How Chota House spent 17 years building a slow fashion brand in Singapore

Chota House, an independent fashion label founded by Andrew Tay in 2009, has spent 17 years building a successful slow fashion brand in Singapore. The boutique, located on the fourth floor of 313@somerset, showcases Tay's dedication to craftsmanship and attention to detail, with vintage rugs, dark timber cabinetry, and garments carefully displayed. Tay's label embraces a unique aesthetic, blending heritage style with a modern twist, drawing inspiration from vintage military clothing and denim collected during his travels.

Having studied fashion design at LASALLE College of the Arts and previously worked in retail at Saint Laurent, Tay saw an opportunity to start his own independent fashion business after his friend decided to wind down Underground, a menswear store in Queensway Shopping Centre. Chota House's first store opened at Iluma (now Bugis+) before relocating to its current Orchard address in 2009.

While many independent labels manufacture overseas to reduce costs, Chota House continues to produce locally due to the high minimum order quantities required for overseas manufacturing. This decision also provides Tay with greater flexibility, allowing him to make small runs, adjust patterns, and refine designs based on customer feedback.

Tay's attention to detail is evident in the fabrics and techniques used in Chota House's garments. Ninety percent of its fabrics come from Japan through a long-standing relationship with a second-generation textile wholesaler. New designs are introduced gradually, avoiding traditional seasonal collections. Many of Chota House's garments, such as Gurkha trousers and noragi jackets, are handcrafted, allowing the team to experiment with various construction methods like indigo dyeing, sashiko stitching, and patina finishes that would be costly to reproduce at scale.

One of the label's signature pieces, the Gurkha trousers, features a double-buckle waist that cinches comfortably for a clean, structured silhouette, while the noragi jackets are inspired by Japanese field wear. These garments are crafted from premium Japanese fabrics and incorporate heritage details such as sashiko stitching and pankou button closures.

Chota House has even reworked Levi's jackets by hand, painstakingly unpicking, laying flat, and reconstructing each piece, taking more than a week to complete a single jacket.