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July-August. 2026 | @ Halal
PRINTCAST
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PRINTCAST
BUILDING BRIDGES: Connecting Malaysian creativity with new opportunities. Left, Jay Ishak; centre, Faridah Mohd Ali; right, Shaza Dzulkifly
BEYOND RAMADAN
Another concern was the tendency to treat modest fashion as a Ramadan and Hari Raya business.
" The consumer demand is not new. The visibility and the commercial recognition are," Shaza observed.
Jay agreed, arguing that seasonal collections become opportunistic when brands enter the market only during Ramadan and disappear soon afterwards.
Faridah said smaller businesses and startups needed proper guidance, coaching, and training to grow sustainably.
" It has to be a continuous effort. It has to be sustainable," she said.
That means moving beyond seasonal sales and building brands that can serve consumers year-round.
“ It’ s not about the layers; it’ s about the coverage and the comfort.”
Jay Ishak
VISIBILITY IS NOT ENOUGH
Perhaps the strongest message of the discussion concerned the difference between fashion exposure and fashion business.
" A runway creates attention. Business readiness converts that attention into opportunity," Jay added.
For designers, that means going beyond impressive collections. They must understand wholesale and retail pricing, margins, production capacity, lead times, logistics, sizing and buyer expectations.
Platforms such as MIHAS Modest Fashion can provide valuable international visibility, but Jay warned against measuring success through exposure alone.
" We are very good at producing shows, photographs, social media content and applause. We are less comfortable discussing pricing, margins,
production capacity, repeat orders and buyer conversion," said Jay.
Faridah believed collaboration would be essential if Malaysia was to realise the sector ' s potential.
" We don ' t want Malaysia just to be a producer of modest fashion," she said. " We also want to be a hub for creativity, technology and everything that comes from the ecosystem of modest fashion."
The runway, in other words, is only the beginning.
For Malaysia ' s modest fashion industry, the real measure of success will be what happens after the applause stops.-
“ We do not want Malaysia to be only a producer of modest fashion; we want it to become a hub for creativity, technology and the entire modest-fashion ecosystem.”
Faridah Mohd Ali