Women who lead: Love, Bonito's Dione Song on redefining Asian fashion leadership

This month, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE is running its Women Who Lead podcast series in conjunction with International Women’s Day, spotlighting female leaders across the region’s agency landscape. The series unpacks leadership journeys, hard-earned lessons, and what meaningful progress truly looks like across marketing, advertising, and communications.

This fifth and final episode features Dione Song, CEO of Love, Bonito, a Singapore-born clothing brand specialising in Asian fits.

When Song first joined the business more than eight years ago, she stepped into a founder-led environment as a marketer. Even before officially signing on, she initiated difficult conversations about evolving the brand.

“One of the things I felt quite strongly about back then was really around the branding and the logo and the identity,” she said. “I even asked them, can you put it in the contract that you’re comfortable and will allow the change. I wanted us to commit to it.”

For Song, clarity upfront was critical. “Branding is very personal and subjective. I didn’t want misalignment or shock after I joined,” she added.

Listen to the full conversation here on YouTube:

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Before accepting the role, she also met the entire team, armed with what she described as a “massive Google Sheet” to understand motivations and gaps. “In a startup environment, things move so fast. Sometimes you end up doing things that, if you pause and ask yourself, is this what I want, maybe not. I wanted to understand where everyone was at and whether I could truly help.”

Transitioning from marketer to CEO has shaped her leadership style. “Being a marketer made me more conscious and intentional about how I present myself,” she said. “You learn how to read the room, tweak your narrative, and ensure the message lands.”

That training also sharpened her instincts. “You are always thinking customer first. Is this commercial enough. Is this intuitive. Is this attractive enough. Can we simplify it such that everyone understands.”

At Love, Bonito, that customer-first lens extends to its mission of uplifting Asian women. “We exist to really celebrate and uplift the Asian woman,” Song said. “That mission hasn’t changed. If anything, it’s even more important.”

She recalled a time when customers questioned the brand’s use of Asian models. “Ten years ago, having Western models was seen as elevated. But we stuck to our roots. It was important for us.”

Today, representation goes beyond campaigns. “There is no perfect Asian woman,” she said. “We don’t paint that picture. We want her to be herself, comfortable in her own skin, because even being yourself is actually not so easy.”

Empowerment, she stressed, must be embedded into operations. From styling workshops with Daughters of Tomorrow to donating unsold inventory and enabling in-store customer contributions, Love, Bonito integrates social impact year-round.

“We’ve always believed we should be that, 365 days a year,” she said. “It has to be tangible.”

Running the business alongside founder Rachel Lim, whom she considers a close friend, has required open communication. “We’ve always been very comfortable disagreeing and debating with each other, and then being okay after. We both just want the best for the business.”

For Song, leadership ultimately comes down to creating the right environment. “If you can balance positivity with productivity, that’s the sweet spot,” she said. “We want to be a place where people feel they can come to work as themselves and become a better version of themselves.”

In her view, that is how brands and leaders truly give, and in turn, gain.

Also catch the podcast on Spotify:

Tune into the rest of this conversation on your favourite podcast platforms, by searching up Marketing Connected. For all the visual people out there, we’ve got your back as well, with our vodcasts on YouTube.

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