Catalog Is The Rad, Themed Concept Store For Design Enthusiasts Right Now
Your one-stop shop for all things cool and cute from Singapore’s creatives
Co‐founders Diana Yeo and Lee Wenxin report for duty at Catalog, the concept store they opened within an ultra‐cosy 100sqft shop in Golden Landmark last November and designed to resemble a retro office. Every corner is packed with stationery and lifestyle goods by emerging creatives from Singapore and overseas, and their goal is to reinvigorate the retail experience here while connecting young designers with customers in real life.
Says the architecture‐trained Yeo: “Design can be simple and quotidian, but it can also bring about great delight. With this ethos, we see Catalog as an experimental safe space where creators and artists come to test out their style, design and skills ... Some might consider it a milestone to put their work out in the mass market and, at the end of this retail experience, it can shape and make them rethink the way they design.”
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: In the words of its co‐founder Lee Wenxin, this is a “one‐stop knick‐knack dispensary for all things cool and curious” that opened within an ultra‐cosy 100sqft shop in Kampong Glam last November. Inside, find a revolving selection of fun yet tasteful wares ranging from apparel to zines to lifestyle goods by independent designers from Singapore and abroad.
WHO’S BEHIND IT: Lee, 27, describes herself as a “stationery/trinket/anything design fanatic” who quit a stable career in journalism after the passing of her grandmother last July to launch Catalog, managing it and taking care of its marketing, operations and outreach full time. Her co‐founder is her architecture‐trained bestie, Diana Yeo, 30, who’s an adjunct lecturer at the Singapore University of Technology and Design by day, and looks after Catalog’s admin and outreach.
WHERE IT’S LOCATED: #02‐34A Golden Landmark. Says Yeo of the space: “The shop’s tiny size
is what drew us to it. Being almost perfectly square and enclosed by a glass frontage, it felt like a stage for an art installation ... I thought it was quite a sight and that if we were to design it properly, it’d be an interesting place to visit.”
WHY YOU’LL KEEP GOING BACK: Yeo was right – we’ve not seen as playful a concept store here in ages. Inspired by inventive and thematic concept stores in Asia such as Daddy And The Muscle Academy in Bangkok and Mason Prince in Guangzhou, Catalog is designed to resemble a retro offifice. “There’s just something really fun about converting a place that’s usually associated with serious business into a playground of sorts,” says Lee. More than a haunt to snap Instagram photos in, though, it’s meant to encourage visitors to “see the world from a different perspective” while giving the brands – a rotating roster of around 20 at any one time – a chance to test how commercially successful their products are IRL.
Says Lee: “Many of these designers already have thriving online businesses, so we see Catalog as a space for them to connect with their fans. To me – even though it’s more risky than running an online business – Catalog only works as a brick‐and‐mortar store because our whole idea was to reinvent the shopping experience.”
This article first appeared in the March 2025 Great Fashion Edition of FEMALE