Rizman Ruzaini’s cruise 2024/25 collection shown to close Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week won’t be picked for the Victoria and Albert museum again, any time soon

It has been a good year for Rizman Ruzaini so far. The Malaysian label, arguably with the most international exposure, has scored big with two stars of the modelling and entertainment worlds: Naomi Campbell, who wore one of their gowns for the brand’s debut at Dubai Fashion Week last October and who later picked it as an exhibit for her eponymous exhibition in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) last July, as well as Lady Gaga who wore the brand’s gown for her Las Vegas concert at around the same time. To make sure that Malaysia scored big at the Paris Olympics, the label designed the athletes’ garb for the opening ceremony. And just last month, Malaysia honoured the design duo behind the 19-year-old brand, Rizman Nordin and Ruzaini Wan Jamil, as the ‘Best Designer of the Year’ at the country’s Tourism Industry Awards. As we have said, Rizman Ruzaini is on a roll.

It’s not immoderate then to suppose that Mr Rizman and Mr Jamil would be riding on the crest of popularity by presenting their best collection to date. Sure, the cruise line—a strange choice for a fashion week—is not one with which to boast a brand’s aesthetical might (but things have changed: Just look at the Louis Vuitton cruise collections). Rizman Ruzaini executed the contrary, even if they cannot afford to suffer a dip in their professional high as “they are carrying the torch for Malaysian fashion”, one KL observer told us. Mr Nordin and Mr Jamil design in a teeming space, occupied by those who desire to supply similar styles to the many wealthy women who like to look a certain way, a turf that is dominated by the Lebanese, such as Elie Saab and Georges Hobeika. From the attendees to their KLFW show, it was easily seen that the Rizman Ruzaini looks aligned with those of their not-extreme supporters, for whom the gadis glamour (glamour girl) is an aspirational ideal.

These could be pleasing—even shiok—clothes, but they don’t move any needle. The design duo operates within a well carved-out comfort zone, and this is evidenced by the repeating of what, to them, is now a brand signature: the slim, floor-length dress with an abbreviated cape (this time even shorter), first associated with Ms Campbell last year. According to Penangite Rizman Nordin, in an interview for the podcast Apa Cerita? (What’s the Story?) three months ago, the brand forked out a staggering RM3 million (or about S$897,000) to have Ms Campbell model that dress. There was no mention of the media impact value Rizman Ruzaini enjoyed. But, the exhibit of the now recognisable baju in the V&A was protracted Naomi effect. It can, therefore, be said that a reiteration of the style was necessary in the hope that it will sell in sufficient number to recoup the huge fees Ms Campbell charged. Or, that the exposure is massive enough for them to be a brand that can do anything they now desire without the concern that they are not kreatif enough. The cruise collection attested to that suspicion.

The brand amplified the design value of the show clothes on their socials: “We’ve taken something that is tried and tested, and we’ve added our own brand of sparkle. The houndstooth, as reimagined in the Rizman Ruzaini Cruise 24/25 collection, is presented with full diamanté detailing.” Mr Nordin, who professed on Apa Cerita? that he “likes all the stone work and whatnot”, has not elucidated if the addition of sparkle to the “tried and tested” is indeed kreativiti at its zenith. Or, is bling just a distraction from the unresolved tussle between form and function? Rizman Ruzaini has maintained a certain soigné that their customers adore, the position as “one of the top three most expensive” makers of baju kurungs and wedding dresses in Malaysia, and the distance from their early days in Sungai Besi, a suburb in Kuala Lumpur. Even with an atelier and showroom in Shangri-La Hotel now, they are really Bukit Bintang at heart. As the brand grows, it seems there would only be more of the careful elegance that they have cultivated. The future, they must know, need not be this rigid.

Photos: (top) Rizman Ruzaini Creations/Facebook and (bottom) KLFW