Swiss fashion brand INA KESS makes you abandon short-lived trends for quiet luxury essentials that last (nearly) forever

There’s a certain fatigue that has crept into luxury fashion. Too many drops, too many fads, too much noise. For modern women who are constantly in motion — travelling, working, exercising, living — clothes have unfortunately become more complicated than they need to be.

INA KESS, the Swiss womenswear label founded by Katharina Staub, arrives in Singapore at exactly the right moment. After opening its Asia flagship boutique at Takashimaya in October 2025, the brand is positioning the city as a regional base — not just for expansion, but for serving a growing segment of customers whose needs have long been ignored.

The INA KESS woman is a cosmopolitan sophisticate who values precision and performance as much as aesthetics, and who is increasingly done with consumerist excess and wardrobes that demand too much effort.

Staub herself is not your typical fashion founder. She grew up on her parents’ farm in the countryside near Zurich, spending much of her time outdoors, attending to chores and enjoying hiking. That active lifestyle never left her, nor did the question that would eventually lead to INA KESS: Why was there no brand that could properly merge style with athletic function?

At the age 27, in 2015, the economics grad and IT industry professional decided to pivot her career and build a fashion business herself, beginning with a Zurich flagship boutique. Such was the resonance with like-minded women around the world that she took her brand into other European markets in 2019, followed by stores in New York City, Dubai, and even the Maldives.

Elevating the everyday

What’s notable is that Staub started before “athleisure” became a buzzword, but she’s also quick to distance herself from it. “I stepped away from the term quite early. For me, athleisure is this trend where you are wearing leggings into the supermarket,” she says.

Her idea was never about making fashion casual or sports-focused. It was about elevating function — taking the performance of technical apparel and translating it into something refined, dressy, and comfortable enough for work and play.

Staub approached clothing like a problem to solve. Her first product, a pair of black trousers, took months to refine. More than a decade later, it remains a bestseller — and tellingly, the pair she is wearing during our interview was made eight years ago, still holding its shape and appearing pristine.

That longevity is not accidental — it reflects a quiet luxury philosophy that runs counter to fashion’s seasonal churn. “I’m not thinking shop floor; I’m thinking closet of my customer,” she adds, holding up a shirt, “They want to wear this for the next five, 10, or 15 years.”

Designed around real life

Spend a few minutes with Staub and her offerings, and the difference becomes obvious. At her Spring/Summer 2026 trunk show at Gillman Barracks, she takes us through pieces designed not just to look good, but to anticipate the small irritations of daily life.

The dresses are transformable in silhouette, and some have proper pockets — the kind you instinctively reach for, only to realise they’re rarely there.

Shirt sleeves feature hidden inner stretch bands that allow you to push them up and have them stay in place without slipping down. Trousers come with similar thoughtful details, allowing wearers to adjust length or scrunch them up when needed, whether it’s to avoid a sudden downpour or simply to change the look on the go.

Even the smallest concerns are considered. Shirt collars can be flipped up at the back to reveal a reflective strip for night-time visibility. And the same reflective detail appears hidden along the zippers at the hems of leggings, only visible when unzipped.

Then there is the fabric. Blouses that look like silk but are engineered from technical materials more commonly used in outdoor gear. Dresses that dry quickly, resist creasing, and can be worn through a full day in Singapore’s humidity without fuss.

The colour palette is mostly neutral, and easily matched across her designs, new season or past. And you can wear the garments anywhere, from the boardroom to the beach.

“I thought it should be my goal to make an entire wardrobe, so that my customers can just dress up in the morning and they’re done for the rest of the day,” Staub explains as she pulls out her best-selling Venus dress from the rack and demonstrates the various ways to wear it.

Precision, detail, and quality

If the functionality feels almost obsessive, so too does the construction. INA KESS garments are produced in Portugal across 12 specialised factories, with Staub overseeing everything down to stitch counts and finishing standards.

That attention to detail extends to aesthetics. The brand’s signature gold buttons, for instance, are subtly distinctive — crafted with a Venetian-style starburst motif that catches the light just enough to signal a luxurious vibe without shouting for attention.

Staub describes her brand embodying a Swiss-level precision paired with a more emotional, Italian approach to experience. Apart from the clean lines, sculpted silhouettes, and technical rigour on one hand, there is a sense of warmth, tactility, and connection that anchors the INA KESS identity and service.

“We are deliberately not following the big brands or doing the colour of the season,” she states, adding that collections are small, tightly edited capsules designed to integrate seamlessly with previous creations. The idea is not to replace your wardrobe every season, but to build it gradually and intelligently.

Beyond being a breath of fresh air in the fashion scene today, INA KESS is exactly what the Singaporean woman needs. Our tropical climate demands breathable, quick-drying fabrics, while our hectic and often active lifestyle demands ready versatility. And increasingly, the mindset is leaning towards buying less, but buying better.

As Staub puts it, “Luxury today is the freedom to move beautifully, powerfully, and without compromise.”