Maarimaia's May Tan is intent on taking the traditional garment forward. photos: ART CHEN/The Star
For the coming Lunar New Year, May Tan was inspired to create a modern take on the traditional qipao, making it relevant to these contemporary times. While she acknowledges the beauty of those that are reminiscent of the film In The Mood For Love, her focus is to take the traditional garment forward.
“The collection is called modern orient,” she explains. “I wanted to put out a collection that is contemporary to our times and not dated. Sometimes I add on more architectural sleeves, sometimes exaggerated ruffles and sometimes it is asymmetrical. Basically, it is a modern take on the classic cheongsam.”
Over the years, the owner and designer of the label Maarimaia has observed a growing trend among her customers who are opting for the qipao as an alternative to evening wear, an observation that perhaps led to her adopting a more contemporary approach to her Chinese New Year collection.
“I notice a lot of my clients are moving from wearing cocktail dresses to wearing qipaos. It is becoming in style again.”
It is the first time that the designer is presenting a bespoke collection, that can be customised to each customer’s preference. A total of 11 looks were presented that serve as canvas on to which the customers can add details that are complementary to their individual preferences.
And with a brand like Maarimaia known for its detailing, the options can be numerous, right down to having choices when it comes to the traditional “frog buttons” which is in itself is a rarity.
For the coming Lunar New Year, Tan was inspired to create a modern take on the traditional qipao, making it relevant to these contemporary times.
“It is all handmade so it is hard to find and hard to make,” she states.
But therein lies the charm of Maarimaia. Tan even describes it as “super slow fashion.”
“We cannot rush the process,” she says. “Everything is handmade and produced locally. You can’t push out collections so fast but that’s what our brand is about. We have to educate customers to appreciate locally made and artisanal products and also educate them as why it is priced a certain way.”
Tan adopts the same attention to detail when it comes to designing the ready to wear collection, emphasising on the cut and details. It is also produced in small quantities to ensure some degree of exclusivity.
“For the ready to wear, we play around with contrasting colours and handmade buttons, little details like that.”
Given the intricacies involved in creating a collection, it isn’t surprising that Tan describes the process as being intense. Designing for Chinese New Year 2023 began shortly after CNY 2022. Now, things are going to go further as Maarimaia will also release a capsule collection for Raya 2023.
“We had previously tried a capsule collection for Raya but now at our new lot, we see a greater demand so we will be putting out a capsule Raya collection. We intend to grow that.”
Next year will see the brand venturing into new territory by launching a menswear capsule as well as exploring the Singapore market, where a lot of online demand is coming from.
“I was very lucky to meet people who helped me along the way,” says Tan, reflecting on the rapid growth the brand has experienced in recent years.
It is hard to imagine when looking at brand’s designs now that Maarimaia first started as an online brand, selling only ready to wear. Tan who had previously been working in fashion retail doing branding decided to take the plunge, inspired by the sudden spurt of online brands. That was in 2016.
“I originally didn’t think of starting my own brand,” she says. “But the opportunity came and I thought why not. There were a lot of new online brands and I thought if they can do it, I can too.”
She was a little naïve, she admits as establishing an online brand was tougher than she imagined and there were times when she started to panic over poor sales. However, the brand caught the attention of Gabrielle Tan-Helfman of The Gardens Mall who invited Maarimaia to be part of The Studio in 2017, a space that was dedicated to local brands. Soon after, Maarimaia presented its first bespoke collection at KLFW. That served as a catalyst for her starting to do more bespoke creations. Once the brand started designing for Chinese New Year, things grew exponentially.
From The Gardens Mall Maarimaia moved to Bangsar Village II and during the pandemic, Tan took the risk by moving to a more strategic lot when it became available.
“It was very scary and daunting,” she admits. “But it was also the only time a great lot would become available and so I took it. Since we moved down, things exploded, and the brand grew substantially.”
“We had no choice but to do bespoke,” she says, reminiscing on how the brand evolved. Though Maarimaia had begun by doing more ready to wear, Tan’s trademark design philosophy was still evident.
“We still had our trademark prints,” she says. “Fabrication is important and initially we used batik and ikat. Now we use brocade and lace.”
There are some customers who continue to yearn for the more minimalist pieces but Tan is intent on ensuring that the brand continues to evolve. Particularly now that the location of the store has attracted a new database.
“You have to change along with the customers,” she observes.
The brand’s expansion has also resulted in Tan looking at design from a different perspective.
“I am naturally more intuitive as a designer but since down here, I need to plan out each collection so I have to be a lot more analytical so that the business objectives can be met.”
And if you were wondering what the significance of the term “Maarimaia”, it is a play on the founder’s name in Japanese.
“I just wanted something that would roll off the tongue,” she laughs. “We cannot rush the process. Everything is handmade and produced locally. You can’t push out collections so fast but that’s what our brand is about.”
