Closing the Closet

Fashion staple The Closet Lover shuttered in June as founders Brianna and Bertilla Wong grapple with stress and ill health

- Amanda Chai

Photo shoots in far-flung destinations like Egypt and Spain, and quarterly sourcing trips to China. For all the perceived glamour involved in running a fashion business, what Singaporean sisters Brianna, 39, and Bertilla Wong, 35, will miss most about their label The Closet Lover (TCL) are the human interactions with their customers, staff and live-stream hosts.

"Connection is what we've always loved about the business. In the early years, there was nobody to talk to except each other," says Bertilla.

The co-founders announced in early May that, to prioritize their health, the popular home-grown womenswear label would wind up after almost 18 years. They ceased operations on June 30 and closed their last store in Tampines 1 on July 2.

Both sisters have lupus, a chronic autoimmune condition where the body's immune system attacks healthy tissues and organs.

Bertilla was diagnosed first at 15, while Brianna was diagnosed at 22. Because the symptoms of lupus are more manageable when diagnosed at a younger age, Bertilla says she has had fewer major flare-ups.

Brianna was tipped off about her diagnosis when she started suffering from swollen and "frozen" joints.

After a blood test confirmed her suspicions, she managed small flare-ups over the years with medication.

During her first major flare-up, a cough on a work trip to Taiwan in 2017 turned into gasps for air on Christmas Eve. She was hospitalized for a month—the first of many hospital stays.

Each time Brianna was warded, Bertilla would run TCL solo with her team.

"In the long run, it was not very good for me either, because I'm also a lupus patient. If it's not her who falls ill, it's me."

The breaking point was Brianna's second major flare-up in Seoul in February. She developed "pig trotter" feet—a sign of ailing kidneys being unable to dispel toxins—but pushed through the work trip before getting hospitalized back home.