as born in Beijing and was co-founded in 2018 by former fashion editor Shen Li and seasoned e-commerce veteran Huipu (Elvis) Liu. The co-founders conceived the brand, which sells a variety of SKUs ranging from perfume to candles to scented wax tablets, to transmute their country’s cultural essence into a more sensorial form. As Elvis Liu, CEO of To Summer, told Inside Retail Asia, “Our approach to Eastern scent is fundamentally rooted in artistic conception and emotion. We believe a scent should engage in a profound dialogue with Eastern memory and local culture. It never stops at a fleeting moment of inspiration; instead, it undergoes countless cycles of refinement and reimagining.” For example, Osmanthus, one of the brand’s most celebrated fragrances, was created to capture a sense of Eastern nostalgia, echoing the sentiment of a classical poem that was roughly translated as: “I wanted to buy osmanthus and share wine, but it wasn’t like the days of youth.” In February 2024, European beauty conglomerate L’Oréal announced that its venture capital fund, Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development (BOLD), had closed a minority investment in the Chinese fragrance brand. To Summer’s co-founder, Li Shen, has stated that the brand hopes to collaborate with L’Oréal to develop a retail roadmap for consumers to reach Eastern-inspired fragrances. As of 2024, To Summer had opened 11 stores across Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu and Wuxi. Fanci Club Category: ApparelCountry: VietnamLaunched: 2018 Fanci Club is just as the name implies, a larger-than-life fashion brand worn by some of the entertainment industry’s most notable fashionistas. A list that includes several members of K-pop group Blackpink, Olivia Rodrigo, Dua Lipa, Doja Cat, Sabrina Carpenter and supermodel Bella Hadid. Launched in 2018 by Vietnamese designer Tran Khanh Duy, Fanci Club, the Y2K-inspired label incorporates bold materials such as nylon, spandex and deadstock mesh to create party-ready pieces ranging from embroidered corsetry to micro-mini skirts and dresses. Since launching onto the scene as a local, luxury favourite in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City, Fanci Club has developed an international presence with a wide-shipping DTC site and several international stockists, including Canadian multi-brand retailer Ssense and Australian apparel platform Omorfi Fashion. Juliet Wine Category: Food and beverageCountry: USLaunched: 2022 Traditionally, boxed wine has been viewed as the drink of choice for college students, who down cheap glasses of wine at parties. In recent years, however, there has been a growing movement within the wine and spirits industry to shift the perception of boxed wine, a rapidly rising retail category in itself. Juliet Wine is one brand that has been tapping into the growing demand for a bougier version of boxed wine. Best friends and co-founders Allison Luvera and Lauren De Niro Pipher launched Juliet Wine in 2020 with the mission to create a boxed wine brand with not only an elevated, but price-accessible taste, but also aesthetic and more sustainable packaging. Taking inspiration from high-end whiskey boxes, which historically have an aluminium top and bottom, the co-founders teamed up with packaging designers to create the brand’s custom packaging, which currently has two patents pending. Since launching onto the market with three SKUs, Juliet Wine has expanded its portfolio to include a chardonnay, an orange wine, a pinot noir and a cabernet sauvignon. By the end of 2025, Juliet Wine will be carried in over 1000 bricks-and-mortar locations across retailers, such as Harris Teeter, Costco, Total Wine, Safeway and Whole Foods. The co-founders disclosed that Juliet Wine experienced 150 per cent year-over-year revenue growth between 2023 and 2024, and projected revenue to triple between 2024 and 2025. Maison de Sabré Category: AccessoriesCountry: AustraliaLaunched: 2017 From dental school to diamond-set, 18-karat gold bag charms, brothers and Maison de Sabré co-founders Omar and Zane Sabré have had quite the journey in launching and building their $100 million leather goods business. But let’s rewind a bit. Prior to launching their first SKU in 2017, a personalised, full-grain leather phone case, the New Zealand-born brothers were both on a dentistry track in Australia, with the elder Omar a few years into his first job and Zane right in the middle of his studies. However, as with many a brand founder before them, their career trajectory changed when something unexpected – an aggressive leukaemia diagnosis for their father – came into their lives. With family finances stretched tight by medical bills, paying for Zane Sabré’s dental school tuition became quite the challenge. While Omar stepped in with part of his savings, the soon-to-be brand founders decided to put the rest of his savings into launching a side-hustle business that would fund the rest of Zane’s education. Eight years later, the side-hustle has turned into a thriving leather-goods business with an impressive range of SKUs, from cutesy, high-end bag charms to sleek travel pieces, with a worldwide presence. Today, Maison de Sabré now ships to more than 150 countries. Eighty per cent of its sales originate offshore, attracting attention especially from European and American consumers and more easily accessible via iconic department stores like Bloomingdale’s and Le Bon Marché. By the end of 2025, Maison de Sabré is set to hit the $100 million mark in revenue. Leo Lin Category: Apparel Country: Australia Launched: 2017 Australian luxury fashion brand Leo Lin has been taking the design world by storm since it launched onto the scene in 2017 with its array of colourful, modern and feminine pieces. “The goal of the brand is to really sit within this beautiful women’s wear luxury event space – I think its commitment to that is what’s made [Leo Lin] really focused,” Leo Lin’s head of brand, Laura Good, told Stephanie Caite Chadwick, features and premium editor at Inside Retail Australia. The eponymous label is not only one of the top brands in the Australian market, but also a noteworthy contender in the notoriously fickle American retail scene. Leo Lin first entered the US market in 2022, launching into 15 Neiman Marcus boutiques, before adding Moda Operandi in 2023 and Bloomingdale’s in 2024 to its roster of esteemed American retailers. Since securing those key accounts and proving its commercial strength, Leo Lin has gone on to launch with additional retail partners, such as Revolve, FWRD, Rent The Runway and Anthropologie. In February 2025, the business announced it had experienced 225 per cent year-on-year sales growth, primarily driven by its popularity within the US market, which doesn’t appear as if it will be abating anytime soon.  Further reading: Ones to watch: Four brands tapping into retail’s foodie trend