Learn about the brand, its journey, and why having good bedding is paramount for everyone.
About 3 in 10 Singaporeans are sleeping lesser each night – or so we were told in a survey from the National Sleep Foundation’s annual sleep report this year. Couple that with the fact that in an online poll conducted in 2018, we were ranked as the second most sleep-depraved country – only behind Britain – and you can imagine the health risks that entail with a lack of sleep.
Which is where Sunday Bedding tries to offer a kind of incentive to get you to rest more. With a variety of materials to address a myriad of sleep issues – from those who sleep warm to those who need easy-to-care and premium fabrics – the homegrown bedding brand is a hit with shoppers.
To give you an insider understand of the brand and what they do, we got their founders Clara Teo and Alex Fan to share more.
Founders of Sunday Bedding, Alex Fan and Clara Teo.
What does the brand name “Sunday Bedding” mean?
At Sunday Bedding, we see self-care as the destination and rest as part of the journey to a person’s overall well-being. Our vision is to advocate the importance of quality rest, as well as provide the tools to decompress and create what we call the ‘Sunday Feeling’. With our products, we hope to bring the feeling of a relaxing Sunday morning to our customers throughout the week!
Can you take us back to the start of the brand, and share how Sunday Bedding was started and the mission behind the brand?
It began when Alex and I started shopping for our new home together. We realised how easy it is to get lost in the jargon and not understand how bedsheets affect the way we sleep.
Alex’s family has been in home textiles manufacturing for the last three decades and while shopping we realized that good quality bedsheets are often costly; the options are overwhelming, and customers often end up leaving the decision to store salespersons.
We created Sunday Bedding as a solution to all that frustration and to bridge the disconnect between individual sleeping habits and the wealth of bedding options available. Two years in, we are now expanding our products beyond bedding to include other essentials for quality rest.
King Size French Linen Sheet Set in Sage Green, $490, from Sunday Bedding.
As experts in bedding, why is good bedding important for everyone?
A bed is a cornerstone in any home. In fact, studies show that we spend about a third of our lives in bed, so a comfortable bed is essential in any home and a key to resting easy.
According to a recent sleep survey, Singaporeans now get an average of 6.9 hours of sleep every night, a slight improvement from the average 6.4 hours seen in 2019. Although Singaporeans are now more aware about the importance of a good night’s rest, many still do not know how to achieve that in their busy and hectic lifestyles.
Additionally, with more people staying home because of the pandemic, self-care has become quite the buzzword as uncertainty from the pandemic has caused us to rethink the way we work and manage new stressors and anxieties. In a bid to create distinct lines between work and rest, the pandemic has led to many individuals investing in quality bedding that goes beyond just bed sheets and pillows alone; extending to towels and even loungewear.
We believe that investing in a good bedroom set up is essential in ensuring quality rest and that investing in well made products is akin to investing in yourself. Our vision is to create a personal sanctuary for all customers and advocate the importance of quality rest beyond bedtime, as well as provide the tools for it.
Often when we shop for bedding, some of us are often told that we should only get higher thread counts. Can you settle this for us: is thread count actually important when getting good bedding?
Thread count matters, but only to a certain extent! People often presume that a high thread count equals high quality. However, different brands measure thread counts differently, which can be confusing for consumers. While a higher thread count usually implies softer sheets, a higher thread count can sometimes be achieved by thinning the thread which actually lowers durability. The fact is, as thread count rises, sheets can become more prone to pilling and become more fragile.
Instead of just focusing on thread counts, consider other factors that go into making sheets – like material and weave – which can achieve the same effect as a higher thread count without compromising the fabric’s durability. That’s why all Sunday Bedding bed sheets have a thread count of 300-400, which balances softness and durability. Additionally, materials like French Linen are not measured by thread count, but grams per square metre.
Weave types can also help you recognise high quality sheets – the two most common weaves are percale and sateen. Choosing between them is a matter of personal preference. While percale is durable and lightweight, it can feel a little rough and has a more matte finish. Sateen, on the other hand, has a smoother and more luxurious feel.
Homeowners should also look for bedding types and material that cater to your sleep and lifestyle preferences. For example, bamboo is incredibly soft, silky and drapes beautifully. It is also moisture-wicking and great for those that sweat easily at night.
For those with sensitive skin and find that their skin can get irritated from the fabrics they sleep on at night, choose materials that are either 100% linen or bamboo as they do not trap dusty easily, and avoid synthetic blends. While linen is pricier than cotton or bamboo, it is a great investment piece that can last 10 years or more and gets softer with each wash.
Queen Size Bamboo Sheet Set in Desert Rose, $268, from Sunday Bedding.
One facet of Sunday Bedding is that you guys pay a lot of attention to ensuring your materials aren’t just comfortable to touch, but good for the environment as well. Why is this important?
According to a study by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation, in the global material flow of clothing in 2015, 89% of virgin feedstock are polyester and/or cotton. To put things into perspective, producing plastic-based fibers such as polyester for textiles uses ~342 million barrels of oil every year, while the annual production of cotton is estimated to require 200,000 tonnes of pesticides and 8 million tonnes of fertilizers.
With 90% of textiles demand in cotton or polyester, we believe that textiles diversity is the key to a more sustainable textiles economy. By developing a sustainable brand like Sunday Bedding, we hope to be part of a movement to shift the demand toward alternative fabric such as Bamboo Sateen and French Linen.
Bamboo uses 80% less water compared to the cultivation of cotton. In fact, the cultivation of Bamboo is net carbon negative as it grows really quickly. Linen is derived from flax plant – a plant that is extremely versatile and every part of it used to create a worthwhile product. It’s also an incredibly durable fabric that gets softer over time.
Another thing we love about Sunday Bedding is that you maintain production transparency and accountability. In your honest opinion, were there any challenges you faced when achieving this? And also, why is having a transparent production chain important for you?
We are lucky that we have a close relationship with our bedding factory and are able to have a full overview of their processes through Alex. Aside from the certifications, we are able to work closely with the factory managers to complete a full carbon footprinting of our products.
However, the challenge comes when we are trying to expand our product lines beyond bedding. As we only work with suppliers that are fully certified, our product development process can take a lot longer as we ensure that our suppliers are able to produce quality products using only sustainable materials and are also fully certified to European or American standards. For example, we’ve been working on throw blankets for more than a year as we initially struggled to find a supplier that met our criteria.
Having a transparent production chain is important to us as ultimately, we strongly believe that sustainability is not simply slapping on an organic label, but also about achieving efficiency and a reduction in consumption across the entire manufacturing process. Talking about sustainability without discussing the production process or the steps that a brand is taking to improve their consumption also means that the word can be easily subject to ‘greenwashing’ – that’s something we want to avoid!
King Bamboo Sheet Set in Nautical Blue, $298; Sunday Hand Towel (available in various colours), $16 each, all from Sunday Bedding.
Are there any future plans for Sunday Bedding that you can share with us?
We intend to continue pushing the envelope with Sunday Bedding next year and beyond – customer demand has shown us we’re moving in the right direction.
While bedding will always remain our core product, we want to further elevate customers’ personal journey of rest by expanding into other product categories in the home and decor space, for example throw blankets, pillow shams, and bath rugs.
We are also planning to launch new bedding designs. These new product lines aim to help our customers weave in moments of respite – that familiar Sunday feeling – into their daily lives.
Collaborating with local artists and brands to develop products that are suitable for individuals’ varied tastes and needs are also key to our growth. Customers can definitely look forward to more of these types of collaborations.
Finally, we are launching a core loungewear collection at the end of 2021 as it’s a very natural extension of our vision of bringing moments of rest to people. Stay tuned for more!
To shop Sunday Bedding at SocietyA, please click here. Also, enjoy free local delivery and returns on all SocietyA orders, with no minimum spending!