KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — They say accessories maketh the outfit — and there’s nothing like a chic, sleek timepiece from homegrown brand, Malaya Co to complete your look.
Originally conceived as a university project, it is now a full-blown business for friends Tengku Muhammad Shah (Moe), Shahida Hasan and Joshua Paul Siow. “When I was studying in the UK, I had to come up with a creative concept for my advertising course. It was to see how well I can design and brand a product. Looking back at trends then I saw a lot of startups doing clothing but there was no market for watches,” said Moe.
The independent watch brand was launched in the UK in March 2015. Within a month, they had sold 100 pieces from their website. Even though it was not sold here, there was a buzz via email and social media from interested buyers as it was viewed as a desirable fashion accessory.
Since people kept asking for the brand to be available locally, the founders decided to bring their timepieces here last June.
The brand draws its name from the word, “Malaya” which means freedom in Tagalog. In addition, there is a common link with Malaya, since two of the founders are from Singapore while one is from Malaysia.
The model of the watch is named after “419120”, the postcode of a place in Singapore. “We designed the watch in Malaysia but it is manufactured in China. It uses a Japanese mechanism. I was inspired by industrial design and I like the clean, minimalist look. It is a very military-style,” said Moe who used to be a police officer.
Moe who is the appointed creative director is from Singapore. He had connected with Shahida in Singapore years ago. The other co-founder Siow is in charge of Business Development but he is based overseas currently.
The 40 millimetre watch face and frame comes in two variants: rose gold or silver. It has a sleek and clean feel to it, making it ideal for any ensemble you wear.
Each piece comes with two straps, a leather one and a webbed nylon one. “The reason why we have two straps is because we want to give back to our customers. It is so that they can interchange between the straps and have options,” said Shahida.
Malaya Co also offers a choice of five different colours for their webbed nylon straps — black, grey, khaki green, beige and red, which is exclusive to Malaysia. The leather strap comes in two choices, royal blue or tanned brown.
In Malaysia, the watches are now sold at local stockists like Fashion Valet, Acquire in Bangsar Village II and Third Culture. They also have stockists in Singapore and Indonesia.
Priced at RM338 which is mid-range, it is accessible even for college students. “I was thinking of a market we could serve. For watches, it’s either luxury watches or really inexpensive ones. There was no in-between,” said Moe.
Their first batch of watches was produced with the quantity of 200 pieces and sales have been positive. Based on feedback from customers, they hope to see more variety in the watches. “Our watches are suited for everybody and they are unisex. Our customers are mostly aged 18 to 35 based on our sales. They hear about us through social media. It plays a big role in our business,” said Shahida.
“In the future we want to create a line of products. Not just watches. The products will be based on our philosophy of ‘to be free.’ We want to be a daily essential brand and we hope to collaborate with local and international designers. There is a strong creative industry here and it will be good for everyone,” said Moe.
Find out more about Malaya Co here:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/malayacompany
Instagram: www.instagram.com/malayacompany
