Batik brothers

Two engineers deviate from their career path by starting a venture to make shirts from batik sourced from various parts of the world.

WHEN we think of batik, we often think that the fabric art is only from this region. We are more familiar with our own batik, or the one from Indonesia. Maybe that’s because batik products from Malaysia and Indonesia are more popular.

But there are other countries that have their own batik including Nigeria, Cameroon, and Mali. And countries in other parts of Asia, including India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Iran and Thailand have their own forms of batik too. Unfortunately, batik from these countries are not as popular or as in- demand in this country.

However, friends Farhan Omar and Mohamad Ekram Faiz are determined to change this perception. When they launched their brand, Kapten Batik, in March last year, their aim was to bring batik designs from around the world to adorn men’s shirts.

Mohamad Ekram says they travelled to Terengganu and Kelantan, Cirebon and Pekalongan in Indonesia, and Jaipur, India to find local artisans who can design the prints for them.

“We went to places that are out of the way because we wanted to find prints that are unique and exclusive to us. We can’t use the same designs as other brands, because part of our plan is to make Kapten Batik the leader in men’s batik shirts.”

It was a risk the friends were willing to take when they set up the brand, says Mohamad Ekram. Although both men never wear batik, they knew it was something they wanted to do.

“We don’t have any retail experience because we are engineers. But we decided that it was time to stop working for other people and start our own venture. We thought retail would be the best choice. I did a research on interests and demand in the market and found men’s batik shirts to be the answer.

“When I suggested the idea to Farhan, he agreed.”

In April last year, they launched their first designs, the Nusantara series, made with machine printed batik from Indonesia. Sizes range from small to triple XL with 10 items for each size.

To introduce their first collection, Farhan and Mohamad Ekram joined a two-day bazaar at Trec, Kuala Lumpur. The initial plan was to test their target market — men aged 25 to 34 who frequent the place. Both of them were surprised with the overwhelming response.

TRADITIONAL TEXTILES

According to the two friends, Kapten Batik aims to promote sustainable development by using artisanal handicraft and traditional textiles and marries their creativity to simple contemporary designs, keeping in mind the sophisticated needs of urban men.

Farhan says they chose the slim fit cut because it is popular and stylish. The cut is their trademark because at that time, they could not find men’s batik shirt in that style.

“Men usually go to a tailor if they want a slim fit. We offer ready-made shirts with fine details that men like such as double seams on all sides and personalised stone wash buttons with the brand name. Customers can also choose between three types of collars — normal, Mandarin and Shanghai,” says Farhan.

Ensuring the designs are stylish and modern encourages Malaysian men to change their perception about batik shirts. Unlike their Indonesian peers, Malaysian men only wear batik for weddings or official functions and never as daily wear.

Mohamad Ekram says this is mainly because they see the fabric, colours and designs as not suitable for them. With our humid weather, Malaysian men want fabrics that are cooling and soft. Those that are available are usually made from polyester, linen and crepe silk. While there are cotton batik shirts, the designs generally do not appeal to men, he says.

“We choose fabrics suitable for our weather such as cotton poplin and cotton primisima,” says Mohamad Ekram.

Following the success of the Nusantara series, Kapten Batik launched its second series in the same year. Called the Masterpiece series, the shirts are made from handstamped batik from Kelantan and Terengganu. The designs in this series use environment-friendly colours from Germany. There are between 15 and 20 designs but only about three pieces from each size, since they are handprinted.

“Initially we were a bit worried because people relate batik from these two States to be only for older people. But we designed the print ourselves and chose various colours. Also, because the fabric is handstamped, the designs were limited to only 10. We are happy that they also sold out,” says Farhan.

INDIAN INSPIRATION

In April this year, they decided on a different approach for their new collection. Farhan and Mohamad Ekram travelled to Jaipur in Rajasthan, India to look for ethnic prints. Jaipur was chosen because there are artisans who still practise the traditional process of handblock printing on textiles, a practice which dated back 500 years.

Working with the local artisans in Jaipur on the designs and fabric, Kapten Batik launched the Maharaja series which was also its Hari Raya collection. There are about 20 designs that use the Rajasthan province’s natural dye handstamp technique on cotton cambrics.

Farhan says while the plan is to focus on batik designs, they also want to promote other ethnic prints which they find suitable for their brand. He says they want to bring all the fabrics into Malaysia. It does not matter where they come from as long as they fit into Kapten Batik’s criteria.

People have told them that they should focus only on Malaysian batik, says Farhan, adding that while they do want to preserve our batik heritage, they are looking for designs that Malaysians are not familiar with.

“We are not only promoting batik, we are also promoting art. So even if the designs are not considered batik, or are from other countries, we will still choose them if they are unique to us.

We are looking for something different in each market. We look at which countries can give us the fabric, designs and colours we want. We want to give our customers variety. Another reason is that we want to go global and we need to include prints from other countries.”

Farhan says their marketing strategy is their strengths in building the brand. In addition to online shopping, the duo also promote their brand at bazaars and pop-up booths. They have also talked to high-end hotels and resorts as the shirts are also suitable as beach wear.

Their aggressive marketing campaign has paid off, as they have been given a space in Robinsons The Gardens Mall, Robinsons Shoppes at Four Seasons and Sogo to sell the shirts. Kapten Batik is also available on FashionValet.

“We were the first men’s batik shirts available at Robinsons. Initially, we thought it would be hard to sell them in places like that. But when we looked at our first sales figures, we were wrong.

“As I said before, people’s response made us want to give them unique and interesting designs. So we plan to travel to various countries to achieve our goal. Next on our list is probably Morocco ,” says Farhan.

Kapten Batik has launched its latest series this month called the Parahyangan. There are 20 designs in the collection, made from handstamped batik from Indonesia.

Depending on the prints and colours, the price range for the shirts in each series are between RM129 and RM299.

kasmiah@nst.com.my