Ever heard of Charles & Keith? Of course you have.

But did you know it was founded in Singapore? With around 700 stores in over 30 countries, some would never guess it's a homegrown brand from Southeast Asia.

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👠 A shoe-in!

Brothers Charles and Keith Wong grew up watching their mom run a little footwear store in Singapore.

In 1996, 22-year-old Charles decided to open his own shoe store after learning how to run a shoe business from his parents. Keith joined two years later. (The two brothers didn’t even finish university!)

Their mom wanted to close down her store because it wasn’t making much money. But Charles wanted to do things differently and create their own brand, so he took over his mother's business.

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💡 Standing out

They named it Charles & Keith. They didn’t want to sell shoes from wholesale suppliers, which was the traditional way. Instead, they’d learn about what their customers wanted then create and manufacture their own designs!

By 1997, they started doing that and were designing all shoes in-house within three years. Keith would design the shoes, and Charles would manage the sales. They didn’t know it at the time, but this decision would be key to their success.

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🌏 Oh-so-fast expansion

Now, it was time to expand. Charles & Keith opened their first store outside Singapore in Indonesia in 1998.

By 2004, they made their first move outside of APAC with a store in Dubai in 2004.

Pioneering spirit.They were also the first Singaporean company to launch an e-commerce site in 2004, which means they could reach customers beyond just brick and mortar stores!

And by 2011, 15 years after they launched, they had 230 stores globally.

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👜 Stepping beyond shoes

Charles & Keith didn’t just expand internationally. They grew their product lines and launched new brands.

In 2005, they launched their first collection of women’s bags. In 2006, they also launched Pedro, a men’s brand, which they expanded to include accessories and serve women as well.

By 2015, Charles & Keith expanded to jewelry, and by 2017, they launched the Little Collection for kids.

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💰 A big deal

In 2011, L Capital Asia (now L Catterton), a PE firm linked to LVMH, acquired a 20% stake in Charles & Keith for 30M SGD ($23.5M).

This valued the company at 200M SGD ($158M)!

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👋🏼 Here and now

Now, according to their website, Charles & Keith is entirely owned by the Wong family. The brand has been around for almost 30 years now!

While more and more brands are expanding into SEA, it continues to stay strong, especially in APAC and the Middle East.