Farida Ong’s story starts and ends with suitcases. Although the boutique owner spent much of her life in different parts of the world, she has finally found a place to tuck away her vintage collection of cases for now: in a small corner of Samsung Plaza at her newly opened Fishloaves boutique.
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Farida Ong’s story starts and ends with suitcases. Although the boutique owner spent much of her life in different parts of the world, she has finally found a place to tuck away her vintage collection of cases for now: in a small corner of Samsung Plaza at her newly opened Fishloaves boutique.
Farida, 29, was born in Indonesia, attended boarding school in Singapore, moved to Honolulu at 15, then found her way to New York in her early 20s to study fashion. “I had two suitcases with me – that’s all I had! – and I didn’t know anyone in New York,” she recalls. Like every bright-eyed fashionista in New York, Farida dreamed of attending the prestigious Parsons New School for Design, “but I ended up getting a job instead!” She began working in the garment district at the young contemporary label Deesh.
“My boss really broke me in the industry there,” she says. “You know, it’s not pretty, it’s not glitzy and Sex in the City. You don’t wake up looking fabulous, you don’t run around in high heels. You run around in sneakers, with no makeup. In the city, you have to work ten times as hard to achieve your goals because the next person is just as good as you are, younger and more energetic even.”
After stints at the more high end Rebecca Taylor, Fendi and luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet, Farida began eyeing her suitcases once again. She packed up and moved to the place she always considered home, Hawaii.
Within two months of moving, she opened Fishloaves Inc., “a neighborhood boutique where I know all my customer’s names.”
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Wanna know what Farida thinks every girl should have in her closet? Click here.
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“People told me I was crazy for opening, and it almost got me,” she says. “I was like, maybe I should put it aside, maybe I should wait, maybe it’s bad timing … then I went to church.” That Sunday, the pastor spoke on the miracle of five fish and two loaves, and the impossibility of feeding 5,000. “That was my story. Everyone telling me it’s impossible, but that miracle, that’s all I wanted to believe.”
Less than six months later, Farida already has loyal customers flocking to the vintage-inspired, shabby-chic boutique, where everything is under $40 and new styles from New York and California are brought in about twice per week.
“A lot of my clothes are really simple, like where you can put on just a white T-shirt and still look amazing,” Farida says. “I’m very inspired by Southern France. Over there, people have different perceptions of sexy. Like you don’t need the boob job or really deep cleavage. People are happy just the way they are. Everyone is so different, everyone has personality, and they are confident – and that is sexy.”