Onlewo

Onlewo is a Singapore design studio founded by surface designer Mike Tay, built from what he has described as a decade-long curiosity to explore storytelling through prints that began in textile pattern design and expanded into home decor, gifting, and broader lifestyle objects. The studio's work is organized around translating Singapore's own visual heritage, its housing-estate architecture, hawker-culture motifs, tropical botany, and neighborhood landmarks, into contemporary patterns and objects, rather than working from generic or imported design references. Tay was named among Singapore's 50 most influential designers in 2016, and Onlewo's design work has been commissioned by international luxury houses including Patek Philippe, Cartier, and Bulgari, an unusual crossover for a studio whose core identity is rooted in explicitly local, rather than international, storytelling. The brand opened a standalone retail space in September 2024 at OUE Downtown Gallery on Shenton Way in Singapore's Central Business District, its first dedicated storefront after years of operating primarily through wholesale, commissions, and online sales, marking a shift from a design-led studio practice toward direct retail presentation of its textiles, wallpaper, and homeware lines.