Adding colours to Malaysian art of batik

Malaysia is well known for its nature-inspired designs on fabric that are called batik.

However, batik is actually the process of making colourful designs on fabric with wax.

Vibrant in colour and soft in touch, the craft of turning plain fabric into beautiful pieces of art gained popularity in Malaysia in 1930s, particularly in the East Coast.

In the olden days, batik used to be considered expensive and fit only for the royals.

Today, batik is one of the most sought-after Malaysian products as souvenirs and gifts.

Over the years, the evolution of technology has resulted in digitally printed batiks.

But 39-year-old Michelle Lau, founder and managing director of Meesha Sukira, said batik has to have the element of wax, otherwise it is not batik.

“These days there are a lot of digitally printed batik. You can tell the difference from the absorption of colour. If one side of the fabric has a lighter shade then it is not pure batik,” she said.

Born in Ipoh, she started her company in 2005 with the thought of reinventing the conventional batik while maintaining a traditional twist. The brand name is derived from her name Michelle (Meesha) and Sook Yee (Sukira).

Apart from batik fabric, Meesha Sukira also produces apparels, footwear, accessories, interior design materials and executive gift and packaging.

Lau said her entrepreneurial journey started by accident.

After working in corporate sales and marketing for 10 years, Lau left with a thought to start her own business. But after eight months of unemployment, she decided to go for an interview with a batik company.

“I was intrigued by the idea of turning designs on paper to textile. I didn’t know the product well but I could relate to it and knew I could sell it,” she said.

She offered to trade the company’s products instead of working for them.

“I was home-based until I gathered enough to start my own business,” she said.

Lau soon opened a 28sqm store in KL Hilton with one employee.

Instead of going retail, Lau targeted the corporate market to get her products out.

She invested 30,000 ringgit (Bt282,000) to start her company but struggled to finance her business and resorted to selling her home and car. But thankfully, her business slowly grew and her first year’s turnover of 200,000 ringgit was a big encouragement for her to keep going.

To create her own identity, she parted ways with the company, opened her own set-up and hired designers to work for her.

Through a batik programme, she obtained a loan of 250,000 ringgit from SME Bank and started a factory in Batu Caves.

With a new direction and a creative director, Wan Marina Awang Masbak, they expanded.

Lau’s four designers are tasked to create 30 designs a day, sketched and coloured onto A4 paper. Once approved, the batik process begins from tracing onto textile, tjanting (applying of wax), colouring, fixing and drying.

“We usually choose about 20 designs, 10 for apparels and 10 for interior designs,” she said.

She added that the designs chosen for batik is relevant with modern motifs to appeal to today’s generation.

“The method of making it is the same but the expression is different. Having the right design and colour combination is important as every piece is for a different customer,” she said.

Today, Lau has turned her trading business not just into a production house but also an export-based business.

She works with the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) and Kraftangan Malaysia to export her products.

Meesha Sukira now exports close to 2 million products yearly to eight countries.

To attract the foreign market, her company produces specially made products such as batik cheongsam for China, sarees for India, and dresses and resort wear for European countries. They also provide gifts and packaging to countries like Hong Kong, Singapore and America.

Interestingly, in the past she had produced apparels for the Malaysian contingent at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Melbourne Commonwealth and Asian Games in 2006.

Although she had Matrade’s backing, it took her four years to do a market study and prepared the company to reach them.

“We were export ready, we had our factory and a product range and we could position ourselves to fulfil the criteria to obtain a market development grant from Matrade,” she said.

Today, 30 employees who are mostly women and graduates from the National Kraf Institue create Meesha Sukira products.

Lau also has a showroom-cum-cafe in Plaza Damansara called M Cafe.

She had invested 500,000 ringgit to set up the showroom.

The brand’s target market are now professional working adults above 30 years old, government listed companies and corporations.

“We sell ready-to-wear apparels overseas, but locally we also sell fabric as some prefer to custom-make their own apparels,” she said.

As batik is considered a luxury handmade product, her products are priced from 150 ringgit depending on the complexity of a design. To date, the brand’s bestselling products are customised dresses and accessories.

“The highest turnover for the brand is 5 million ringgit and currently we are standing at an average of 4 million ringgit,” she said.

She added there is also a need to change people’s perception on batik as it is considered by many to be too formal and traditional.