KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — Having long been disappointed with the quality of local-made jeans, Afiq Iskandar Zainal Ariffin, decided to create a brand which is on par with the quality of international  brands.

According to the founder of Tarik Jeans, though there are a variety of local brands in the market, most  producers do not really focus on the quality and design of their products.

Afiq Iskandar, 32, first attempted to produce jeans for his personal use and to entertain requests from close friends before selling the jeans online in 2009.

"I did not want Tarik Jeans to be just another local product ... so I tried to give the product an identity of its own with emphasis on quality and designed according to customers needs, as these are things often overlooked in other local products.

"With good quality and reasonable price, consumers are spoilt for choice because apart from the international labels we now have a local brand which is just as good,” he told Bernama.

Admitting that it was not easy to enter the market or to convince buyers to choose his line of jeans, the guitarist of ‘Oh Chentaku’ rock band said, his designs were able to solve the problems faced by fans who want their jeans according to Malaysian style.

"We try to customise the design according to the weather and create the cut according to consumers’ taste and comfort.

"This is important as some consumers wish to follow the current trend of having skinny jeans or any style which are in trend abroad,” he said adding that Tarik Jeans now comes in 10 designs including the Slim Ramlee and Skinny Din designs.

Touching on the Tarik Jeans brand, Afiq said this Malaysian denim brand celebrates the rich cultural diversity that we have in the country, in line with its slogan ‘Denim Untuk  Rakyat’. — Bernama