With a fashion label and a make-up brand developing side by side, one stylish entrepreneur is gearing up for a busy year, writes Syida Lizta Amirul Ihsan
IT had been a colourful 2016 for fashion entrepreneur Tengku Chanela Jamidah Tengku Ibrahim. Last year, she took full control of Thavia, her fashion label, and debuted her collection at Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week.
She also developed Dida, the make-up brand with liquid lip colours that sell like hot cakes, an idea conceived on a trip to Johor Baru with her friend Didi.
“We were just bouncing ideas, seeing how make-up is booming. We launched five colours initially, and all were sold out in 20 minutes,” she says.
The 33-year old mother-of-two considers her journey in the fashion and beauty world an ongoing adventure that has bloomed as her personal style changed.
Fashion-wise, she says she used to be stud-and-metal Rick Owens edgy. That was about the time she started Ultra, an ahead-of-its-time fashion label that married sustainability with edgy aesthetics.
The 2009 venture, with fashion designers Tengku Syahmi and Jonathan Liang, won her industry respect for its unique ideas. Ultra was awarded the innovation in design and sourcing award from UK-based organisation Ethical Fashion Forum.
The collection launched in Shanghai and showcased from Colombo to Paris, receiving much attention from the ethical fashion industry. “Ultra was ahead of the game,” she says retrospectively.
“But I like to be different and I like to make noise. I used to be into Rick Owens and Ann Demeulemeester. I still consider myself a fashion rebel, and I find myself comfortable in both Nabil Volkers and Joe Chia,” she says.
BLACK IS BEST
Tengku Chanela Jamidah is often seen in black. She very rarely wears prints, much less floral. But working with Jonathan Liang for the latter’s fashion label opened her eyes to another side of prints - that they don’t have to be super feminine and soft.
“It was Jonathan who introduced to me the possibility of floral prints which are softer and more fluid, but with some kind of structure that gels with my style,” she says.
“I think that softness somehow blends with my edginess and that’s how Thavia was born.”
The late Sonny San was perhaps the first local designer that she admired.
“Back in the days when Lot 10 (in Jalan Bukit Bintang) was the place to be, I used to go to Eclipse to shop because I like the clothes. Even from the start, big labels didn’t matter to me. I am more concerned about aesthetics and designs,” she says.
These days, she wears local designers, from Ezzati Amira to Alia Bastamam and is awed by the camaraderie forged by young local designers.
“We’re very co-operative despite competing for a slice of the fashion pie. We believe that if we do our best, customers will notice and we’ll always remain relevant.”
Competition among local fashion labels has heated up with the use of social media. There’s no such thing as a secret when everything’s on your Instagram feed. “We just have to be on the ball, all the time, and work smarter,” she says.
THAVIA DEBUT
Last month, Tengku Chanela Jamidah launched her Thavia line in FashionValet, in conjunction with the fashion giant’s offline store opening in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. Thavia, she says, is a symbol of how her style has evolved over the years.
“The clothes are wearable and the line is not concept-based. I just want to design what people can wear.”
And wear Thavia you can. A backless orange dress can be hijab-friendly when worn on top of a white shirt. A sleeveless baby blue top can turn into a vest, as worn by FashionValet co-founder Vivy Yusof on launch day. The asymmetrical bomber jacket with oversized cuff is the epitome of cool. Then there’s an orange dress that comes with cloth choker to resonate with the current fashion trend.