Bobby Fabrics

The Fabric of Arab Street

Bobby Fabrics is a textile business founded in the 1980s by Mr Swarant Singh. Known affectionately as Bobby, Swarant wanted to run a business where he could implement his ideas for new products and designs. Decades later, Jagjit, or Jacky, has taken over his father’s business, and adopts the same innovative spirit to keep up with the times.

Along the busy roads of Arab Street, there is a shophouse painted in azure blue. A matching blue signboard is imprinted “Bobby Fabrics” in white, tagged by “House of Exclusive Silk Fabrics” in a smaller sized font in dark blue.  A mannequin is draped in the latest fabric, beckoning you to enter. Step inside, and you will find yourself surrounded by shelves and stacks of fabric. Fluorescent lights line the ceiling, shining brightly over the fabrics of varied colours and patterns. Bobby Fabrics is a textile retail business that provides a diverse variety of textiles, supplying silk velvet, silk linen, satin, lace, and more. Specialising in Thai and raw silk, what sets the shop apart is that they work closely with their manufacturers in India and Thailand to create diverse and unique colour combinations. In addition, the business offers tailoring services, allowing the customer to purchase clothing that is personally customised for them.

Bobby Fabrics was founded by Mr Swarant Singh (more commonly known as Bobby) as a way for him to bring his innovative ideas into fruition. He had previously worked at a retail shop but there was little appetite there for his slew of ideas for new products and designs. His son, Jagjit (also known as Jacky) has since inherited not only the company, but more importantly his father’s experimental spirit. “I’d go into the field looking at the designers’ offerings. What's in the market? What is the fashion? What are the colours this year? Next year, what will be the colours?” Creativity and innovation remain the bedrocks of Bobby Fabrics, and Jacky continues to bring in textiles with a myriad of details and patterns. He keeps up with design and colour trends to ensure that their textiles remain relevant to consumers.

Growing up around textiles and helping his father in the shop, Jacky gave little thought about joining the trade in his younger days. Instead, his heart was with football, and he spent a good amount of his teenage years juggling between working at the shop and playing football. But as fate would have it, he injured his knee and had to be hospitalised. During his stay at the hospital, Jacky thought deep about his future. “So that's the time when I started focusing on the business and learning about fabrics, manufacturers and the processes of how they turn yarn into the finished product.”

The initial years were a steep learning curve for Jacky, and he had to learn the huge implications that his decisions had on the business. There was an incident where he made a poor selection of fabrics, which affected the sales of the shop for three years. “If my selection is rubbish, everything is haywire. When my selection is not up to the mark, people don't bother to even look at [it]. That's the time when I started to open up my eyes to look around, that's when I started changing slowly.”

Jacky has since settled into his role as the current proprietor of Bobby Fabrics, continuing the family business. He oversees the supply of fabrics, importing silk from countries like India, Thailand, and Italy. Under his care, he has brought Bobby Fabrics to greater heights. Bobby Fabrics now sells widely to a global clientele that boasts of royalty from Malaysia and Brunei, top designers from Singapore and the Southeast Asia region, as well as customers from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hungary, and more.

Today, there has been a shift in consumer behaviours, with people buying ready-to-wear clothes from stores and turning to online shopping. However, Jacky is not overly concerned about going digital. Purchasing fabrics is a unique experience that e-commerce cannot replace, as customers need to feel and see the colours of the silk. “You see, it takes time to decide on a colour. You can take about one hour, two hours, three hours, it's not easy. So, I can't go digital, and my item is not cheap, it's expensive.”

Just as textiles are his life, Jacky and Bobby Fabrics are part of the fabric of the Arab Street community. He has built close relationships with the rest of the Kampong Gelam community over the years. Reminiscing the good old days, Jacky recounts his fond memories of Kampong Gelam: “We used to have containers coming here and offloading fabrics. It was so busy, it was like the PSA (Port of Singapore Authority), so busy.” Nonetheless, he adopts a laissez-faire attitude to the ever-changing times and is happy to go with the flow. “We just hope we are healthy enough, really.”

Interviewed by Alice Chua, Phoo Myet Che, Pearl, and Toa Chunyu on 14 May 2022.