Malaysia's dream team of fashion takes the stage

When Malaysia's top designer and top supermodel join forces in the name of fashion, you know the results will be magical. The clothes were just like the women who designed them: hard to ignore and visually decadent. But it was far from surprising, given how hard Melinda Looi and Amber Chia – two names that need no introduction in Malaysia – worked together.
To be released before the Lunar New Year begins, the MLxAC collection is titled “Yuan: The Beauty of Serendipity”. Yuan in Chinese describes “the ‘binding force’ that links two persons together in any relationship”. The word is most closely translated to “serendipity” and “finding something good without looking for it”.
“When people think of Chinese New Year, they usually associate it with wealth, health and prosperity,” says Looi. “However, we tend to forget that good fortune could also mean the abundance of wonderful people in our lives.”
The collection was developed to celebrate exactly that – the beauty of friends and relationships. Featuring a miasma of bright, auspicious colours, the clothes are meant to “represent the many faces and personalities of people that touch our lives”.
The line also mirrors Looi’s knack for versatility. Instead of traditional styles freed from the closet only for the occasional carousing, these New Year threads have been re-imagined in the form of wearable pieces. There are Oriental-style dresses ideal for a cocktail party, spunky A-lined blouses and sleekly tailored vests and pants suitable for the office.
Without doubt the “Unity” jacket is the collection’s standout – and not surprisingly, the most expensive. Fashioned from silk sari fabric with an elegant Kebaya cut and a Chinese button closure at the waist, it is – in true Looi style – a delightful tribute to Malaysia’s cultural potpourri. Just add to any ensemble for a subtle right-off-the-runway twist.
But it’s not all super-styling. The duo has come up with a more casual range of polo garments that’s fun for the less fashionably inclined, including tops for men, women and even the little ones.
The matching mother-daughter polo dresses offer a chance for the girls to bond while looking pretty. It’s not difficult to see why Looi and Chia gravitated toward this concept – both have been fiercely devoted mothers and wives.
It is also yuan that brought these two fashion powerhouses together. Among the privileged few circling the fashion orbit since early in their careers, Looi and Chia constantly bumped into each other. But it was not until recently – at yet another glittering soiree – that the ladies decided to work together.
“Amber and I have known each other for so long, but we never got a chance to truly work together closely, so we thought, ‘What better occasion than Chinese New Year?’ After all, it is a time of togetherness with friends and family,” says Melinda. The collaboration was a “dream come true” for Chia, who always yearned to design her own line of clothes but never had the courage or expertise.
But, judging from the results, she’s taken a pretty good gamble.