Having caught the travel bug, I’ve always reminded myself to take a little piece of each trip back home with me. It’s usually in the form of a magnet, bracelet or soft toy. The first time I came across Loka Made I thought to myself, if I was travelling to KL, I’d definitely want to take some of their products back home with me.
Having caught the travel bug, I’ve always reminded myself to take a little piece of each trip back home with me. It’s usually in the form of a magnet, bracelet or soft toy. The first time I came across Loka Made I thought to myself, if I was travelling to KL, I’d definitely want to take some of their products back home with me.
Founded by Fei Giap and Audrey in 2015, Loka Made is a creative brand that produces illustrations and artworks in a variety of lifestyle products like postcards, jigsaw puzzles and enamel pins.
I got to chit chat with Fei Giap and Audrey in their cute studio and store in Subang Jaya. I was interested to know how they got together to form this visually enticing label. Many years ago, Fei Giap and Audrey compiled all their previous work into an art book. In the midst of that process, Audrey suggested they form a brand under Loka Made, the same name they used for that said book. This was in line with their goal at the time which was to innovate and focus on their own creation after spending a lot of time focusing on commissioned work and corporate services.
In Mandarin, Loka Made can loosely be translated to local and fantasy or imagination, according to Audrey. That was my exact thought when I first chanced upon their designs. It was a distinctive mix of real places with touches of fantasy and nostalgia, done in manga fashion.
I was keen to find out more about Fei Giap’s first digital painting. It was of a sundry shop that belonged to his late grandfather.
“I went back to Kuala Pilah for a festival. It was an early morning. I saw a lot of races going to the ‘pasar’ to buy things. The feeling was very nice,” Fei Giap recalled.
His interpretation of the moment looked a lot like a still from an anime film, perhaps one that’s produced by Studio Ghibli.
An artwork that I really like was one titled Cable Car. It features a girl dressed in a school pinafore in this dystopian-looking landscape with three blocks connected by cable cars towering in the background. Fei Giap’s inspiration behind this illustration were old Chinese villages shared amongst different communities like Hokkien and Hakka. The idea played around how it would be like if each community resided in a single tower and the only way to get around is via cable car.
Good Old Days by Loka Made
Cable Car by Loka Made
Though most of their work is bright, colourful and has a happy ring to it, there was one that felt a little sombre. Titled Await, Fei Giap shared that he experimented on this piece after reading a lot of news about different things happening. It captured the dull, sad emotions he felt at that moment in time. A lot of the designs are based on his childhood memories like being at the market in Seremban while his father ran a sundry shop in the area. In his memories, the buildings were huge and the ceilings were very high. Their work is very much inspired by how a child looks at this world, Audrey concluded.
Await by Loka Made
An easy identifier for Loka Made’s art is the girl in the school pinafore. “The girl in the uniform represents something young, something energetic,” Fei Giap explained. The brand loves the contrast of old and new as well as real and fantasy. The younger crowd tend to admire the anime design while the elder will be reminiscent of their younger days. It’s sort of a conversation starter between generations, according to them.
“Sometimes they share their stories and it’s very touching. It’s not just a pop-up card, it’s storytelling from one generation to the next generation”
With more homegrown brands creating localised products, some may fear competition. Loka Made believes that this is a great sign and indicative of the demand in the market. “I think that’s how we inspire each other,” Audrey highlighted.
Check out their online store at lokamade.com or follow their social media account at @thelokamade. 
Samsiah or better known as Syam, walked away from the security of working as a graphic designer in an international advertising agency to explore one of her great interests – book bindery. She found her calling and has never looked back since.
Samsiah or better known as Syam, walked away from the security of working as a graphic designer in an international advertising agency to explore one of her great interests – book bindery. She found her calling and has never looked back since.
Design, meticulousness and a sprit of adventure are all alive in Little Syam, the creative artisanal start up that is Syam’s creative home. Little Syam creates a variety of thoughtfully designed handmade books and also offers a beautiful variety of silk screen art on the covers of the books she binds. Another interesting part of her collection is her ‘Adventure Book’ series, which are scrap books inspired by the Disney-Pixar movie, ‘Up’, personalised to fit her own design style.
Syam offers customised book binding services to her many customers to turn old but much loved books or pages into one-of-a-kind collectors items or family heirlooms. It allows her personality to come through while personalising the books to fit her customers. The customers can choose from an array of fabrics or materials as well the type of binding and book design to make it their own.
Apart from personalised handmade books, Syam has also ventured into restoration works. To date, she has worked on a few restoration projects. She’s worked on old comics and most recently a couple’s very old children’s storybook. It gives her a sense of satisfaction knowing that she could help restore valuable items that are close to the heart of the owners. She is also looking at expanding her work in the art of silk screen.
Little Syam offers customised book binding services to her many customers to turn old but much loved books or pages into one-of-a kind collectors items or family heirlooms. It allows her personality to come through while personalising the books to fit her customers. The customers can choose from an array of fabrics or materials as well as the type of binding and book design to make it their own.
Apart from personalised handmade books, Syam has also ventured into restoration works. She’s worked on old comics and most recently a couple’s very old children’s storybook. It gives her a sense of satisfaction knowing that she could help restore valuable items that are close to the heart of the owners. She is also looking at expanding her work in the art of silk screen.
A lot of passion and love goes into making the handmade books. Syam spends hours of her time in the studio, fondly known as her ‘creative nest’, this is where she gets the creative juices flowing or where she works on new, exciting projects.
For the want of sharing her passion and knowledge, Syam also organises workshops to teach people the art of book binding and silk screening.
Syam feels that if you have a passion to do something, it is worth taking the risk and chasing the dream. Better to have tried and failed, than to regret not trying at all.
“There is always that risk in anything that you do. You just have to work hard and have the end (goal) in mind. It will all be worth it.”
Little Syam
NAKED 101 is a brand borne out of the desire to help people who are going through some of the issues that its founder, Sabrina went through.
NAKED 101 is a brand borne out of the desire to help people who are going through some of the issues that its founder, Sabrina went through.
Sabrina, a physiotherapist by profession, suffers from eczema and as a result wasn’t very comfortable with the appearance of her skin. This, according to her, affected her confidence. However, spending time with her, you really wouldn’t notice that this confident and friendly young lady has any confidence issues at all.
“I started looking for natural remedies that worked for my condition. I spoke to a wide range of people in what I felt were related areas. I was fortunate to find remedies that worked for me. I studied how to turn these ingredients into easily applied oils and scrubs. Friends started noticing my improved skin condition and asked me to make some for them. I also took an interest in helping those that had skin conditions like mine–eczema sufferers,” she explained.
She learnt how to adjust the ingredients to suit the various individuals and was mindful about allergic reactions as people and their skin conditions and ailments vary.
She realised that like her, others with similar skin ailments also had their confidence somewhat affected and that their improved conditioned also brought about a new found confidence.
“NAKED 101 is about confidence,”
Sabrina
‘Organic, home grown and freshly made before it goes to market’ is how Sabrina describes her products. They are also made with incredible care in limited quantities to ensure this labour of love, maintains the level of quality she insists on.
“A batch would take up to two months to prepare. This is to ensure it mixes, gels and cures correctly to give me the exact texture and consistency that I want,” explains Sabrina.
Even though we were dying to ask her how and why she came up with the name NAKED 101, we played it cool and talked about the development of her products.
As a physiotherapist she understood the importance of post workout recovery as well as what the muscles need to heal and improve. Her first product was the Sports Scrub, something that wasn’t widely known at the time. This easy-to-apply pain reliever and muscle relaxant scrub has proven to be great for muscle soreness. It leaves a cooling minty feel and is recommended as a post workout application.
Starting out, Sabrina spent more than three months at futsal and badminton courts from 11pm to 2am asking the players to try out her sports scrubs.
People weren’t very receptive at the beginning but word gradually spread about this young lady who was asking people to try this minty scrub that felt pretty good. More and more people started sampling it and gave her invaluable feedback. She discovered just the right amount of mint to sooth and not burn, just the right texture and eventually came up with the balanced scrub she now sells.
Seven months on, Sabrina now has interesting names for her much larger range of products which include the ‘Fruity Freeze’ and ‘Black Potion’ sports scrubs, ‘Abracadabra’ eczema salves, ‘Wake Me Up!’ face soothing mist, ’Drop of Love’ face serum and ‘The Naked Eye’ eye cream.
Another event in Sabrina’s life defining her business is that she has a special brother three years younger who is autistic. Growing up with him, she is buoyed and inspired by his strength and independence as well as his sense of honour and pride.
Sabrina has always been actively participating in charity work and finds inspiration in these special kids. The question of what’s next for them played largely in her mind. “What are the opportunities for them to work and earn a living? To be accepted fully?”
She intends to grow NAKED 101 into a business that is big enough to eventually provide jobs for people living with autism.
She wants to give them a place where they can earn a living, be of value, be accepted and included as fully contributing members of the community.
The road has not been easy for Sabrina and at times has felt like throwing in the towel. “My best moment so far was being at a bazaar for three days and did not make any sales at all. At the end of the three days, someone came up to me and we struck up a conversation and told me not to give up and believed not so much in what I was doing but believed in why I was doing it,” she said.
Buoyed by support from family and friends, she persevered and is now very involved in promoting and creating awareness about NAKED 101. You can see Sabrina at bazaars in various shopping malls in the capital promoting her products.
She believes that in order to succeed she needs to have passion for what she does, patience and strength to persevere when the going gets tough, empathy for others as well as having a cause plus hard work.
“Lots and lots of hard work,” she smiles.
At this age of incessant hipster cafes and Insta-worthy eateries, the demand for sugary desserts and drinks especially amongst KL folks doesn’t seem to show any signs of slowing down, evidenced by an entire street full of Boba stores in SS15! Interestingly enough, while millennials are big on satisfying their cravings, they’re also believers in healthy living with many practising the popular Keto diet, intermittent fasting as well as partaking in group work out activities like yoga and indoor cycling.
At this age of incessant hipster cafes and Insta-worthy eateries, the demand for sugary desserts and drinks especially amongst KL folks doesn’t seem to show any signs of slowing down, evidenced by an entire street full of Boba stores in SS15! Interestingly enough, while millennials are big on satisfying their cravings, they’re also believers in healthy living with many practising the popular Keto diet, intermittent fasting as well as partaking in group work out activities like yoga and indoor cycling.
Vanessa Lim, founder of Oripure, a natural remedy for improving indigestion and blood circulation was manning her pop-up store at a bazaar and noticed, much to her surprise, that millennials make up quite a high percentage of her customer base.
Oripure, a natural paste made up of ginger and red dates with no artificial sweetener or sugar, is a remedy suited for those whose health restricts them from consuming sugar. All you need to do is take a spoonful of the paste, add hot water and drink it like you would with tea.
Vanessa served me a cup of Oripure when we caught up with her in her home one afternoon. Its sharp scent was unmissable–sharp, warm and aromatic. It instantly made my stomach feel warm and not long after, I felt more energised than I did earlier that morning.
An interesting fact about Oripure is that it uses blackstrap molasses instead of refined, cane or artificial sugar. Molasses, a by-product of the sugar-making process, takes on various forms. The blackstrap, a syrup produced after the third boiling is concentrated, dark in colour and contains a lot of minerals and vitamins. According to Vanessa, those with diabetes should have no issues with consuming it. Her experience with patients that undergo dialysis show that Oripure has helped them feel energised while also improving their quality of sleep.
Vanessa’s journey started when she set her heart on creating a natural remedy for her diabetic father-in-law whose health seemed at a stand still and this was after 25 years of trial and error with Western medication and traditional antidotes. His heart rate was alarmingly low and needed three insulin injections each day which made her more determined to seek ways to improve his health.
Due to the amount of medication he consumed over the years, her father-in-law developed gastritis. After regularly taking this traditional remedy she had created through years of research and development, he had visible improvement with his indigestion, relieving gas and other stomach-related issues. She also noticed his blood sugar levels improving tremendously and his extremities, his hands and feet, no longer felt as cold as they used to.
Another success story of Oripure involves a couple that had trouble conceiving for over 7 years. “They’ve been trying different kinds of treatment, even Chinese medication. There’s been no good news until they found me,” she shared. After 3 to 4 months of consuming Oripure daily, they were finally able to conceive. Based on Vanessa’s research and study, the natural combination of ginger, molasses and red dates help warm the stomach and uterus. This is why the product performs well for those who experience menstrual problems and stomach indigestion as well as bloating.
This was the turning point for Vanessa. This gave her hope. Having shared this remedy with family and friends, she was inundated with calls and requests for more, saying they would pay for it. It was then that Oripure was born.
After participating in numerous bazaars, Vanessa unexpectedly found that her product seemed to appeal to millennials. She believes her product’s minimalist packaging design appeals to them as well as this idea of old and new.
“I guess why my products attract a lot of Gen Y is because the effect is very fast. People nowadays like something fast and they like something direct. They don’t want to wait a long time for the results”
She recommends Oripure to young adults who are guilty of consuming sugar, alcohol and experience ingestion, menstrual pain as well as sleeping issues. On top of that, the remedy also helps with party-goers who suffer from hangovers.
Oripure’s latest lab tests proved that their nutrition levels have improved compared to their previous line of products with even lower sugar and carb levels. They’ve also expanded into snacks–Ginger Slice in raw black molasses, perfect for calorie-counting binge-eaters.
Vanessa has plans to explore providing Oripure to cafes in Klang Valley as part of their drinks menu. If you’re interested to detox with Oripure, head on over to Nuan Cafe to give it a try.
Though Oripure is primarily home-based, Vanessa can often times be spotted at bazaars and pop-up markets around KL, namely Publika, Main Place, Jaya One and Great Eastern Mall. Follow their Facebook for more updates.
Sian Chew walks into the room, petite and cutesy, donning a neutral palette. She mimics the simplicity of the products she’s got with her. Simple, classy, compact and minimal. She is the founder of Malaysian skincare brand, Root Remedies.
Sian Chew walks into the room, petite and cutesy, donning a neutral palette. She mimics the simplicity of the products she’s got with her. Simple, classy, compact and minimal. She is the founder of Malaysian skincare brand, Root Remedies.
Root Remedies is a natural skincare brand that focuses on minimalism. So far in this day and age, minimalism is often associated with plain, simple designs only made up of absolute necessities. What then is minimalism in the context of skincare? Similarly, Root Remedies only uses simple ingredients in a sparing quantity. They cut down on elements that make their products complex and focus on a main ingredient instead.
Their products are well dressed in minimal labels, meaning the chances of missing an important detail on the label due to a distracting design is probably slim. One of their most intriguing products is the Masala Chai Black Tea Scrub. It smells exactly like the drink itself in its symbolic form or as Sian Chew puts it—a perfect morning involving dog walking and yoga. Sian Chew researched Masala Chai Tea and found that the tea leaves and spices actually do quite a bit of magic onto one’s skin. She admits being inspired by (or ‘getting inspiration from’) everyday life and the food she consumes when making products. It really makes you wonder what other beverage (or perhaps even snacks) may have skin enhancing capabilities.
“We use high quality ingredients and also most of our products are inspired by local ingredients and some from Southeast Asia. We also use traditional methods' of oil infusion to extract from the raw ingredients,” explained Sian Chew.
Interestingly, Root Remedies came about during Sian Chew’s final project when she was studying fashion marketing. She tried her hand at creating natural skincare in order to combat the bad condition of her skin in those days. To her surprise, none of the expensive creams or cleansers or even facials worked as well as plant oil. She then performed a study on natural skincare and found the results to be more effective as compared to the branded regimes she practiced before.
“We want to encourage people to use very simple products. Simple but high quality products like plant oils. You can actually use it as moisturiser for your hair, face and body. You don’t need complicated products,” she stressed. She aims to encourage people to use very simple products. “We want people to get the natural experience, so we want our products to smell exactly like the real raw ingredients,” she mentioned.
Root Remedies uses infused oil. This results in a very faint scent as
compared to most commercial products that often use fragrance and
colouring. Because their products are not as colourful, a common
perception of the products are that they don’t smell or look good when
in fact that is the unadulterated form of natural products. However, as people
become more conscious of what they apply onto their body, skincare
products like Root Remedies will become not only a viable option but for
many, the preferred one for natural skincare.
Oily skin was a constant bane to Ivan, soap maker extraordinaire and all round nice guy. Unhappy with the available products in the market, Ivan decided to start his own handcrafted soap.
Oily skin was a constant bane to Ivan, soap maker extraordinaire and all round nice guy. Unhappy with the available products in the market, Ivan decided to start his own handcrafted soap.
When he heard about soap making through a friend, Ivan’s curiosity piqued. He saw this as an avenue to do something about the issues he had with his skin. Determined, he continued researching this and enrolled himself into a soap making class. He came back inspired and excited.
After a lot of hard work and in depth research on the process and ingredients, Soap Salon was established in 2014. A few basic soap bars were created. The very first batch of soaps was charcoal-based which proved to be a good solution for oily skin. From then on, different kinds of soaps were created from different ingredients with their own specific benefits.
To date, Soap Salon has over 20 types of soaps for different skin types.
The brand is all about keeping it natural. The products are all inspired by a natural approach plus health and body wellness. The other products, like the lotions for example, are 100% vegetable oil based with no preservatives or artificial perfumes.
Soap Salon has other handmade products like facial scrubs, facial mists, foot soaks, linen sprays as well as facial and body oils. The body scrubs are good for eliminating dry skin whereas the oils are good as moisturisers and are very soothing for the skin. The foot soaks are good for flushing out toxins, increasing blood circulation and relieving muscle and joint pains.
Soap Salon is passionate about creating natural products that can help people especially those with skin conditions. They can even create customised soaps to suit individual needs.
“You need to have that passion and grit to pull through any obstacles.” Ivan explained. “All the hard work that goes into developing all these
different products is well worth it knowing that it has helped others.”
It’s nice to own items that look great and last a long time. It’s even better when they’re personalised with your initials, packed with functionality and cater to your every need. Tyde, a local brand based in Petaling Jaya, has been successfully doing that (and more) for their customers.
It’s nice to own items that look great and last a long time. It’s even better when they’re personalised with your initials, packed with functionality and cater to your every need. Tyde, a local brand based in Petaling Jaya, has been successfully doing that (and more) for their customers.
Tyde produces high quality leather crafts from keychains and wallets to camera straps to messenger bags. Founded by Zi Xian and Joyce in 2015, Tyde takes custom requests as well as produce ready-made items. The founders aim to restore the art of craftsmanship and outlast short-lived trends through materials that age well and can withstand the test of time. Zi Xian focuses more on business planning while Joyce splits her time between that and production.
Zi Xian studied Graphic Design and took an interest in working with leather in his final year of university. His lecturer at the time instructed the class to explore designing with any material or platform with no budget restrictions. Once he produced his first keychain and had gotten the support of his friends and family, Zi Xian gained the confidence to pursue it full time.
Joyce hasn’t been involved in this field for very long either. She actually met Zi Xian from when she was working at her previous company. Her interest in craftsmanship and artistry, however, has been with her from a while ago. Once she decided it was time for something new, Joyce set her heart on pursuing her interest in leather craftsmanship and never looked back.
The art of leather craftsmanship is one that requires attention to detail and strategic planning. Both Zi Xian and Joyce invest a lot of their time improving their techniques which include sewing, glueing, cutting and embossing of materials. Much like other forms of art, with precision comes success.
The process of making smaller goods require far more attention to detail, the duo pointed out. This means products that are smaller in size like watch bands and keychains are more difficult to put together compared to larger sized items like bags. They require the craftsman to be meticulous in the formation. The same applies to products that are in need of embroidery and embossing. These items are beautiful to look at and even more fun trying to figure out how many hours were put into producing the the overall finished product.
“We realise that most of our customers come to us because they couldn’t find the leather goods they wantedt,” Zi Xian shares.
Part of why Tyde’s portfolio is so impressive is because they are selective with the clients they work with. Once, a lady from Hong Kong approached Tyde requesting for a bag that would fit her needs as both a photographer and a mother. Needless to say, the custom bag Zi Xian crafted especially for her exceeded her expectations. Another notable request Tyde has received was by a father who was interested in gifting a custom leather case for his son’s ukulele, complete with name embossing.
“We realise that most of our customers come to us because they couldn’t find the leather goods the market,” Zi Xian shares.
Part of why Tyde’s portfolio is so impressive is because they are selective with the clients they work with. Once, a lady from Hong Kong approached Tyde requesting for a bag that would fit her needs as both a photographer and a mother. Needless to say, the custom bag Zi Xian crafted especially for her exceeded her expectations. Another notable request Tyde has received was by a father who was interested in gifting a custom leather case for his son’s ukulele, complete with name embossing.
“They actually want something unique even if it’s just their name embossed on it,” Joyce revealed.
They’ve also created a camera holster for photographers that could hold up to two DSLR cameras. Not only do the leather and hardware make the wearer look sleek, it is also incredibly durable. Tyde makes it a point to use high quality leather so their products last long and can take a beating.
If you’re interested in having custom made items made from high quality leather, Tyde is definitely worth a visit. Got an itch to start tinkering with craftsmanship? They also conduct workshops from time to time so keep and eye out for that through their Instagram and Facebook.