Elim Chew
Elim Chew is a prominent Singaporean entrepreneur and social advocate, best known as the founder of the iconic streetwear brand 77th Street . After transforming a rebellious youth into a successful businesswoman, she pioneered street culture in Singapore before transitioning into the F&B industry and philanthropic ventures
Starting from zero?
Notice what your existing customers keep asking you to source for them — that unmet demand sitting in front of you is your first product.
Elim’s journey
The full story. The pivots. The lessons. One path among many.
What Elim started with
Elim Chew trained as a hairdresser in London, returned to Singapore and ran her own salon at Far East Plaza in the late 1980s. Her own punk-British style and the constant customer question — where did you get that? — revealed a gap for affordable streetwear, which she began importing and selling on the side.
Every founder starts from a different place. Use this to calibrate — not to compare.
Salon and the side hustle
1987
Runs her own hair salon at Far East Plaza; customers keep asking where she gets her punk accessories, so she starts importing and reselling them.
Battle stories
The hard moments that shaped Elim.
Retail model ends
Prime rents tripling and online shopping make the chain unviable.
Let it go
Chooses to close rather than bleed paying off landlords.
Serial reinvention
Moves from fashion into food, logistics and social enterprise.
Advice from Elim
Listen to customers
Your customers will tell you what to sell next if you pay attention to what they keep asking for.
Push through the hard start
Every stage of building a business is difficult, and the only way over it is to go through it.
Watch your cost structure
Don't let rent and overheads grow until you're only working to pay the landlord — know when a model is broken.
Business can have impact
Treat profit and social purpose as compatible; some of your best ventures will be business with social impact.
Reinvent yourself
When one industry's model dies, carry your skills into the next rather than going down with the ship.
Ask Elim a question
We review questions and bring the best ones to Elim in an upcoming interview.
Most asked
- How did you get your first 100 customers?
- What was your biggest financial mistake?
- How much did you really start with?
Founders with a similar path
People who started small and built something big.
