Yesterday, the internet exploded. Headlines screamed that Cotton On, a brand that’s been a staple of Singapore’s retail scene for nearly 20 years, was liquidating and closing all 30+ stores.
For many Singaporeans, Cotton On is that go-to shop at the mall. Affordable tees, basic essentials, a quick grab on your way out. So when news broke that Cotton On Asia Pte. Ltd. had entered voluntary liquidation via a Government Gazette notice, it hit a nerve.
But wait – what a twist.
Cotton On came out and said: we’re not closing. The stores will stay open.
So which is it?
Two Entities
There are two entities: Cotton On Asia Pte. Ltd. and Cotton On Singapore Pte. Ltd.
Cotton On Asia is the holding company. It doesn’t operate any stores. It doesn’t employ any staff. It was essentially a dormant corporate shell that was no longer needed as part of their group structure.
Cotton On Singapore, on the other hand, is the entity that actually runs the 30+ stores here. And on ACRA’s Bizfile, that entity is still very much “live.”
So the Government Gazette notice? It was about liquidating a holding company, not shutting down your neighbourhood Cotton On. The management clarified that this was a routine corporate restructuring and that they have no plans to exit Asia.
But the genie is already out of the bottle.
Shoppers are now asking: is fashion retail in Singapore struggling? Especially with the onslaught of ecommerce growth over the years.
Let’s dig into the data and find out.
Cotton On’s Competitive Landscape
Cotton On focuses primarily on young adults and teens. They also have Cotton On Kids for babies and children, plus sub-brands like Typo, Rubi, and Cotton On Body.
Some of their competitors include local brands like Beyond The Vines and The Editor’s Market. Online, there’s the relentless Shein and TikTok Shop.
These are all private companies. We don’t have ready financial numbers to assess their health.
That leaves us with two publicly listed fashion retailers to study: H&M and Uniqlo.
H&M
H&M operates its Singapore stores directly, not through a distributor. But Singapore is too small a market to be a standalone revenue segment, so it falls under “Other” in H&M’s annual report.
What we do see is a revenue decline of about 4% between FY25 and FY24 for that segment. The number of stores has also been reduced. And even at the global level, H&M has reported total revenue declines in SEK terms in recent years. So yes, it is indeed challenging to run a fashion retail business today – even for a global giant like H&M.
Uniqlo Singapore
How about Uniqlo? Intuitively, shoppers would have noticed the rise of Uniqlo in Singapore. They’re everywhere and their stores are crowded. Or at least, more crowded than most other fashion stores.
To the men out there, their T-shirts have pretty much become our national uniform.
Gen Z shops there too, but Uniqlo targets a broader demographic than Cotton On. Even so, the rise of Uniqlo here should have eaten into Cotton On’s market share somewhat.
Here’s an interesting bit: the Uniqlo stores in Singapore and Malaysia are operated through a joint venture between Uniqlo (Fast Retailing) and Wing Tai Holdings (SGX: W05). Wing Tai also retails other brands like G2000, Furla, Mango, JNBY, Sergent Major, and Charles Tyrwhitt.
Now, Wing Tai is a conglomerate – they also have property development and investment businesses. And because of the joint venture structure with Uniqlo, the accounting only considers the share of profits from this JV. Uniqlo revenue is not recorded as Wing Tai’s revenue. So even if Wing Tai reports retail revenue, that’s mainly from its other brands, not the Uniqlo partnership.
But the good news? Wing Tai provides a breakdown of Uniqlo Singapore’s revenue and profits in its annual report notes. And we have data going all the way back to 2014.
Between 2014 and 2025, Uniqlo Singapore’s revenue has compounded at about 7% per annum, growing to almost half a billion dollars. We are seeing some revenue decline in the last two years though.
Here’s the impressive part: Uniqlo Singapore didn’t have a single unprofitable year, not even during Covid when retail stores were literally shut. Yes, they took a dip in revenue and profits in 2019 and 2020, but had pretty much recovered by 2021.
Profit margins are in the single digits, not surprising for retail plays, but there were four years where margins exceeded 10%. Overall, Uniqlo Singapore is performing well.
The Online Behemoth
Meanwhile, the online figures are growing much faster and they make physical retail look pedestrian.
TikTok Shop doubled its Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) to US$45.6 billion in Southeast Asia in 2025. Of course, that includes all kinds of products, but fashion-related categories like beauty, personal care, and womenswear are believed to account for 40–50% of those figures (according to Tabcut).
As for Shein, their 2025 revenue is projected at around US$56 – 58.5 billion, more than 50% increase from 2024’s estimated US$37 billion. Some estimates go as high as US$60 billion. Either way, the numbers are staggering.
So online fashion is indeed a behemoth and still growing rapidly.
Will Retail Fashion Shops Disappear?
But I don’t think physical fashion retail will just disappear for good.
Some people still prefer to try clothes on to see if they fit well. There’s a tactile experience that ecommerce simply cannot replicate, at least not yet. You want to feel the fabric, check the cut, and see how it actually looks on you rather than on a model.
It’s possible that the number of physical stores will continue to decline while ecommerce keeps growing. But there will probably be a point where a balance is achieved, where the stores that survive are the ones that offer something online can’t.
Whether we’ve reached that balance point? That’s anyone’s guess.
What’s clear is this: Cotton On isn’t closing its Singapore stores. But the scare was enough to remind us that the fashion retail landscape is shifting and brands that can’t adapt to the ecommerce onslaught may not be as lucky next time.
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