FROM PASAR MALAM TO N.Y. CATWALK
Yani Bakhtiar has built a reputation in the bustling fashion circuits of the world with her Nusantara-themed designs, writes
AMALAYSIAN designer, who started with selling children’s clothes at the pasar malam in Kampung Datuk Keramat, Kuala Lumpur, is now showcasing her Melayu Manis creations at the New York Couture Fashion Week.
Yani Bakhtiar, of Yans Creation Sdn Bhd, has indeed come a long way, from pasar malam to the malls in Ampang Park and KLCC, to online business.
Now Yan, 57, is a familiar face at fashion circuits all over the world, including London, Paris, Toronto and now, New York.
Today, Yan is bringing her collections, which include Melayu Manis — an ethnically-inspired modestyle Nusantara designs of the kebaya and baju kurung made of songket and batik textiles — to the catwalk in New York city.
“I am confident that the Nusantara-themed
Melayu Manis collections will be a hit in New York too,” said Yan at her booth in Pure London recently, where her bold and colourful designs are usually snapped up by buyers from as far as the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Yan recently brought her eyecatching collections for the fourth time to Pure London, which is the United Kingdom’s largest gathering of fashion buyers.
From learning to assess buyers’ trends and tastes, Yan has become an expert in sussing out their demands and preferences.
Yans Creation is one of six Malaysian designers brought to Pure London by Suraya Sharifuddin of The ArtfulBrains Sdn Bhd.
The last few months had been hectic as her collections, in collaboration with Datin Sharifah Shawati Syed Mohd of Adamaya Marketing Sdn Bhd, made appearances in Paris, which then opened doors for more collaborations — this time for the 29th consecutive season of one of New York Fashion Week’s most prestigious events.
For Yan, who comes from a family of dressmakers starting from her mother and then her sisters, she furthered her interest by learning the trade from a seamstress in Chow Kit Road.
Now she designs her own ethnically-inspired clothes and helps translate ideas into catwalk-worthy designs that have proven to be a hit wherever she goes; and that includes Islamic fashion shows abroad.
Tonight, on the catwalk in 43rd Street, New York City, 25 models will wear Yans Creation — some of which she hopes will help introduce her brand of Melayu Manis in the fashion city.
“I have introduced Melayu Manis in London, Paris and Toronto, and now, hopefully, fashion enthusiasts here in New York will be introduced to the Nusantara clothes wear,” said Yan.
For fans in London, Yan is hoping to stock her collections at Norish Kareem’s Boutique Café next month.
She already has stockists in Birmingham and Toronto.
I am confident that the Nusantara-themed Melayu Manis collections will be a hit in New York too.
Yans Creation Sdn Bhd