Text by Daween Maan
Dato’ Sri Daniel Chiang Fong Seng, Group CEO of Bonia
Grateful – is the first word that comes out of Dato’ Sri Daniel Chiang Fong Seng when he talks about his company. I had pondered coming into our meeting, what a 50-year-old, homegrown, family-owned, luxury fashion retailer would look like, and had I taken to preconceiving notions, I would likely have been proven wrong.
Bonia may be celebrating its 50th birthday this year, but there’s not much that is “old” about it. The scent of fresh wood, newly painted walls, and brand-new furniture lingers in the hallways of its headquarters, while the people who work there have also undergone a rejuvenation of sorts. Newly printed signs dot the corridors, reminding all who work there what the company’s values are, while showrooms with racks of the latest collections remind them what they’re there for.
“This is my responsibility, and I have to protect it, and grow it so it’s still here for another fifty years and beyond”
All of this is part of an on-going multi-year plan to lay the road for the public-listed corporation’s future, started by the founder and Group Executive Chairman, Chiang Sang Sem, and carried on by his son, the current Group CEO. “I am very proud and grateful of my father, and my uncles and aunties who worked to get us here,” says Dato’ Sri Daniel. “From their humble beginnings, they definitely sacrificed more physically, so I’m proud and grateful that they gave us better lives.”
“And now, this is my responsibility, and I have to protect it, and grow it so it’s still here for another fifty years and beyond.” Bonia has been in Dato’ Sri Daniel’s life since he was born; at 39-years-old himself, the company is 11 years older than him.
He happily recalls regular trips to the offices as a child, where he was allowed to roam through the R&D department, listening to the sewing machines, feeling the different materials and becoming familiar with the weight of the tools – if he ever picked one up, his father was quick to teach him the right way to use it. Once he officially began employment, this would evolve into prolonged trips to factories overseas, where he would learn about the trade and craftsmanship that went into producing their products.
Sixteen years in, Dato’ Sri Daniel has seen the company grow its number of stores, added to its portfolio of half a dozen brands, and slowly transform from a company managed by members of the Chiang family, to one that is run day-to-day by professionals outside the family.
Dato’ Sri Daniel Chiang and Datin Sri Linda Chen, the Chief Creative and Marketing Officer at Bonia.
“We’ve transitioned through a period where many of the old guard handed over, so internally we have changed how we work,” he explains. “Our success relied on the work of those key individuals, so we had to shift to building and relying on our systems. In that sense, I am very blessed, because we have young and energetic people here, so there’s a lot less firefighting.”
The company’s transformation, however, hasn’t just been limited to the back of house. With a clear understanding of changing consumer habits and the need to remain a relevant brand, Bonia is shifting the way it presents itself. Having faith that the last fifty years have built the bona fides of their product quality in the market, the current approach is to appeal more to your heart.
“The market has become more competitive,” explains Dato’ Sri Daniel. “There is an excess of brands, each offering a wider range of product design and style. It’s not just about the functional use anymore, it’s more about the personal experience of the person buying, so that was a shift in our business, from being very product driven marketing to becoming more emotionally driven.”
It is at this point, Dato’ Sri Daniel is glad to invite in Datin Sri Linda Chen, the Chief Creative and Marketing Officer, who is critical to this – she is responsible for carrying out the new brand direction, while also heavily involved in the design of many Bonia collections. She also happens to be Dato’ Sri Daniel’s closest confidant – being his wife and all.
“Everyone is out there wanting to sell a lifestyle,” she says. “But even to say “lifestyle” is very vague. My role is to create this space, online and offline, that can bring out our brand identity and create an emotional connection with the customer.” I am familiar of course with PR and marketing talk, usually trying to put into communicable words things that cannot necessarily be, but the intent however is clear – whether it’s the design of a store, the tactile qualities of their products, be it bag, clothes or accessories, Datin Sri Linda’s goal is to convey the idea that Bonia doesn’t just add to your look, it adds to your life. Part of that has also required an update to their approach in product design.
“In the past, our direction has always been ‘timeless and elegant’,” she reveals. “And we still want to keep that, it’s been part of our success story. But we also want to keep current and bring in younger customers, so we’re also being more ‘chic and playful’.”
The evidence of this comes from the most current iteration of a tradition Bonia has had for decades – brand ambassadors. Having previously collaborated on collections with local celebrity fashionistas like Scha Al-Yahya and Amelia Henderson, the current brand ambassador ticks off chic and playful right out of the box: South Korean singer Nayeon.
“She’s a good representation on how we can stay true to our brand positioning,” Datin Sri Linda says gleefully. “I think her fans can look at her and see themselves wearing those timeless pieces.” Nayeon also fits in with the bigger picture for Bonia, succinctly described by Dato’ Sri Daniel as “Go beyond Malaysia.” While having been in other countries in Southeast Asia since the late 1970s, and having other brands in the company, like Braun Buffel with a presence around the world, Bonia has yet to make that big leap.
But it wants to, and that’s part of his ten-year plan – to have ten permanent stores in ten major cities around the world; he doesn’t commit to any but doesn’t protest as I rattle off a few – Paris, Rome, Hong Kong, Shanghai.
While acknowledging the importance of e-commerce, Dato’ Sri Daniel still places value in brick-and-mortar stores, especially when strategically located, like in KLCC and Pavilion KL.
Since post-Covid, Bonia has relocated existing stores while opening new ones, bringing their total number of locations to over 50 across the region. Combining both approaches is how Bonia is testing the waters in overseas markets: creating pop-up stores for brand presence while using e-commerce to move products.
This balance of old and new sits at the core of the brand as it turns 50. The foundations are accomplished, solid and grounded in the same aspirations since the company’s formation, while everything that’s built upon it keeps up with the times it exists in.
While the old guard of the Chiang family have moved on, their work is continued by the next generation,albeit fewer in numbers, but no less passionate about their legacy.
This theme of the past providing the present the tools to build the future is encapsulated in Dato Sri Daniel’s answer when I ask him what excites him most about his job:
“That I have the opportunities to make whatever ideas I have happen. I’m very blessed that we have the resources to be in this position, where we are not limited by that when we want to do something. For our 50th anniversary celebration, we did a world class pop-up store in Pavilion KL; we were able to go all out, engage celebrities, fill the concourse with our brand, and just make it happen.” “And we can realise that because of what was passed on to us,” he says earnestly.
“So, I want to keep the brand moving forward, keep doing exciting things, so that when the time comes, I can pass the baton on to the next.”
