Loop Garms & Stakeout: The New‐Gen Vintage Clothing Pioneers That Just Keep Levelling Up
Here are two names vintage lovers are familiar with.
Good ideas and good vibes keep customers old and new coming back to the space that houses both Loop Garms and Stakeout, says the businesses’ founders Sai Feng Jia and Isaac Ang. Says Ang: “Honestly, anybody can have products and start a store. People can visit and when they leave, they might forget what you have in the store, but one thing they’ll never forget is the way you make them feel, and that’s something that can’t be translated entirely online.”
WHAT THEY’RE ABOUT: Loop Garms is the seven‐year‐old vintage streetwear specialist that helped to kick‐start Singapore’s post‐millennial second‐hand fashion revolution with its impressive range of wearable pop culture merch from the 1980s to 2000s. Stakeout is its sister business that opened three years later and is dubbed a “select clothing store”, retailing largely new designs from a host of edgy‐yet‐everyday‐friendly Japanese labels such as Needles and Shinyakozuka.
Good ideas and good vibes keep customers old and new coming back to the space that houses both Loop Garms and Stakeout, according to its founders.
WHO’S BEHIND THEM: Isaac Ang and Sai Feng Jia, or FJ Sai – both 32 and possibly two of Gen Z’s most‐revered millennial fashion icons in Singapore, not only because of their businesses and their equally dope personal style, but also because of their creative and entertaining social
media skits. Sai assures: “We’re our authentic selves online and offline.”
WHERE THEY’RE LOCATED: Following a renovation last May, both Stakeout and Loop Garms share a unit at 635 Veerasamy Road in Little India.
Stakeout and Loop Garms got a fresh facelift last year.
WHY YOU’LL KEEP GOING BACK: That Loop Garms has stood the test of the Covid‐19 pandemic says plenty about Sai’s and Ang’s drive, resourcefulness and business savvy. Says Sai: “When people search for vintage clothing or select items on Google here, chances are, we’ll be among the top few hits because, as far as brick‐and‐mortar stores go, we’re among the few with regular opening hours that still do what we do. Social media is how people find out about us, but the in‐store experience is what really cements their impression of us.”
There’s also the fact that – just like with their social media antics – they keep coming up with new ideas to lure us in. Late last year, the duo launched not one, but two initiatives. Under Stakeout, there’s Pushing Daisies, an in‐house fashion label run by Ang’s mum Daisy that creates fashion‐forward staples such as the Mega Baggy denim jeans out of upcycled fabrics. The other is Rags‐O‐Rama, which is supposedly Singapore’s first booking‐only, session‐based rag house where those who successfully sign up get an hour to dive into and trawl through piles of ultra‐affordable thrifted garments (prices range between $1 and $30). The location is only divulged to participants upon confirmation of their slot and the idea is to give people here a more authentic and hands‐on thrifting experience. Now what will Ang and Sai think of next?
This article first appeared in the March 2025 Great Fashion Edition of FEMALE