Breaking a leg in batik

IN THIS day and age where suits, ties and evening gowns reign supreme, batik should all the more be celebrated for its timeless beauty, as more than just a wardrobe staple at elite and corporate functions. Thanks to Nadia Hasbi, the traditional art will be given a new lease of life at the end of this month when she releases SENI by Fit Rebel, a series of five nature-inspired batik leggings.
Nadia, who introduced active wear brand Liquido to consumers outside its South American origins via her e-commerce site (www.fitrebel.com) back in 2013, decided it was her cue to create her own line of clothing after putting her plans on hold for three years.
"I wanted to create something of good quality but was affordable and would excite my customers. Through the years of running Fit Rebel, the feedback that I got from customers is that they love my active wear because it's fun, and it makes them feel pretty and excited to work out.
"That has been a recurring theme, and it was the essence that I wanted to maintain in my brand," shared the Kuala Lumpur native.
However, the former business development manager did not want to be a rebel without a cause in an already saturated market for sports- and athleisure wear. It took the 34-year-old three to four months just to come up with a strong value proposition, and the remainder of the year to source suitable batik artists and printers, design and manufacture the pants, shoot campaign photos and a promotional video, publish her project on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo and deliver the products to her backers.
theSun headed to the park with this fit entrepreneur to see for ourselves what SENI's leggings can pull off, and the ardent process that brought them to life.
How did the idea to fuse batik and workout leggings come about?
Well, it came to me that I am from Malaysia. Batik is a versatile art that can be used for any decorative purposes, so depending on how I do it, it could fit the leggings.
Did you plan to crowdfund SENI from the get-go?
I decided to go on Indiegogo for three reasons: to see if people were receptive to my product, to raise funds, and for marketing purposes. An international platform makes a good marketing vehicle.
What are the prerequisite qualities and principles that shaped the collection?
My USP (unique selling point) at the end of the day is that it has to be affordable as well as it is unique. I believe beautiful and high quality products don't have to be expensive. I've been doing what I do for quite some time, and I know the cost to manufacture something. Sometimes I wonder, do retailers really have to pay thousands to have a celebrity endorse their product, then inflate the price by 20 times? I personally wouldn't buy any sportswear that costs RM300 to RM400. To me, it's one big rip-off.
I wanted my pants to be of good quality: comfortable, breathable, soft and durable. It has to be able to stretch four ways, and pilling (balls of tangled fibres popping up) shouldn't happen. It can't be see-through – that's a big no-no. My leggings passed the downward dog tests!
Could you share one of the biggest learning curves in creating your own sports leggings?
When I first started, all I knew was I wanted yoga pants. When I went to the manufacturer asking for spandex pants, I was shocked to find out there are so many blends and fabric thickness – but I eventually learnt to tell the difference. After determining the fabric, I worked with five different printers to get results that are as close to the art as possible. We couldn't draw the art on the spandex itself because the hot wax will melt it; we had to draw on the canvas, digitise and then print it.
It was the style of it too. I was asked if I wanted invisible or double stitching, front or back pockets, a gusset, as well as how tight the leg opening should be. When it came to these nitty-gritty, I created a survey and sent to my existing customers, then did my pants based on their feedback. That took another five different prototypes, and the final one was crafted to the centimetre.
Tell us more about the women who modelled the collection.
All of them are my friends, whom my leggings were named after: Tengku Zai does yoga and dance, Selina teaches yoga, Christine and Bonnie practise capoeira, and Alya is my aerial artiste. I wanted athletes; people who actually do sports. They also tested the prototypes for two months.

Any plans to venture into other kinds of sportswear and accessories?
Not yet. I'm going to wait for my customers' feedback on SENI to keep improving. Once I have a really good product, I'll expand on other things. Next year, I want to release cropped pants and maybe shorts. In the foreseeable future, swimwear.