KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 — For nearly four decades, BIBA has been a familiar name in India’s fashion scene — growing to hundreds of stores nationwide with its premium ethnic wear, flowing kurtas and contemporary Indian silhouettes, catering largely to Indian women.
One year after opening its first store in Malaysia, BIBA is finding a different audience among Malaysian shoppers: Malay and Chinese customers looking for pieces to wear to the office or on weekend outings, rather than solely for Indian weddings or Deepavali open houses.
It is a small but telling shift — colours and silhouettes once associated largely with festive wardrobes are finding their way into everyday rotation, worn by women who simply like how the pieces look and feel, regardless of their cultural origins.
In Malaysia, the brand has expanded to three outlets in just one year, driven locally by franchise owners Buelah Subramaniam and Krishsubashini Govindasamy, two women who saw an opportunity to introduce the brand to a wider Malaysian market.
For the duo, bringing BIBA to Malaysia was both personal and rooted in a belief that contemporary Indian fashion could appeal to women beyond the community it has traditionally served.
“Many people still think Indian fashion is only for weddings or festivals, and this is a perception we want to change.
“It’s not just our Indian customers — we’re seeing Malay and Chinese customers coming in specifically looking for pieces they can wear to work,” they said in a media release.
For Krishsubashini, the idea took root after a decade of shopping at BIBA stores in India, where she had long felt the label’s easy, contemporary cuts deserved a wider audience beyond occasion wear.
“Malaysia has a vibrant multicultural community with a growing appreciation for Indian fashion, not only among the Indian community but also among women who simply love colourful, contemporary clothing,” she said.
The two women entrepreneurs said they play to their respective strengths, combining experience in business operations and management with a strong understanding of fashion, customer experience and people skills.
“Our partnership began through a shared passion for entrepreneurship and a common belief that fashion has the power to inspire confidence,” Buelah added.
The founders said their immediate focus is on strengthening BIBA’s presence and brand awareness in Malaysia, with plans to expand into strategic locations nationwide.
“We are proud to have reached three stores within our first year, but we see this as just the beginning. Our aspiration is to establish BIBA as one of Malaysia’s most sought-after Indian fashion brands while making contemporary Indian wear more accessible to women across the country.
“Our long-term hope is simply for more Malaysian women to discover how versatile Indian fashion can be, whatever their background,” they added.
BIBA’s three Malaysian outlets — Brickfields, 1 Utama Shopping Centre and Klang — are marking the brand’s first anniversary with discounts of up to 50 per cent from July 10 to 12, alongside a special Thank You Day and in-store activities for customers.
“This first year has been about the customers who gave us a chance and kept coming back. The Thank You Day is our way of celebrating them — this milestone is as much theirs as it is ours,” the founders said.
