Apparel Aesthetics: 3 Local Online Fashion Stores
As you swagger down the street in your brown corduroy pants perfectly altered to expose your black grain leather boots by Tomrichshoes while smoking that Gajah Lama wrapped cigarette and having a drink from your ‘s Durian Belanda flavoured fizzy soda to the soothing melody of ‘s new single “Dance for Two” in your ears – do you ever wonder; “Am I a hipster?”
What is a hipster anyway?
There is an increasing number of young Malaysian adults who are wearing all sorts of new fashionable clothing, listening to cloistered music and spending more of their free time lepak-ing at artistic venues; the term hipster is nothing more than an envious slur. As James Franco once said, ‘They hate us, cause they ain’t us.”
The more important question when you see these young fashionable Malaysians would be, “Where do you get your clothes, man?”
I’m sure by now many of youse folk are already loyal customers of the Pestle & Mortar clothing store but there are still plenty more online shops that cater to the adventurous millennial who is always on the look out for more variety of aesthetics in their wardrobe, especially if it’s locally made.
Over the coming months, we’ll be featuring our favourite online clothing stores where you can compulsively purchase their products. Just don’t forget to pay your bills first.
3RD CULTURE
“We’re just another hipster store. Kidding, we’re so much more than just pocket tees and Fly Knits; tie-dye and mad kicks. We’re all about the lifestyle, baby.” – Jade, 3rd Culture
This wild online platform serves as both a web magazine and a clothing store for the ultimate fashion and lifestyle of the free-spirited young adults.
The Third Culture curates the dopest and freshest content with little limitation of the creative designs of their garments and a tendency for profanity and street ‘slang’. This attitude of aesthetic freedom adds an authentic feel to their product line and their brand. From new local fashion labels to western cult clothing lines, their only mission is to diversify the fashion culture of Malaysian society.
“Keep it real (or just keep buying) homies.”
Among the brands you will be able to purchase on their online store include Alamak Co, Vanishing Elephant, Capital Jakarta and Shawn Tan’s CNLM for the dudes. For the ‘dudettes’, there are Evil Twin, Fame Agenda, Hellz Bellz, In God We Trust.
Tarik Jeans
What’s the one thing all Malaysian youth have in common?
We all have that one favourite denim jeans that fit us perfectly and we won’t throw it away no matter how old and torn up it gets. Maybe we’ll just keep that old thing since it looks cooler and more experienced with wear and tear. Maybe some of us are just too small and big brand jeans have always been a little disproportionate for our petite Asian figures.
Tarik Jeans is the answer to it all.
Aimed at being more of a movement rather than just a denim label, the brand is fuelled by a philosophical ideology of cultural freedom. They propagandise the unity of the nation with their product.
Targeted at the creatively-inclined youth, this brand has already expanded its product line from just jeans to include jackets, t-shirts, caps, chinos and many more items.
“So forget the politics and screw political correctness, give the establishment your middle-finger by putting on Tarik Jeans.”
What happens when street artists run low on the cash needed to paint walls? They make wearable art.
DSKL (Dosa Kecil Kuala Lumpur) is founded by an artist named Bujangan Urban and it’s a clothing line inspired by the art of graffiti and tagging. Like all street culture it is a raw reflection of the local community; DSKL employs the aesthetics of aerosol paint-based artworks as the basis of their design.
This is a brand dedicated to the local graffiti community and catered to all youth indulging in the urban culture.
More than just a clothing line, DSKL is a lifestyle.
It focuses more on the art rather than the product, using the snippets of their creative practices as a marketing tool. It feels like you’re buying an experience of the artwork rather than just a t-shirt, and you get the satisfaction of knowing that you’re a patron of underground art movements.
If you’re in the Klang Valley and have a preference for physically inspecting your apparel before purchase, then you might want to head down to this weekend for the ‘ flash sale hosted by together with Pestle & Mortar and TOMS. There will be up to 70% off on selected items. Check out their event page for more information.
There are still plenty more online stores to come in our next installment; we’ll be checking out creative entrepreneurs such as MuthaPuaka, , . So stay tuned for part two to discover all the cool havens of hipster fashion.
