The founders of FashionValet talk to Syida Lizta Amirul Ihsan about its growth and future challenges, and why it’s so important to stay grounded
THE first time I met Fadzarudin Shah Anuar, 31, and Vivy Sofinas Yusof, 31, was in 2012, when they were engaged to be married and their then-small company, FashionValet, was still operating from an office lot in Plaza Damansara.
Vivy hadn’t donned the tudung and Fadzarudin was a shy geek who was always behind his computer (“I still am”). They were not yet accustomed to the social media attention they are now, but their determination to succeed and eagerness to thrive was unmistakable from day one.
The name they chose for their enterprise — FashionValet — was a symbol of this balance, the yin and yang in the partnership; F for Fadza and V for Vivy. Together, they are the power couple of fashion retail who, for the last eight years, have pushed Malaysian fashion to the fore and focus the attention on local talents like never before.
Its office then, had no receptionist. You opened the door and piles of clothes greeted you. The team was small. They modelled, they took orders and they mailed them. Everyone did everything.
Eight years and two office upgrades later, FashionValet now has a 200-strong staff (including warehouse and store) and for the first time, held its Press Day last month, welcoming writers and editors to its new home, a sprawling new space in Glo Damansara that’s like a house, office, café and rest area rolled into one.
YEAR OF STREAMLINING
As FashionValet Group Chief Executive, Fadzarudin oversees FashionValet operations and all the brands it carries. He knows that 2019 will be an even more challenging year than 2018 and wants to streamline the business.
“From 250 brands, we are going down to 150. We have stopped experimenting and we aim to serve customers better by making sure these brands give value,” he says.
“Things have changed since our inception. Back then, there was no competition and things were not readily available. Customers would buy whatever we sold then,” he says.
Vivy, who is the Group Chief Creative Officer, adds that with international companies shipping to Malaysia or offering free deliveries, things are getting tougher.
“Price becomes sensitive. People go to many websites to compare. While people were brand loyal previously, now they look for value-for-money and we hope to do that with our in-house brands — increase the quality of merchandise but keep the prices down,” he says.
The company is branching out to the Middle East with its two-staff Dubai office and a website which was up late last month. Fadzarudin hopes to court the market in United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan with this move.
“The Middle East is booming and our target is to make the region a major contributor to our revenue in its first year,” Currently, 60 per cent of the company’s revenue comes from local customers and 40 per cent is from Singapore, Brunei and Malaysians living in the United Kingdom.
“We want FashionValet to be known to non-Malaysians,” he says.
Last year, the Group grew by 35 per cent. In the previous years, the growth ranged between double and triple digits, which made it a fast-growing Malaysian company.
“Last year was tough for retail globally, with companies having negative growth or even closing down and filing for bankruptcy. That we grew by 35 per cent is a positive outlook for FV,” Vivy says.
BUILDING BRANDS
Perhaps beyond the success of FashionValet itself lies the victory of building dUCk, the purple-coloured cult brand that started as a scarf label and now stocks cosmetics, stationery, accessories and body care.
dUCk started in 2014 and quickly rose as a high-end hijab brand whose plain, printed and limited edition scarves and shawls still send fans’ hearts racing each time a new collection launches. In the middle of last month, the brand added nine colours to its much-loved Lattice collection. By morning, three colours had already sold out online.
“That’s our strength — building a brand. And we want to do that more. FashionValet is about helping local brands. Ninety-five per cent of our brands are local and we are building and growing these brands. We’ve always been a supporter of small and medium enterprises and this won ‘t change. We are also constantly looking for good local brands to invest in to grow further,” Vivy says.
BEING HUMBLE
Both of them say they have big dreams but in the end, being humble is what’s important. “We imagine we would be bigger. When you start a business, you imagine yourself successful and then reality kicks in,” Vivy says.
“But when you dream big, there is a lot more cushion for failure,” Fadzarudin says.
“I see the numbers of foreign companies and tell myself that if they can do it, why not us?,” Vivy says.
Putting things into perspective is very important, Fadza adds. “For instance, we have 10 million Instagram users in Malaysia, yet Vivy has only 1.6 million followers. There are 8.4 million users who don’t know her or follow her and that’s a big market to tap.
“If you think you are big enough, it gets to you. You must always know that there are ways to improve and that’s how you get better. Fadza always has stretch targets that will make us go ‘What?’, but if we don’t try our very best, we don’t know what we can achieve,” Vivy says.
“So for now, we want to strengthen these local brands, perhaps even open standalone stores for them. We would like to be stronger from the inside, so when the tide turns and the economy improves, we can soar,” adds Fadzarudin.
Photos by Halimaton Saadiah Sulaiman.