The label is the Malaysia's first to be exhibited at the Victoria and Albert museum in the UK l, and also the first to be worn by Lady Gaga at her residency in Las Vegas
Remember this dress? It is currently showcased at the Victoria & Albert Museum
Malaysian label Rizman Ruzaini is making strides abroad. The brand recently shared on Instagram how jubilant co-founders Rizman Nordin and Ruzaini Wan Jamil were when they attended the opening of the Naomi: In Fashion exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London two weeks ago, and spotted the dress Naomi Campbell wore on the runway for their show at Dubai Fashion Week (DFW) last October. The two men wrote on IG, accompanying a video showing them in the company of celebrities—"all the movers and shakers of the fashion industry", that they "felt the love when Naomi spoke", "moved to the sounds of Bit George", and "rubbed shoulders with Suzi Menkes and Edward Enninful alike". The duo were, they made sure you knew, star-struck.
In a separate post, they wrote: "We are still pinching ourselves that a Rizman Ruzaini creation is part of the exhibition." According to the co-designers, Ms Campbell "personally asked for our dress to be part of her exhibition" and had apparently "described [the wearing of the gown] as one of the iconic moments of her career." It was, as the organisers of DFW exulted, Ms Campbell's debut at the event when she walked the Rizman Ruzaini show, which closed the seven-day affair. But it is not known if "she personally asked" to model the particular dress for the Malaysian label, whose founders were described by DFW as "dressmakers to the stars of their home country", or if a commercial arrangement was made. But the association with Ms Campbell, known not to work for free, rapidly hoisted the brand's standing than actual breakthrough in design.
Lady Gaga in Rizman Ruzaini
But the V&A exhibit was not the the only icing on the kek. Around the same time of the launch of the Naomi retrospective, it was reported that Lady Gaga wore a Rizman Ruzaini gown during her Las Vegas show, Lady Gaga: Jazz & Piano. The designers told Tatler Malaysia: "We sent the dress to the agency in charge of Lady Gaga's dresses early this year. The initial plan was for the dress to be worn only during dinner shows. But when it arrived there, Lady Gaga wanted to keep it and wear it for a grander event." The red, wide-neck gown with a sheer cape, on which ironed-on Swarovski crystals were applied, was apparently "was too grand for dinner shows". From online images, the singer wore it for her performances. A "grander event" was not indicated. Unsurprisingly, Malaysian media was over the moon, proudly declaring that Rizman Ruzaini "put Malaysia on the international fashion map".
The kebanggaan (pride) that is felt across the causeway is understandable. On our end, Singaporean designers are satisfied enough to be included in a compact exhibition at the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM), which former director Kennie Ting notably said he desired to turn into the "V&A of Asia". He dreamed big, but resigned before that could happen. Other than two major fashion exhibitions, featuring Guo Pei in 2019 and Andrew Gn in 2023, Mr Ting was especially enthusiastic about the #SGFASHIONNOW displays, initiated in 2021, featuring a motley group of Singaporean designers. The last of the three-parter (running now), which is a look-back at the earlier two, did not offer a dress that might be worthy of being selected for the V&A, even if Mr Ting was enamoured with all of them. We are a long way from realizing that V&A dream. Malaysians are clearly ahead of us.
Screen shots: rizmanruzaini/Instagram
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