Ghaz Style

HIS clothes have adorned stars and one that comes immediately to mind is Elizabeth Hurley. No, not that attention-grabbing, tight-fitting number held together by large safety pins she wore in 1994 when accompanying then boyfriend Hugh Grant to the premiere of his film Four Weddings and a Funeral.
That was a Versace.
It's the equally attention-grabbing, see-through mesh dress that the actress wore in 1999.
Suitably impressed, the UK tabloid The Daily Mirror got its designer, Mohammad Ghazali Ahmad, to re-create it for a readers' contest.
Ghaz, as he is known to friends in London, has definitely come a long way from his first "white skirt" sewing project some 20 years ago, when he broke 24 sewing machine needles.
These days, he can effortlessly put together, say, a leather bomber jacket quilted with a Hermishs scarf in a day, without breaking any needles too.
"No, no, I haven't broken any needles since," he says, laughing.
This Kuala Lumpur-born 39-year-old has been calling London home for the past 18 years, having moved there initially as a fashion design student in 1985.
He is now head designer at Consortium Designs Ltd, and has had occasion to meet Victoria `Posh Spice' Beckham, among others, but it is her mother who wears his designs.
The company specialises in eveningwear and wedding gowns, and supplies to all major fashion retailers in London, including House of Fraser, Britain's leading "designer brands" department store group.
Ghaz's forte is eveningwear, especially those that enhance and flatter. "Men pretty much know what looks good on a woman."
Is that why so many top fashion designers are men?
"You can actually tell if a dress is designed by a man or a woman," Ghaz notes.
His designs, for example, unapologetically flaunt what he thinks are women's best assets - the shoulders and legs. Off-shoulders and with slits up to there?
"Something like that."
He describes his designs as "very Ungaro", referring to French designer Emanuel Ungaro. "I like his designs, they are an inspiration."
Ungaro has a penchant for fripperies, flounces and flamboyance and his signature dresses are floaty, floral and flirty.
But success didn't not come easy for Ghaz. It took a lot of hard work, he says, especially when he had to prove that he has what it takes to succeed in his chosen field.
His dad, for example, wanted him to be a doctor, lawyer or businessman; actually anything but a fashion designer.
He was in the science stream at St John's Institution in Kuala Lumpur, but test tubes, beakers and Bunsen burners quickly gave way to paper and colouring pens. "I was always doodling. I am not good at drawing figures but I like to sketch clothes."
For reading materials, he had fashion magazines like Vogue instead of science textbooks.
"My dad wasn't too keen, but my mum and sisters were very supportive of my interests.
"It's understandable. Parents want their children to pursue a career which can basically guarantee their future."
At the time, he was already a "fashion consultant" of sorts to his mum and sisters. "They referred to me when they mixed and matched what they wore... they trusted my taste in style."
A sense of style, he definitely has no lack of, with even the simple black round-neck T-shirt he is wearing for the interview looking deliciously chic.
Ghaz believes that whatever profession one chooses to pursue, persistence is the key. "It was hard work but it paid off."
He had enrolled in the fashion design department of Institut Kemahiran Mara after obtaining his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia in 1982. He was only one of three male students that did.
One of the other two has since also carved a name for himself in the fashion world - local designer Salikin Sidek.
Ghaz remembers his "white skirt" project very well. "I didn't know how to sew and had to use this old manual sewing machine where you have to use your legs to get it going. And we had to work with this piece of white cloth, which get dirty easily. It was a real mess."
Dad relented when Ghaz started to win accolades. "He was proud of me, singing praises... He was finally agreeing with Mum."
Two years later, his parents enrolled him for a three-year degree course at the Central School of Fashion in London. "It was a private school. My parents paid the fees."
And it wasn't exactly a great start to his stay in London too. Friends who were to meet him at the airport didn't turn up. "I remember it was early on a Sunday morning. I took the bus into the city and headed for the Marble Arch where I was told I would find some Malaysians. I waited but I didn't see anyone looking remotely like a Malaysian."
He eventually ran into Malaysia Airlines flight attendants who had been on the same flight with him and they took him back to their hotel. The next day, they helped him find his school, where he finally met with his friends.
After settling in, Ghaz went in search of a part-time job to help pay his expenses of living in London. He saw an advertisement for a machinist, not caring so much what it was as he just wanted to make some money. "When I arrived there and asked for the job, the guy told me that a company a few doors away was looking for a designer. I hurriedly put my illustrations together and went over. I was asked to return at 5pm for the last interview of the day. They took an immediate liking to my illustrations and asked me when I could start."
One of the first things he did, after landing the job the company called Roots, was to tell his mum to stop sending money. "My school principal was very understanding, and as it was a private school, I could actually go to work in the day and hit the books at night. I knew it was a financial strain for my family. I wasn't making much but it was enough for me and my studies."
Within a year with Roots, one of his creations - which he called the "Miss World" dress - sold 10,000 pieces to a single buyer. "It was in crepe and later we re-created it using other fabrics."
Selfridges ordered 200 pieces of that.
Ghaz ended up staying with Roots for 10 years, before moving on to Consortium Designs and undertook projects for Debenhams, John Louis and Selfridges.
Today, Ghaz heads a team of eight Greek "machinists". He's also in charge of putting together the company's twice-a-year collections - spring/summer and autumn/winter. "We work six months ahead. The catalogue for the spring/summer 2004 collection would be out by now." (He is already working on the autumn/winter collection.)
This year, Ghaz expects sheen fabric in "peacock" colours and the classic black-and-white to dominate the scene. He personally likes burgundy - "it suits all skin colours" - and, of course, black.
The Malaysian fashion scene?
"Everybody dresses well here... smart, clean and sleek but is much influenced by trends in the US and UK. Designs have progressed but there is still a touch of tradition in them.
"One good thing here is you can still get things made to measure, at not too high a cost," he adds.
Yes, Malaysian batik and songket have strong potential, Ghaz says, pointing out that the kain ikat has been used by Gibraltar-born designer John Galliano in some of his creations in Paris. "Songket is very intricate ... I can already see it being used as bodices in eveningwear."
A homecoming?
"The market is expanding. People dress up for shows and social functions. I'd like to see more of that. Yes, my designs could do well in Malaysia."
His family actually want him to start something of his own back here, so that they can get to see him more often. Presently, he tries to return once a year. This time, his three-week break, included short trips with his English friends to Cambodia and Bali. "I simply had to see Angkor Wat."
"When I come back, I bring some of my English friends and introduce them to the country and the culture," Ghaz says, without a trace of British accent and gestures, despite having lived in London all those years.
In fact, he has introduced Manglish to his friends in London. "Most of them now end their sentences with a `lah'," he laughs.
Two years ago when he came back for his niece's wedding, he was asked to make up the pelamin (bridal dais). "I was given only three days' notice."
And he still sews one or two pieces on request by friends. "I actually like to stitch the fabrics myself."
None of his siblings (five brothers and six sisters) are in the fashion business. They are mostly in banking, finance, and accountancy. Likewise, none of his nephews and nieces ("25 of them, I think") take after him. "I noticed that one of my nieces is very fashion-conscious, but I guess that's typical of girls her age."
It may be some time before Ghaz could consider returning to Malaysia for good. "I have a lot of commitments in London."
We hope that it will not be too long before we see the fashion label "Ghaz".