Bryan Ng recalls watching team after team running out onto football pitches around Europe wearing jerseys emblazoned with Italian sportswear brand Kappa’s distinctive Omini logo in the late-90s and early-2000s.
“AC Milan, Roma, Juventus, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Barcelona; even the Italian national team were sponsored by Kappa for the UEFA Euro 2000 held in Belgium and the Netherlands,” he says. “Thanks to its associations with the top European professional teams, the brand quickly became a household name across the continent.”
Opportunity calls for Bryan Ng
From his base in Singapore, entrepreneurial Bryan knew an opportunity when he saw one. “It was a brand that my early business partner and I recognised as one that had huge potential for our local market,” he explains. After all, football is a sport that enjoys a tremendous following in the region – and even a handful of owners, including the Singaporean business magnate Peter Lim who purchased Spanish La Liga team Valencia for a reported €420 million in 2014.
“We also realised that there was the opportunity to dress not only people while they were playing sport but also before and after. We wanted to develop lifestyle sports merchandise as well,” he explains. Bryan had a proven track record: as a sales executive for classic American shoe company Converse, he was responsible for launching the brand into Malaysia.
Brimming with enthusiasm, Bryan’s next step was as simple as it was effective: he picked up the telephone. “We started to communicate with Kappa’s regional representatives,” he says. From there, the pair were flown to Kappa’s northern Italian headquarters in Turin to meet the company principal. “We introduced ourselves: who we were and our past experience. And, more importantly, we demonstrated what we could achieve for the brand as its licensee – how we proposed to represent, distribute and grow the brand in the region,” he remembers.
15 years as the Kappa licensee
The duo landed back in Singapore with their mission accomplished. “The principal believed we were the right partner that the company was looking for,” Bryan explains. “Initially Kappa granted licensing rights for the Singaporean market only,” he says, “but eventually this expanded into Malaysia and Indonesia as well.”
He admits the early days were tough. “We had to start from zero to create a new distribution network and to create new business partnerships with factories,” he recalls. But all the hard work has paid off. Today, Bryan is celebrating 15 years as the Kappa licensee, the past 6 with Augment International, a company he independently founded in 2011. He is also the managing director.
As licensee, the company collaborates closely with Kappa’s designers in Italy to create what Bryan refers to as “the Asian capsule.” He adds: “We cater to the local market and tastes in style, colour and fabric.” These designs are then manufactured in the region: China, Taiwan and Vietnam. There is a small range of products that Augment International is not permitted to produce under licence – such as official sporting team jerseys – instead importing them direct from Kappa in Italy.
Developing a domestic range
Bryan explains that Augment International has a dedicated team of internal designers who operate out of its Singapore headquarters. “We create our own designs here; however, what we produce cannot be too far removed from Kappa’s international brand image,” he says.
We create our own designs here; however, what we produce cannot be too far removed from Kappa’s international brand image.
He emphasises how important it is for his team to understand the history of Kappa, a brand whose roots lie in socks and underwear and which was established by Abramo Vital in Turin in 1916. The name Kappa (a reference to the Greek letter K) was officially registered as a trademarked brand in 1967. It made a spectacular entry into the world of sports sponsorship just over a decade later, when the Kappa logo adorned the iconic black-and-white vertically striped vest of local football behemoth Juventus in 1979.
Today, it produces a range of sporting designs for men, women and children, and dresses not only leading football teams but also French top-flight rugby teams. It’s also the official outfitter for the prestigious French Riviera sailing event Les Voiles de St-Tropez.
Sergio Tacchini
This longstanding union with Kappa has opened Augment International to a licensee agreement with another renowned name in Italian sportswear, Sergio Tacchini. The brand, named for its eponymous founder – and former professional tennis player – was established in 1966, and the sport of tennis runs through its DNA.
Today, the name is most recognised as the major sponsor of the prestigious ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo Rolex clay court tournament, although the list of players it has been associated with over the course of its 50-year history reads like a who’s who of Grand Slam winners, including Novak Djokovic and Martina Hingis. Bryan admits it was not only the professional athletes who have endorsed the products that have attracted him to the brand. “It also has a really interesting line of casual lifestyle wear that I think holds a lot of appeal in our market,” he says.
In 2016, Sergio Tacchini celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. It was a milestone that coincided with a relaunch of the brand in Asia after an absence of 15 years. It’s a project that has kept Bryan and his team busy. “Not only have we introduced new collections, including limited editions, to cater to the domestic audience,” he says, “but we’ve undertaken a significant marketing push as well.” He is pleased to report that all their hard work is paying off, and sales so far have been excellent. “Although the brand was last present in the region in 2002, consumers still recognise the value of the name,” he says.
Augment International creates quality clothing
Compared to the early days as Kappa licensee, Bryan believes the years since Augment International’s foundation have been characterised by accelerated growth. The company has opened 5 Kappa boutiques in Singapore: JEM, Queensway Shopping Centre, Jurong Point, Bugis Junction, and in the International Merchandising Mart (IMM).
The range is also supplied through wholesale channels to third-party retailers and concessions inside major department stores, such as Takashimaya, BHG Singapore, Metro and OG. As for Sergio Tacchini, there is currently one boutique in Jurong Point 2, and the range is sold in OG outlets across Singapore. “People trust the designs and the colours that we have launched in all our collections,” he explains. “And they come at an affordable price, without being low end. We create quality clothing, elegant smart looks that can be worn across a variety of different occasions.”
Finding a following
While the capsule designs his team are creating in Singapore for the Asian market are finding a global audience (Bryan says Augment International exports much of its range to Kappa licensees around the world), he admits that fashion trends are still dictated by Europe. “Europeans create fashions faster than we do here. I think it comes down to the fact that they have such a wide choice of celebrities to sponsor and sportspeople to endorse their products,” he explains.
We create quality clothing, elegant smart looks that can be worn across a variety of different occasions.
“There are a lot of sports fans in our region who admire the number one- and number two-ranked players in the world and want to be like them, wear what they wear,” he continues. “Here in our local markets, we don’t have a particularly large selection of internationally recognised sportsmen,” he says, although he happily admits that Sergio Tacchini has developed a following in Singapore’s tennis circles, including players in its Davis Cup team. “Coaches and players are proud to be seen dressed in the brand during tennis events,” he says.
Brand ambassadors
Browse hashtags for either of Augment International’s Italian brands across social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook and you’ll find that it’s not just sports stars who appreciate the stylish, sporty designs of both Kappa and Sergio Tacchini. Kendall Jenner was recently snapped on the streets of Los Angeles in an eye-catching red Sergio Tacchini tracktop, an item from the brand’s recent collaboration with Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy.
Across the Atlantic, David and Victoria Beckham’s eldest son, Brooklyn, was spotted stepping out on the streets of London with his mum in Kappa’s classic 222 Banda jacket. These images are all invaluable marketing tools for Bryan’s team in Singapore as they connect with an end consumer that is heavily influenced by star endorsement. “Once those big celebrities wear an item from the collection, it holds a lot of influence with our domestic followers,” he explains.
Larger markets to explore
Bryan himself is tangible proof that brand ambassadors can come from unexpected sources, however. “I’m one of our models,” he laughs, when asked if he wears much of the clothing he sells. He explains that, in his capacity as Augment International’s founder and managing director, he is required to attend a lot of events that call for a smart–casual dress code. “I’ll wear some of the latest pieces from one of our collections and people will come up to me and compliment me on how stylish I look and ask how much my outfit retails for!” he says.
To say it has been a busy few years for Bryan since he founded Augment International is an understatement – and he doesn’t believe the next few will be any different. “I think the market in Singapore and Malaysia is quite small and we are reaching the limits of how we can grow the business here,” he says. Currently, his focus is on collaborating with his Italian principals to produce collections that can be exported to worldwide licensees. “In terms of both exposure and quantities, there are much larger markets to explore.”