Safe Space

Introduce yourself!
I’m AJ and I’m the co-owner of Anteiku Studios. We mainly curate Japanese fashion, along with 20 other vendors.

How did you get into running your own business?
When COVID happened, my partner Mike, his sister, and I started making jewellery. That’s when we learned about other communities that were selling their own clothes and handmade jewellery online, so we started curating our own clothes as well, and that’s how Anteiku Studios was born—it’s a mix of Japanese fashion and anime.

So it’s been quite a few years since then!
Yeah, almost four years, since June 2022. We were one of the first few curated clothing stores in Singapore to do a consignment concept.

And now this concept is so commonly seen! How does it feel to be pioneers of sorts?
I think at that point, we were trying to survive with the rental. So at the start it happened out of necessity, but on top of that, we also wanted to provide our customers with a variety of things to browse, and give everyone the creative space to display their items and passions.

Now that it’s been a few years of Anteiku, what’s your day to like running the business?
I just come into work, do my shift, and when I end, I go over to Rocks Cafe to be a barista (laughs). Rocks Cafe is run by my partner Mike and closes at 11PM, so when Anteiku closes at 8PM, I immediately head over there and help out as his barista if he needs it. It’s so tiring though!

We can imagine! How did Rocks Cafe come about then?
I actually run Anteiku Studios with Mike, but he wanted to venture into something new since Anteiku Studios can technically survive with just one of us running it. So he chose to open a space where everyone can come to just chill. Anteiku Studios is already a place where everyone is welcome, regardless of background, but now with Rocks Cafe, we actually have a space where people can sit down, slow down, drink coffee, eat pizza, and just chill freely. Rocks Cafe offers pizza because Anteiku Studios has pop punk themes integrated into the fashion items we curate., and pizza is associated with punk culture. It’s kind of like we’re mixing our own personalities into everything we do!

Oh, we can tell from the decor alone. Can you talk us through the decision to decorate the store with graffiti?
It was more of us wanting to go against the minimalism trend. I feel like maximalism is still the way to show your true personality, but many people are scared to go outside of their comfort zones, so that’s why we designed the space to allow people to be their authentic selves, not caring about what others think.

That’s awesome! How do you feel interacting with customers then?
It’s very refreshing, meeting a lot of people from different backgrounds with different interests, and hearing about how they’re comfortable in this space. Also hearing that they’re able to talk to not just Mike and I, but also our staff, openly. We make sure we hire people who are interested in getting to know our customers, because at the end of the day, we want this to be a comfortable space.

Finally, what’s your favourite item in the store?
My Nightmare Before Christmas collection! The one on the shelves at the top. Even my jacket and ring are part of it. It’s a collection that I’ve been slowly building up.