When serving her duty as the paid tourism ambassador of Malacca, Fan Bingbing wore mostly baju Malaysia, but, interestingly, not those from the state she was supposed to promote

Fan Bingbing in a vaguely Oriental Bernard Chandran dress

In her recent sojourn in Malacca (Melaka), Fan Bingbing not only trained the spotlight on the state and the attraction of its famed port-city, she brought attention to Malaysian designers too by wearing their clothes throughout her trip. This she was able to do so through several outfit changes in one day, an endeavour probably not alien to her as she is known to also make similar fashion displays when she is abroad, whether during fashion week or at film festivals. What Ms Fan wore in Malacca was much anticipated as many had hoped she would don traditional costumes as she did in Bangkok two months earlier in a similar capacity. But rather than wear pakaian diraja Melayu tradisional (traditional Malay royal costume), she opted for Peranakan wear that presumably her Chinese fans would be able to identify due to the popularity of Little Nyonya (both the MediaCorp 2008 original and the 2020 China remake) in her homeland.

Interestingly, although she promoted several sites in Malacca, as well as tourists’ favourite dishes such as chicken rice balls and durian cendol, she did not do quite the same for the clothing brands of the city/town. The fashion of the nyonyas of Malacca, even when kept alive by both industry and consumers, was bypassed for those offered elsewhere in the peninsula. In fact, she looked to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur (she did express the desire to live there), as well as the northern state of Penang to supply some four sets of the ethnic—or ethnically-flavoured—looks that she showed off during her outings in and hard sell of Malacca. She did wear one outfit from China—the roomy, pale green, silk muslin 汉服 (hanfu) from Chinese label, Yu Tang Traditional Clothing (鱼汤传统服装), picked to meet Sultan Ibrahim for tea.

Fan Bingbing’s first nyonya look for her Malacca tour was by Kenny Loh Couture

To capture the not-unfamiliar culture of Malacca, Ms Fan started the first day of her tour of duty with a pink baju kebaya and bright blue sarong. The ensemble was by Penang brand Kenny Loh Couture, designed by nutritionist-turned-kebaya-maker Kenny Loh Shengjian (骆胜坚), who founded his eponymous label in his hometown just seven years ago. The cotton voile kebaya was embroidered with chrysanthemums, using a non-motorised, foot-paddle antique sewing machine, according to Mr Low, as revealed to Sin Chew Daily (新州日报) and the cotton sarong sported peonies. Apparently, Mr Low recommend five sets of the sarong kebayas to her, but Ms Fan picked three, and wore only one. Mr Low told the paper that he advised her on the total look, including how she should were her long hair—coiled into a sanggol. But it seemed that she did not take his advice completely. While we could not see if she wore a metal tali pinggang (belt) to secure her sarong, she was definitely wearing an unseemly pair of satin court shoes with bejewelled buckles.

Two other sarong kebayas seen on her in Malacca were selected from Malaysian label Khoon Hooi’s sub-brand Khoo Hooi Gold, dubbed “The Traditional Edition”. Designed by Lee Khoon Hooi (李坤辉), both outfits, ironically, took liberties with tradition. The first, a white baju panjang, worn over sleeveless under clothes (not a classic baju dalam or inner garment, usually high-collared), is paired with a satin-y sarong-skirt that had an unmistakable ’80s flavour to it. The other kebaya, in white and fully-laced, appeared to be worn over a red-and-pink-sequinned inner garment so that Ms Fan looked like she had on a cardi. It was paired with a similar skirt to the other outfit, except this time, in green, which lent a Christmas vibe to her just-as-festive turnout. With both outfits, she wore those rather unfortunate looking heels.

Two other sarong kebayas were by KL label Khoon Hooi

She was not expected to be in Peranakan dress throughout her stay in Malacca. One of the more modern looks was a gown by Bernard Chandran, the KL designer dubbed by Malaysian media as the “king of fashion”. A chilli-red pleated 晚礼服 (wanlifu, evening dress) with a collarless round neck and a 大襟 (dajin)—slanted front opening that was placed centre to the less common left—and exaggerated bishop sleeves, which seemed to be a take on the hanfu’s 垂胡袖 (chuihuxiu or ‘drooping’ sleeves), itself a version of the 琵琶袖 (pipaxiu or pipa sleeves). Mr Chandran’s sleeve shape was so massive that it was evocative of the Chinese saying 袖里乾坤 (xiuli qiankun or, roughly, ‘the world in the sleeves’) that describes sleeves so voluminous that they could conceal things. Ms Fan wore the dress like an emancipated nyonya, moving her arms and swirling her skirt with the flair of a red carpet veteran.

She credited her Beijing stylist Christopher Bu Kewen (卜柯文) for some of the looks adopted for Malacca. How he came to be involved with the Malaysian brands he chose isn’t clear. Those who are particular about inclusivity would probably wonder why only male designers were chosen when Malaysia has popular female designers, such as Melinda Looi Lini (吕例霓) who has the inclination to produce something more able to promote traditional craft, as seen in the gaun fashioned from tikar rotan (rattan mat) that singer Aina Abdul wore in a recent event marking National Unity Week. Those who prefer that the Chinese star showed a more modern-ethnic side to Malaysian fashion might wonder why she did not consider Gen Z’s favourite label Behati, whose designer Tan Kel Wen (陳楷文) loves to exaggeratedly re-proportion traditional wear. Or, for those who prefer the glittery, a brand that shows the more glamorous side of Malaysian fashion, such as Rizman Ruzaini, the label that had Naomi Campbell walk their show in Dubai last year. In the end, we were told, it was necessary to be realistic: Fan Bingbing was promoting Malacca.

Photos: fanbingbing/Facebook