About
The atelier
I did not choose this work. I have simply never wanted to do anything else.
- Founded
- 2016
- Based
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Discipline
- Womenswear · Made to measure
- Sizing
- All sizes, drafted to measure
Azhar Zainal was founded in Kuala Lumpur in 2016. The work began in plus-size clothing at a moment when the Malaysian market treated larger sizes as an afterthought: a compromise cut, in a darker colour, hidden at the back of the rail.
In 2017 that work won the Emerging Designer Award at Borneo Fashion Week, alongside a fashion design scholarship. In 2018 an exclusive collection for plus-size women was presented at LOKA Malaysia, Nu Sentral. Eleven pieces shown under a single idea: fashion for all, without a size ceiling.
The atelier makes womenswear only: bridal, evening, and traditional Malay dress. There is no production line and nothing is made to a size chart. Every commission is drawn and fitted personally, and only a few are taken at a time. What that buys a client is not exclusivity for its own sake. It is attention.
Position
Fashion for all
I began in 2016 with a conviction that was unpopular at the time: a woman should not have to shrink to be dressed beautifully. The industry drew a line at a certain size and treated everything past it as a problem to be hidden.
Recognition & press
- 2017
Emerging Designer Award
Borneo Fashion WeekWinner, with a fashion design degree scholarship↗ - 2017
Miss Global Malaysia
Cass ChenEvening gown for the titleholder - 2018
Collection for plus-size women
LOKA Malaysia, Nu SentralEleven pieces, covered by Budiey↗ - 2018
Breaking the wall of fashion discrimination
XTRAOn serving the plus-size market↗
Get in touch
Visit
- Appointments
- Request through the form
- Azhar Zainal Design
- @azharzainaldesign
- Studio
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
By appointment only