FOR someone who eats, breathes and lives fashion, Syeba Yip, the woman behind Malaysian International Fashion Alliance, has a surprising air of simplicity. She doesn't wear make-up... and she is stylist to entertainers such as Fauziah Latiff and Amy Mastura.
Her bag is a studded YSL, but her black cotton overall is by local talent Villiam Ooi. Her hair is pulled back and her black-rimmed glasses make her look far detached from the colourful world of fashion shows and spotlights.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she apologises for being 10 minutes late for our lunch interview. She has just walked from her office at Fahrenheit, Kuala Lumpur to her favourite lunch spot at Cafe Stelle, in the middle of Pavilion's rows of foreign designer boutiques.
She remembers the photographer. "Did we last meet early this year? I have so many things in my head now... I'm so forgetful." But one thing she will never forget is Malaysian International Fashion Week (MIFW), in its eighth instalment this year. Organised by Mifa and endorsed by Matrade, MIFW'10 will be held from Nov 2-6 at Pavilion.
Years of working with the country's fashion designers have shown her that in the end, the business of fashion is business. It's not enough to design. A designer has to come with a business plan to survive.
"If our designers want buyers to attend their shows, they have to be serious about their work. They need trade look books, colour charts, size charts and everything else so their collections are more visible and the buyers know what they are buying.
"Fashion is a business, not a syok sendiri endeavour. And designers have to understand that concept if they want to go far," says Yip.
She is serious about getting new designers to go beyond the creative side. So much so that this year's young designer award will come with a cash prize, and budgets for fabric, catalogues, website and setting up of the winner's own company.
She is unabashed by her opinions. She thinks some veteran designers are stubborn. Some are not focused on their designs. And others, such as Syaiful Baharim and Bon Zainal "are designers who have quietly honed their skills under almost no limelight".
As she tucks into her salad - "I try to watch my food now because all the late nights and coffee are driving my body up the wall" - she says she admires the new breed of young designers who take their work seriously.
"I admire Yiu Lin of Shoes, Shoes, Shoes and Klutched and Alin Anuar of Chantiq Skaly who works on the different interpretations of modern and classic kebaya. They are not well-known, yet their products have a huge following because of their consistent workmanship and that's important. For you to be taken seriously, you have to take your craft seriously." Her advice to young designers is simple and pragmatic - work for a label, don't just launch a brand overnight, do market research, determine target customers - that's how one builds a business. "A lot of brands come and go. But for example, Eclipse by Sonny San has staying power because the designer built it well." This year, there will be shows by Michael Ong, Bernard Chandran, Farah Khan and Tom Abang Saufi, among others. The Melium Group will also showcase Helmut Lang and Halston. Mifa, together with model Deborah Henry will also start charity project Mifa's Fashion Gives Back to help, among others, young, unknown designers.
"Fashion isn't about posing in front of the photo wall. This is a tough industry. You need grit, hard work and discipline." Yip confesses that she is not totally in sync with the fashion circle. "I don't smoke, I don't party... I look odd, maybe. But I like to keep it real. What's the use of being pretentious? "I'm a workaholic. Without passion in the industry, I don't think I can survive. But I don't find it necessary to always go out and entertain people," says the mother of two. Her children, she says, are probably the only reason she retires from the industry.
In the meantime, she's busy running the show, making sure next month's MIFW becomes a runway success.
