Street cred

DISCLAIMER: do not expect Putera M.Nabil to play safe or stay the same.
The menswear designer, who goes by the moniker Nabil Volkers, burst into the scene at last year’s Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week and made a lasting impression with his avant-garde approach to streetwear, a synthetic show-stopper bedecked with orchid motifs, ostrich feathers and all.
“Street culture really inspires me. I visit London almost every year to spend winter with my aunt and grandfather, and whenever I go to the Soho area I see kids styling whatever they grabbed from the thrift shop, their way. “It’s the most comfortable and relatable to people, and I like street culture because there’s no rule or requirement to it,” expressed the 25-year-old.
Unlike streetwear, street couture is as Nabil described, heavier in the nature of its creative input and execution to exhibit an equally eccentric veneer. Even though street fashion is doing well locally, spearheaded by international and home-grown labels alike, Nabil prefers to defy the conventional aesthetics of streetwear.
Fuelled by reruns of Star Trek, the Kuala Lumpur citizen looked to the mysteries of aliens, Area 51, and human hybrids to create Experiment 01 for spring/ summer 2017. To illustrate the theme, Nabil gave the parka a lab coat treatment, and added a dash of warning sign mustard to an otherwise black-and-white palette that streetwear is synonymous with.
Meanwhile, the unusual black ostrich feather trimmings and orchid motif embroidery respectively represent the inner demons and exoticism of every individual.
“The collection remains mostly black because the idea of experimenting on someone’s body is a bit dark, like an invasion of privacy,” added Nabil, who admitted his affinity for all things sinister and mystical.
Experiment 01’s overall look may be a formidable one, but it isn’t about to set in stone. In a path not taken by most fashion designers, Nabil revealed his plan to preserve the element of surprise by not maintaining a signature aesthetic.
“With other designers, you can make out the same identity over the seasons. But I want to give every collection a new character, that you wouldn’t see any part of the first collection in the second.
“I’m obsessed with labels, so I’d probably do that again. But the colours and fabrication will probably change completely,” Nabil said, hinting of an all-out denim collection to be unveiled this June.
Being served designs this strikingly edgy, the average fashion consumer often stops at the point of admiration, overlooking the craftsmanship and technicalities that are sewn together by plenty of hard work and little assistance behind the scenes.
“Bringing your sketch to life is challenging. When you draw a certain shape, create a draft, sew it, and it turns out differently – that’s the most frustrating part. Two months is not a lot of time to create 20 looks,” he confessed.
Almost all the outerwear, Nabil noted, were the toughest to make. Designing for the sake of making them look eccentric simply wouldn’t cut it for this promising talent.
“I’m particular about tailoring, and I’d try on the pieces during the process to see if they are comfortable on the arms and upper body. You have to make sure the garment’s mechanism and construction are on point, like clothes from back in the day,” said Nabil.