly outgrowing their space. It was time for a change; a big step towards solidifying Shirtual as a major business venture.
Thus, the move to Oxley Bizhub began.
Several months of renovations passed as our team worked to create a space that defined the business. Some of the practical clutter of the old studio days remained, exemplary in the scribbled whiteboard and equipment piled next to computer monitors on office desks, but the showroom was significantly revamped and a new charm emerged from the construction.
While we’ve worked with numerous famous brands up till now, providing merchandise and all-in-one services to over 800 clients, our doors still remain open to local brands looking for their new start.
Innovation and growth has always been a major part of Singaporean culture, but to the Shirtual team, it’s about more than monetary growth. Our best clients have always been the most ambitious–the tech geniuses or creatives willing to go above and beyond the standards of the industry and request something truly challenging. Custom shoes? Life-sized statues? Figurines, unique packaging, new printing styles? We thrive off of their ideas and live to see them through.
Though many things have changed over the years, the Shirtual team has remained relatively small and close-knit, consisting of a well-established network of friends. Our offerings have expanded significantly since we first began–what was once a local contribution to the school and corporate scene is now a one-stop solution for all manufacturing, warehousing, packaging and marketing needs for brands.
In the end, though, our main goal starts and ends in the same question. Starting a new brand is challenging. So why not make it easier?
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