designs challenging the norm, Ghostboy has captured attention far beyond Malaysia. Inside Retail sat down with co-founder Cyii Cheng to uncover the story behind Ghostboy, its rise from humble beginnings, and its aspirations to redefine the Malaysian and global fashion scenes. Inside Retail: Can you walk us through the founding journey of Ghostboy? Cyii Cheng: We actually started in late 2019. My partner, David, and I had just finished our degrees – mine in finance and his in fashion. After my final exams, I was eager to learn something new and decided to try sewing. David, being an incredible teacher, offered to help. He invited me over to his studio and taught me the basics, starting with making hats and simple items. One of the first pieces of clothing we made together came about when David suggested I buy fabric and bring it to his studio. At the time, I had no idea where to source fabric, so I decided to go thrifting. I found some fabric, brought it over, and we made a simple top. It wasn’t much, but we were thrilled with it. To our surprise, people showed interest in buying it. So, we decided to make 10 tops for our friends, and those sold out quickly. That led us to think, “Why not make 20? Or 50? Or 100?” Before we knew it, we were producing even more and realised we might be onto something. Starting a brand wasn’t part of our plan. It just happened naturally as we responded to the demand. By early 2020, we decided to take it more seriously. That’s when Covid-19 hit. Despite the challenges, we managed to do surprisingly well in the early days of the pandemic, as people were still excited to shop. We didn’t know how to set up a website back then, so we relied on Instagram. We sold our items through a comment-to-buy system: the first person to comment on our posts could purchase the item. In hindsight, it was an excellent marketing strategy, even though it was born out of necessity. During lockdown, when we couldn’t leave our homes, we adapted. Before restrictions started, I stocked up on thrifted clothing. At home, I’d sit on the floor of my room, cutting fabric, and then I’d have the pieces sent to David so he could sew them at his place. That’s how we kept the business going through Covid-19. By 2021, we started thinking more intentionally about the brand’s direction. Did we want to keep making the same tops, or should we evolve? With David’s background in fashion, he wanted to create full collections with strong concepts behind them. That year, we launched our first proper collection, marking a new chapter for our brand. IR: It sounds like you already had some groundwork for the business. Was everything for the brand entirely self-funded from the start? Or did you bring in any angel investors along the way? Could you share more about how you approached funding? CC: Since our launch, we’ve operated without any outside investment. We started with just our initial thrifted materials and continuously reinvested our earnings. We were fortunate that David already owned a fully equipped studio with two sewing machines – these assets became part of the business without requiring additional capital investment. IR: Ghost Boy is currently based in Kuala Lumpur, but where else can people access the brand outside of Malaysia? Are your pieces available internationally, either through online platforms or physical stockists? CC: Outside of Malaysia, one of our biggest markets has been Singapore since the beginning, and we have stock there. While Ghost Boy’s website ships internationally, most international sales are through online purchases. We also have a stockist in Sydney called Reborne Shop, and an online stockist in the US called Ap0cene.  We also want to expand to the US and Europe, but we’ll need more funding first. Beyond our DTC website, we mainly work through our stockists. They have physical stores in Singapore and Melbourne that help expand our reach. While we’ve hosted some events in Singapore in the past, our stockists remain our primary way of getting the word out internationally. IR: What’s next for Ghost Boy? Are you planning to continue launching collections and building from there, or is there a bigger move or milestone you’re working toward? CC: Every year we do a fashion show at KL Fashion Week, which will be launching in August. That will be our Fall/Winter Collection. It’s going to be darker and more experimental than our recent collection. You see, we structure our releases around key shopping seasons – right now is prime selling time for Lunar New Year, when people are buying new clothes. So, for this season, we create fun, accessible pieces for our audience. The middle of the year is when we really get to experiment and play around. IR: What do you think were the biggest challenges you faced during this journey? CC: Production is one of the biggest challenges for most young brands. Initially, this wasn’t an issue for us since we made everything in-house. Things became more challenging when we started outsourcing to factories in Malaysia – we faced delays and struggled to meet minimum order quantities. In recent years, we’ve moved our production to China, which has been much better. The quality is higher, they’re punctual, and though the minimum order quantities are larger, we’re now able to meet them consistently. So we’ve essentially resolved most of our production challenges. IR: When it comes to building an international presence, would you say you’ve encountered any challenges? Is global brand awareness something you’re gradually building over time? CC: We’re building that gradually. I don’t think we have unrealistic goals about reaching the European audience. It’s been quite organic – we’ve mainly used influencer gifting. We’ve seen significant growth in Europe, even though we haven’t specifically focused on building an audience there. It’s just naturally developing. IR:  Where would you like to see Ghostboy? CC: When we started the brand, there weren’t really any other brands targeting a similar audience in Malaysia. We’d love to see more competitors emerge to help grow and mature the Malaysian fashion scene. We plan to do this by offering high-quality basics locally while creating more ambitious pieces for the international market. Our fall collections will feature items like jackets and coats that might not sell well in Malaysia’s climate but will help with our international marketing. We’ve recently opened a small showroom alongside our studio in Malaysia, but we’d love to have a proper flagship store in the near future. Further reading: Inside Levi’s Lot 1: Conversations with Tokyo’s master tailors.