As one of the largest festivities celebrated in Southeast Asia, the Eid trade period is a key calendar event for every retailer in the region. This report looks at the performance of leading Malaysian Eid RTW designers and key colour palettes from Eid al-Fitr 2019.
The State of Global Islamic Economy Report 2018/2019 announced that Muslims’ spending on fashion is forecasted to reach USD361 billion by 2023 – a massive opportunity for regional brands to take advantage of, especially over Eid festive season.
Ready-to-wear pieces for Eid have grown in popularity in the Southeast Asian region, with an increasing number of options at homegrown modestwear designers and brands.
Online retailers in Malaysia have reportedly seen a rise in Eid sales compared to the previous year[1]. In this report, we reviewed ten premium brands retailing on Zalora and FashionValet in Malaysia, to draw insights on their Eid collections’ performance and bestsellers against the same period last year.
Nearly 500 data points were tracked from the launch of collections up to the eve of Eid al-Fitri on 4th June 2019 on the following brands:
[1] “E-retailers reveal their best-selling Raya items, say sales are better compared to 2018”, Malay Mail, Jun 2019.
The ten premium brands had 21% more Eid products, which drove 65% more sell-outs this year compared to last year, with little discounting, signalling an overall excellent performance.
Alia B. saw a significant increase in sell-out rate with its 2019 collection launched exclusively on FashionValet, as opposed to Zalora, which was the case last year. The assortment offering embodied optimism, joy and love, which was well received by consumers. Despite launching very close to Eid, Woo/Fiziwoo and Mimpikita managed to achieve healthy sell-out without any discounting.
Afiq M and Ezzati Amira performed poorly despite having a head start launching their collections as early as Feb ’19, with almost all products being discounted by April. Meanwhile, NH by Nurita Harith saw a 20% dip in sell-out compared to previous year despite offering nearly half of its Eid assortments on discount.
The highest number of sell-outs occurred in May for most brands (Chart 2), including brands that launched as early as Feb ‘19. Overall, Eid trade only gained momentum towards the end of April and peaked in May as consumers carried out last-minute shopping.
Baju Kurung took up the most significant portion of Eid assortment, with 11 percentage point increase this year versus the previous year. Baju Kurung Modern commanded most of Baju Kurung, similar to the prior year. Having said that, Baju Kurung Kedah saw a massive 200% jump from 2018, indicating a trending style. Jubahs & Abayas and Kaftans were not represented this year.
The key styles spotted this year among the brands in focus included romantic florals, statement sleeves and delicate lace.
Floral motifs have been a staple design during Eid, in the last two years. However, new arrivals in this motif increased by 97% against last year and came in both soft and bold hues. Brands popularising this motif included Rico Rinaldi, Petra, Ezzati Amira and Alia B.
Statement sleeves, including flared, puffed, or balloon sleeves saw a whopping 119% rise compared to 2018. Mimpikita, Woo/ Fiziwoo, Alia B. and Afiq M were amongst the brands championing this style.
Although delicate lace only saw an increase of 3% in 2019, the consistent offerings further signified the popularity of this design. NH by Nurita Harith, Alia B, and Petra were among the advocates of this trend. The intricate lace fabric was either used minimally on the neck and sleeves of Baju Kurung or in a full head-to-toe ensemble.
Eid is synonymous with colourful palettes in fashion, so it is little surprise that progressive colours took precedence in the new-in assortment. Petra, Kree and Ezzati Amira were bolder with their colour choices – dark, opulent colours such as burnt orange, emerald green and royal blue. NH by Nurita Harith, Woo/Fiziwoo, and Mimpikita, on the other hand, had more soft and muted colour palettes with the likes of icy blue, dusty pink, and pale purple.
Fashion colours commanded approximately 70% of total new-ins. Blue, pink and green were the popular choices for two consecutive years, with blue continued to lead in 2019. Drilling down the primary colour revealed that navy blue contributed to the most prominent offerings in 2019, as seen at Mimpikita and Kree.
Another popular colour in 2019 included purple, which showed a big jump in new-in contribution compared to last year. However, it indicated signs of overstocking, with three percentage point variance against sell-out.
Brown and black were the two core colours that appeared in this year’s top 5 new-in colours. Brown saw a significant seven percentage point increase in new-in contribution but showed signs of missed opportunities with a three percentage point variance against sell-out. Grey, another popular core colour, showed a similar result with sell-out outperformed new-in with five percentage point variance. Alia B. and Afiq M were among the brands dominating the core colours.
Overall, the bestselling styles in blue were minimalistic and clean. Most of the bestsellers were comprised of V-neck and boat neck Baju Kurung Modern and also Kebaya.
The bestselling styles included floral motifs and lace fabric used in soft, feminine silhouettes. The lace placed on the hem of the top, neck and sleeves seemed to be shoppers’ favourite. In terms of colour tones, a distinctive play of shades spotted – either soft muted tones of icy blue or dark shades like navy blue were most favoured.
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