About Us

The Beginning:

Mr Lee Chee Hung came from China, and started his livelihood in Malaysia. During the Japanese Occupation, his boss decided to leave the business and gave all the stocks to the staff as compensation. Mr Lee Chee Hung literally started as a hawker, selling these stocks before setting out on his own. In 1946, he came down to Singapore and Sing Lun was started in 1951 as an importer, exporter and wholesaler of textiles.

By the mid 60s, the textile trading businesses began to wane due to growing competition from the region. Mr. Patrick Lee, our current Chairman was given the task to move upstream towards apparel manufacturing. In 1969, Patrick Lee returned after a textile training course in Japan and his vision was to re-invent Sing Lun to become a world-class manufacturer of quality knit apparel. The first apparel factory was set up in Singapore in 1969, and consequently in Johor Malaysia in 1971.

1970s

In the early 70s, Sing Lun secured apparel manufacturing contracts from Europe, from customers such as La Redoute S.A. and Quelle La Source SA. By 1976 to 1978, the apparel manufacturing was growing so fast that it replaced textile trading business as the major revenue contributor and subsequently the company stopped the textile business to focus on apparel manufacturing.

1980s

In 1985, to further expand itself in the industry, the Sing Lun Group acquired Kaye Agencies Private Limited, a major buying house in Singapore, Indonesia and Cambodia. Kaye is the nominated buying house for The Great Universal Store (GUS) since 1989. GUS is one of the largest retailing group in the United Kingdom, that owns major retail outlets such as Burberry's as well as mail order catalogs. Kaye also became the nominated buying house for Movitex S.A., a subsidiary of the largest French retailer - Pinault Printemp Redoute Group (PPR). 

1990s

In 1997, due to demand for embroidery services by the then Walt Disney Trading Company, Sing Lun set up embroidery factory in Sri Lanka to service Walt Disney embroidery needs in Sri Lanka.

1999/2000

Mr Mark Lee joins the business and together with Mr. Patrick Lee and his team, took the company public on the main board of the Singapore Stock Exchange in September 7th 2000. In order to reflect the strategy to further internationalize the apparel supply chain business, this business was rebranded to SL Global – to reflect a new international presence.

2003 – 2012

This decade saw a massive push into new manufacturing regions for the apparel business outside of the existing Singapore, Malaysia and Sri Lankan operations. SL Global opens new JV facilities in Vietnam (2003), Cambodia (2005), China (2006), and Indonesia (2008).

Existing production facilities were re-engineered to meet technical/performance sportswear standards, and the teams received new training to penetrate deep into this segment. With this enhancement to the production facilities, SL Global attracted new customers within this space, such as The North Face and Under Armour.

By 2010, the Company was able to supply all kinds of apparel, from performance sportswear, activewear, denim jeans, woven shirts to technical jackets to the clients, not just knit fashion apparels. The Company also incorporated a design and developmental department to allow SL Global to evolve from being just an OEM apparel manufacturer into a full-service design and supply chain provider of apparels. Its global manufacturing and sourcing offices were further expanded and include locations in Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

SL Global that was predominately fashion focused is now regrouped into 4 key divisions by 2008 – Performance Sportswear, Fashion, Departmental Stores and Kids/Baby Division. The Company serviced renowned sportswear brands like: The North Face, Under armour, Puma; Fashion labels like Banana Republic and Aeropostale; Departmental Stores like Macy’s and Kohl’s, as well as children wear brands like Gymboree, Carters, and Osh Kosh B’gosh.

What was more important was that Mr Mark’s belief paid off, as the performance sportswear segment within the industry experience the highest growth period within the last decade, and the company was well-poised to take part in this growing segment. More customers came on board, such as Timberland, Oakley, Brooks running, Nautica and many more. Between 2011 to 2014, in order to meet increasing demand over the next decade, and also with a focus on sustainable practices, SL Global built an additional flagship state-of-the-art production facilities with an emphasis on eco-friendly and sustainable practices in Hanoi in 2012, and further expanded it in 2014. During this period, SL Global continues to invests in the latest equipment and machinery, while focusing on training the Company’s next generation of talent. By 2014, Sportswear has become the predominant category for SL Global products, contributing more than 70% of the entire turnover.

2012 to Current

Beyond apparel manufacturing and supply chain services, Sing Lun also started moving into other business during this period. The vision of the Lee Family was to create a diversified sustainable company that can withstand different economic cycles.