The women, both 32, moved to Shanghai for 11/2 years to find Chinese craftsmen to build their products and perfect the brand's language.
They launched Scene Shang online in 2014 and were subsequently stocked with other retailers.
Early on, they had to depend "largely on word of mouth" and returned from Shanghai to take part in pop-up events and fairs to make the brand known.
They are doing well enough to open a 1,000 sq ft store in Beach Road at the end of this month.
In a way, the current landscape is kinder to start-ups and designers who are brave enough to have a go.
Just a decade ago, collectives such as Outofstock had to look overseas for recognition before making it here.
The quartet is made up of Singaporeans Gabriel Tan, 33, and Wendy Chua, 31, as well as Mr Gustavo Maggio, 35, from Argentina, and Mr Sebastian Alberdi, 37, from Spain.
Now, the studio is decorated with accolades on home ground. It won the President's Design Award in 2010 for its Black Forest table, which is produced by French furniture label Ligne Roset.
Last year, it was chosen as Singapore's representative at the Maison&Objet Rising Asian Talents Award, the regional edition of the Parisian design trade show.
Its first recognition came three years after it got together, when Ligne Roset commissioned the Black Forest piece, a table with interlocking branch-like legs, and launched it during the 2010 Milan Design Week.
Ms Chua, who has a degree in industrial design from the National University of Singapore, says: "Looking back, it was clear in the early days that we had to carve our niche abroad and make our name at the Milan fair or other European trade shows.
"The unspoken rule then was that if you find recognition in Europe, it will be much easier to draw clients back home. The design scene in Singapore also did not present as many opportunities as today."
NOSTALGIA AND LOCAL FLAVOUR DOMINATE SCENE
Unlike Japanese cool minimalism or Scandinavian simplicity, Singapore's design DNA is not quite as easy to pin down, say designers, as everyone has his own style.
But products that have done well often have tinges of the Uniquely Singapore essence.
National icons from the Merlion to the Dragon Playground built in the 1970s have been remade into everything from notebooks to children's rockers.
Traditional or old-school food and snacks such as the humble Potong ice cream and kueh have been turned into jewellery or prints.
Favourites include a Kueh Tutu Eraser, modelled after the delicious rice-flour cake filled with coconut or peanut and designed by Mr Winston Chai and Mr Yong Jieyu.
There is the Singlish Notebook, a quirky journal with printed definitions of Singlish phrases, which was designed by Mr John Chan.
These products were part of a 2009 exhibition, titled Singapore Souvenirs, that Mr Chai started and featured eight home-grown designers.
Multi-disciplinary, award-winning design studio Farm came up with the Great Singapore Souvenirs collections in 2012 and a Made For Sam project with the Singapore Art Museum in 2010.
Some designers have made nostalgia their niche.
Ms Tan Li Ling, 30, owner and designer of seven-year-old label and accessories store Wheniwasfour, has aced the genre with her quirky snack-shaped pins, cushion covers with old hawker signs and a notebook with an illustrated cover of sheep "bleating" the various ways to use the Singlish phrase "Meh".
Prices range from $2 for a postcard to $39.90 for a cushion.
Ms Tan, who started Wheniwasfour with two university friends who have since left the brand, opened a shop in Waterloo Street in January.
The vibrant marketplace means that shoppers are spoilt for choice.
Marketing executive Gwendoline Lee, 29, has bought many food-shaped cushions, covers and even a Kan Cheong Spider Watch. The term is used to describe someone who is easily flustered.
Ms Lee, who often buys such items as gifts, says: "I find these products practical and useful, and they are very relatable, especially if they are gifts for friends."
Expatriate Naomi Giaretta, 40, has bought many such items too, such as Supermama's porcelain plates, a mooncake paperweight designed by Farm and T-shirts put out for SG50.
The mother of two, who often buys these items as gifts for friends who are leaving Singapore or as decorations for her home, says: "Many of the products have a contemporary, modern take on Singapore. Compared with the big brands which can be homogenous, these locally designed wares are refreshing."
THE GOLDEN YEARS OF SINGAPORE DESIGN?
It appears to be the perfect time to be a designer in Singapore.
Already, many get a leg-up from the Government.
For example, the DesignSingapore Council offers grants to designers who want to take part in international trade fairs.
There is also a scholarship programme for designers who want to further their studies. Launched in 2005, there have been 48 recipients who studied either in Singapore or go overseas.
Some scholars, such as Lanzavecchia + Wai's Hunn Wai - he started the design studio with Ms Francesca Lanzavecchia in 2009 after they met at Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands - have gone on to gain recognition for their work. In 2012, Newsweek named Lanzavecchia + Wai as one of the five Designers of the Future.
Universities, educational institutions and polytechnics are churning out designers as well, with their product and industrial design courses.
The Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Nafa) takes in eight to 15 students each year for its Diploma in Design (Furniture & Spatial), while there are more than 25 students every year for the school's Diploma in Design (Object & Jewellery) course.
The Diploma in Design (Object & Jewellery) course has seen increasing demand over the years, while the intake for the furniture course is deliberately kept small so that each student gets focused attention.
Temasek Polytechnic, which has a track record of producing President's Design Award winners such as Mr Yong, also has a Diploma in Product & Industrial Design course. There have been 620 graduates from the 1995 to 2012 batches.
Ms Sabrina Long, dean of the School of Art and Design at Nafa, says the calibre of students has improved and that "international industry players are watching the Singapore design scene".
Now, she says, students are more articulate and confident of becoming product designers.
Previously, students would gravitate towards studying interior or graphic design as those were more recognised fields.
She says: "Today, being a designer is more about finding solutions to living. The fad of trying to be a celebrity furniture designer is over. Few people make it as big as French designer Philippe Starck.
"Design is increasingly important in an everyday context. And becoming a designer involves developing a sense of empathy, instead of chasing the perfect design. That's what we're trying to teach our students."
The good news is that it appears to be easier to break into the design industry these days.
Mr Patrick Chia, 47, one of Singapore's earliest and most lauded product designers, puts the recent proliferation of Singapore designers and products down to how "fluid" the product and industrial design industry has become.
Anyone really, he says, can design products if he wants to.
Mr Chia is the founder of the Design Incubation Centre at the National University of Singapore and got his big break when respected designer Starck bought his Squeeze bench in 1997 for the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles.
He cites the example of The J. Myers Company, a home-grown handcrafted leather goods company started by a photographer. In essence, those from other fields such as graphic design, branding and advertising are also trying their hand at making products.
Mr Chia, who won the President's Design Award in 2013 and counts Australian-born industrial designer Marc Newson as his contemporary, says: "The product and industrial design discipline is no longer traditionally defined. You don't have to be trained in it to become a designer.
"It's easier to create any product these days. Technology such as 3D printing helps a lot. You can leapfrog the process of learning the fundamentals of designing, which can take years."
While Singapore's design scene is still in its infancy, Grafunkt's Mr Yong hopes that young designers look overseas to grow their craft as the international stage is "complex" and will truly test designers on their know-how.
But he is buoyed that Singapore business and consumers are embracing local design, even though he feels the Designed-in- Singapore label is not a priority for consumers. What matters at the end of the day is good value.
He has customised furniture for businesses such as Gallery & Co and Kith cafe, while his $3,959 Line television console under his Folks label has sold about 3,500 units since it was produced in 2009.
"I've worked at establishing myself with good designs and controlling quality. If a product checks all the boxes - that it's good value and within a shopper's budget - it's always going to sell."