EXCLUSIVE: Love, Bonito Owner Rachel Lim On What Makes A Garment Special | ABS-CBN

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EXCLUSIVE: Love, Bonito Owner Rachel Lim On What Makes A Garment Special

EXCLUSIVE: Love, Bonito Owner Rachel Lim On What Makes A Garment Special

Carla Buyo

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Love, Bonito’s Rachel Lim co-founded the brand in 2010 with one mission in mind—to let Asian women stand a little taller, speak a little louder, and shine a little brighter with the right clothing. As one of fashion’s frontrunners in e-commerce, Love, Bonito has built a strong presence across Asia and in other parts of the world. The Singaporean brand recently took over the Philippines with their latest endeavor Love, Bonito on Wheels which features a pop-up filled with LB favorites from dresses, trousers, to jumpsuits, and more.


After the launch of Love, Bonito’s first pop-up in the Philippines, Rachel went to Manila to personally celebrate this milestone over mimosas with Love, Bonito's friends in the media. During this exclusive luncheon at the 1120 House, we spoke to Rachel about the brand's origins, ethos, and future.


Keep reading for our exclusive Q&A!




What’s the story behind the brand’s name Love, Bonito?

When we first started we were known as Bonito Chico which meant “pretty boy” in Spanish. Bonita Chica meant pretty girl but we thought Bonito Chico rhymes better. In 2010, when we started designing and manufacturing our own label, someone had already started Bonito Chico that’s why we had to change to Love, Bonito.

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The name Love, Bonito has a comma which looks and sounds like a sign off. This just means that everything we create, every product and experience, we do it with love.




If you were to epitomize the person you are designing for Love, Bonito, how would you describe her/them?

The person we design for wears many hats. She has many roles in life, she’s a career woman, a daughter, a partner, or a mom to a pet or a child. She’s ultimately a woman on-the-go. She wants to be able to have that spring in her step and confidence in what she does.


In Love, Bonito, we do what we do and we create what we create because of this women. Our garments our thoughtfully created so when a woman puts on our clothing she knows and feels that someone thought of her while making this clothing. We believe that a great outfit has an immense psychological effect on the way we feel about ourselves. When we look good, we feel good, we stand a little taller, we speak a little louder, and we shine a little brighter.

What makes a Love, Bonito garment special?

Comfort, functionality, and design are very important to us. Our ultimate goal is to have our pieces grow with our customers, have mileage, and last through the different seasons of life.


When we first started 12 years ago, brands were creating clothing primarily for Western women who have different needs, body proportions, and skin tone than us Asian women. I couldn’t find a pair of trousers that flatter and fit me well and I thought it’s because of my big Asian hips and my legs were too short but it wasn’t until I decided to create my own pair of trousers on Love, Bonito. That’s when I realized I can pull off trousers and it's only fitting to have an Asian woman design for Asian women.




#LBOnWheelsPh was a hit. What’s next for Love, Bonito in the Philippines? Any plans for a flagship store soon?

We are so excited and so grateful for the support from the Philippine market. For us, the Philippines has always been a special country in SEA. Our very first customer bought from us 8 years ago and ever since we opened up stores in Singapore, we had so many Filipino customers flying to Singapore to shop in our stores. So far, the response from #LBOnWheelsPh has been so encouraging! We are looking into so many options for us to open our store here but in the mean time, we’re focusing on e-commerce and also delivering to our customers through pop-ups.


This December, visit #LBOnWheelsPH at UP Town Center Amphitheater on December 10 to11, and at the SM Mall of Asia Atrium on December 17 to 18. Visit LoveBonito.com to shop online.


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