Nearly a year since launching her ethical line of luxury women's blazers in London, Anne Karim now brings her brand of elegant outerwear back home to Malaysia
Ida Fauziana Karim, known fondly as Anne Karim, is dressed in one of her own creations: a sleek, salmon-toned blazer with delicate gathered sleeves. She insists that pink is not her colour; but this blazer, the Nefertiti, is special.
It's a tribute to her best friend who motivated her to launch her own ethical fashion label in London in October 2020, amidst a pandemic. In the UK, she worked in the legal profession for years, and blazers were a wardrobe staple. Anne was convinced that there were more creative and exciting alternatives to the monotonous versions she was used to wearing. The solution soon presented itself in a sudden epiphany: if she couldn't find the blazers she sought, she would design some of her own. Made from premium Italian and Japanese fabrics crafted to gorgeous silhouettes, her collection slowly but surely came to life.
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"At work, I always felt that instant confidence whenever I put on a blazer," she reveals. "I realised that we all come in different shapes and sizes, and we like different colours. With Anne Karim blazers, there's something for everyone, whether it's straight cut, fitted or cropped."
Now back home in Malaysia to introduce Anne Karim London to a Malaysian audience, the mother-of-two tells Tatler the biggest sources of inspiration behind the brand, from the first female tailor on Saville Row to the suits in the John Wick films.
When did your love for fashion start?
Most definitely when I moved to the UK. The changing fashion of the four seasons inspired me even more and I definitely paid more attention to fashion when I was there than back home here in Malaysia. I loved seeing people mixing and matching jackets, boots and coats.
Tell us about how Saville Row inspired the Anne Karim London collection.
So if you go to Saville Row in London, it’s basically monopolized by male tailors, right? You'd be hard-pressed to find a female tailor, but there are a few. One in particular was Daisy Knatchbull from The Deck. She’s young and so successful in a sense that she breaks barriers, proving it’s not just men who can wear suits well. While I loved blazers and not necessarily suits, I was really inspired by her.
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