Kapasl Living co-founders Vin Li Yap (L) and Zer Ken Yap
The story of Kapas Living is one of entrepreneurial spirit, family collaboration, and a commitment to quality, all born from the crucible of a global pandemic.
What began as a desire to provide honest, high-quality bed linens has blossomed into a thriving “seven-figure” business, capturing customers’ hearts (and beds) in Malaysia and Singapore.
Before Kapas Living, the brother-and-sister duo of Zer Ken Yap and Vin Li Yap ran a property management startup, Plush Services. The business was going well, operating Airbnb properties in Malaysia, until the pandemic brought everything to a halt. With 30 employees relying on them, they knew they had to adapt quickly.
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“This necessity sparked the idea for Kapas Living,” says Vin Li. “Kapas Living combines our hospitality experience and love for interior design to create a line of quality, affordable bed linens.”
The genesis of an idea
The idea for Kapas Living wasn’t entirely new. Even before the pandemic, the Yao siblings felt frustrated with the bedding market. “We noticed that department stores often used flashy marketing tactics, promoting misleading thread counts and offering significant discounts on products that didn’t live up to the hype,” she adds.
She recalled purchasing a set of hotel-quality bedsheets with a thousand thread count that started to pill after only a couple of washes. This experience solidified her desire to cut through the marketing fluff and offer reasonably priced, high-quality sheets.
Launching in October 2020, Kapas Living aimed to provide the comfort of luxury bedding within the confines of one’s own home at a time when travel and going out were restricted. This proved to be a fortunate decision, enabling them to survive the pandemic and build a new business.
Kapas Living doesn’t follow the typical industry hype. While many brands focus on thread count, Kapas Living shifted the focus to cotton quality and weave. “Our philosophy is simple: provide honest, great sheets without exaggerated claims or fluffy marketing,” she says. The founders insist on using extra-long staple cotton and finding the ideal weave.
All products are OEKO-TEX certified, meaning they are free from harmful substances. The down pillows and duvets are Responsible Down Standard (RDS) certified, ensuring ethical sourcing.
Moreover, Kapas Living’s foam products are CertiPUR-US certified, meeting stringent content, emissions, and durability standards.
Building trust through transparency
According to Vin, breaking into a market dominated by larger companies was no small feat for the new brand. To ensure genuine market reception, the duo initially didn’t promote Kapas Living to friends and family.
“Fortunately, the positive reviews we received validated our passion for genuine quality, with an average rating of 4.9 stars on our website and on e-commerce platforms like Shopee and Lazada. By staying true to our values of quality, transparency and sustainability, we managed to carve a space for ourselves in the competitive bedding market,” Vin claims.
Kapas Living’s key target audience is people just like them—individuals who appreciate quality bedding at fair prices. They were frustrated with the high prices in department stores, which often don’t guarantee quality.
While post-COVID-19 inflation impacted the margins, the company worked tirelessly to renegotiate with suppliers, improve packaging, and optimise warehousing processes to maintain quality without burdening the customers with excessive costs. It also collaborates with hotels and retail brands and can quickly produce customised goods at competitive wholesale prices.
Growth strategies and e-commerce
Becoming a 7-figure business involved a lot of hard work and a willingness to pivot when needed. The siblings are always exploring new product ideas; if something doesn’t work, they quickly try a new approach.
Currently, the founders claim Kapas receives around 2,500 orders a month. Its expansion from Malaysia to Singapore has boosted growth, with the Singapore business turning a profit within a short period.
The founders started by building their first online store themselves using WooCommerce. While this took more time, it helped them gain a deep understanding of e-commerce platforms.
They later migrated to Shopify for a more robust and stable platform. “Running our own website gave us more control over brand image, pricing, and promotions, but we also had to invest heavily in marketing,” she shares.
Kapas Living also began selling on platforms like Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok to broaden its reach. After a period of experimentation with promotions and campaigns, its sales grew and product rankings rose. Today Kapas Living is among the top 10 bedding brands on Shopee.
Looking ahead
Kapas Living’s expansion doesn’t stop there. Responding to numerous customer requests, it plans to explore offline retail in 2025. The firm has also extended its product line to include premium bath towels, duvets, blankets, and pillows, all made with the same high-quality materials as its bed linens. The firm is looking to scale up across Southeast Asia.
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Starting the business during the pandemic was a tremendous learning experience and had many challenges. The founder was six months pregnant when they launched Kapas Living, and it was a lot to juggle, from learning e-commerce and digital marketing to setting up a warehouse.
Navigating the supply chain was another hurdle, with one batch of inventory having to be written off due to quality issues. These challenges were invaluable lessons and made them stronger as a team.
As a bootstrapped company, Kapas Living managed cash flow by doing everything itself at the beginning, from building the website to packing orders. The firm also benefited from media coverage, which helped build brand recognition without marketing spend.
Vin admits that balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship required significant planning and support from family. Relocating to Singapore taught them to delegate and trust their team.
The future is bright
Kapas Living has grand ambitions. It wants to continue innovating and expanding its product range. It considers Malaysia and Singapore its core markets and wants to deepen its presence there. It is also open to expanding into other parts of Southeast Asia.
With a focus on continuous hard work and perseverance, the future looks promising for Kapas Living.
The post Kapas Living: How two siblings built a 7-figure bedding brand from pandemic challenges appeared first on e27.
