Just thought it would be interesting to discuss origins of products. Spreading the knowledge. At least you know what you are paying for! Here are just a list of stuff that is in my mind right now, feel free to expand it and clarify with each other what you think about certain brands. ( I think this thread is gonna make some corporate company angry as it will probably violate some of their marketing strategy )

Padini & Seed - Do you know this is a local brand? Note the advertising using ONLY "white" models. Really hate the quality of their items. Well that is my personal opinion.

Bonia - Yep this is also a local brand. Never really owned any item by them can't comment.

Raoul - Singaporean brand. Quite expensive stuff considering its a Singaporean brand. Never really owned any item by them can't comment on whether the price is worth its money.

Braun Buffel - Anybody did a search of this brand on google yet? I notice that their target market is only in Aus and Malaysia. Why? I mean isn't it suppose to be a german brand, why nothing in the European market? I am quite skeptical about the brand. This being said, the workmanship and quality of their wallets and bag is parallel to some of the elite brands. I'm actually very curious about the origins of this brand.

Please try to post stuff here when you have the actual knowledge of brands. And please don't be immature and change your thinking into "oh my god its a china/local brand sure suck wan!". This is not my purpose in creating this topic.

Moved from Trends + Fashion to Men's Style & Fashion..

Looked like it could create some interesting discussions here..

Good piece of info xingixn. I am already aware of the origins of Padini & Seed, Bonia and Raoul. But I am very curious about Braun Buffel too...I tried searching online for their history and origins but there's very little info. I am actually an owner of a BB wallet hehe. Good quality I must admit and decent designs. I had mine for 2 years already and it still looks new even though I keep my wallet in the back pocket most of the time.

I can't seem to think of any brands to add to the discussion atm...but when I do I'll post it here

Edit: I just browsed through the BB website and they actually do have a section about the history, heritage and etc. Not very detailed and can be easily cooked up by someone haha. But it would be interesting to know the true story and who actually owns BB.

This post has been edited by jonny4: Jan 26 2010, 01:19 PM

Hi, i would like to command about the SEED pants i got here.
i would rate it 7/10 for comfort. forgot about the price though.
i discovered that it has a lot of excessive threads all over the pants.
btw i prefer a non-brand pants which cost RM60 to the SEED one as it has nice cutting and comfy.

yeap padini and seed clothes....in fact stuff from the padini family most of the time have very bad quality.....threads here and there mostly....and sometimes the colour will bleed when washing....

I had a first hand experience on my first day of work on why never to wear white underwear when wearing Padini pants for the first time. I had on a brand new pair of white CK boxer briefs that cost more than the padini pants LOL. After lunch I went to the toilet to tuck my shirt in...then I noticed some black stains on my boxers near the thighs. Luckily for me some bleach and a lot of soaking and I managed to get the dye out.

Aware of the brands origin but still buying them anyway.

Regret for buying a Seed messenger faux leather bag, cannot last even half a year.

Pedro shoes, from Singapore, not bad. But the fact of it being made in China shown when the threads of the suede part came out.

Padini shirt wear once only after bought so no comment. Till now stayed in the closet.

G2000 from HK, the shirts and pants quality not bad. But the colour didn't stay long.

Abotu Braun Buffel, seriously it only market around SEA. Why huh?

we should just one day convert to hand tailor made rather than mass production products to ensure top quality and best looking/fit

the only thing i ever bought from padini/seed is a black sweater. not too shabby in term of quality..

@Salience: Indeed. I'm thinking of having a trousers tailored to perfect fit. But don't really trust the tailors around my area

you don't need to trust them rather try them first.... who knows maybe their work is great

I didn't know that RAOUL is singapore brand, I have one shirt and cufflinks from RAOUL, the quality, cutting and design is very nice IMO

all my work pants are tailored

i cannot find suitable cuttings for me

maybe my legs are funny LOL but yea tailor made pants are always best although super expensive

Valentino Rudy seems to be like a Jap brand instead of Italian (I might be wrong). Any thoughts on this? I think their stuff showcased in Metrojaya is excellent at times. Once in a while I can find really good stuff.

Yeap. Valentino Rudy is a Japanese brand (http://www.valentinorudy.com) and their license holders in Malaysia are VR Directions Sdn. Bhd. (marketing and distribution of men's apparel and accessories, and ladies' apparels) and Eclat World Sdn. Bhd. (designing, promoting and marketing of fashionable men's footwear), both of which are subsidiary companies under the Bonia Group (http://www.bonia.com). As of 2008, Bonia has 100% shares in Eclat World and 70% shares in VR Directions and if I'm not mistaken, annually the Bonia group pays for Valentino Rudy's trademark royalty to market things under their brand (according to their annual report).

It also seems that certain (or all of) Valentino Rudy's shoes sold here are actually made in Malaysia under the Valentino Rudy name but this I cannot confirm.

As far as I know, the Bonia group also owns licenses under subsidiary companies for other brands in Malaysia like Sembonia, Carlo Rino, Santa Barbara, Savile Row Co., Austin Reed, etc. Now you know why most of the time most of the brands have their sales together.

jaspal is from thailand

Now I'm curious about Braun Buffel too, thought it was a German brand.

Also, if I'm not mistaken Young Hearts is a local brand? A friend of mine who used to work at Voir told me that they're a local brand too.

Braun Buffel IS a German brand under the company Braun GmbH & Co. KG (not to be mistaken with another household and medical manufacturing company with similar name founded by inventor Max Braun) mainly ran by Johann Braun's descendants with Christiane Brunk at its helm currently. I think most of you are in doubt because you can't find much information about the brand or rather found it difficult to reach their official international site since the spelling of their web address is different (included below). Anyway, as most of you might know, Braun Buffel is currently mainly marketed at the European, Australian and Asian market currently with Lianbee-Jeco Sdn. Bhd. (since 1993) as the exclusive distributor of this brand for our small segment of the market (Malaysia). I wonder when will they start playing in the US market.

Below are the the regional websites for Braun Buffel:
International / Germany: http://www.braun-bueffel.com/en/home.html (note the different spelling)
Asia: http://www.braunbuffel-asiapac.com
Australia: http://www.braunbuffel.com.au

Young Hearts = Singapore.

someone told me before that BritishIndia is a malaysian brand..

http://www.britishindia.asia/aboutbritishindia.html

i guess its true?

Yeap. Here's an ad Yasmin Ahmad did for Pat Yeoh back in the early 90's

Well, I've never had any problem with Padini stuffs. They seem pretty okay so far with a pretty decent 'lifespan'. But I know ALL my shoes from Vincci (subsidiary of Padini Holdings) NEVER lasted long! Either that, or it'll get veryyyyyy uncomfortable after a few wears - totally unlike other better brands which the shoes feels more comfortably snug as it gets seasoned. Vincci is overrated!

That's the comment I usually hear from girls, that Vincci's shoes don't last long. How about those from their more luxurious line Vincci+ ?

This post has been edited by Fusion[eX]: Jan 31 2010, 09:55 AM

Perfect thats the reply i needed. I knew it was not a local brand lol, their workmenship and quality is just too good to be local.

Glad it helped. Besides the exquisite quality of Braun Buffel's accessories, their storefronts in highstreet shopping complexes says everything.
On second thought, ignore my latter point as looks can be deceiving: like the example of our local brand Polo Haus with their premier store in Sunway Pyramid which appears to the uninformed shoppers as a foreign brand related to Ralph Lauren Polo.


Speaking of look-alike brands, there's also our neighbouring country's Crocodile which I think was inspired by the world renowned Lacoste.

This post has been edited by Fusion[eX]: Feb 1 2010, 02:26 AM

You know, I spent many years in what is supposed to be the originating country for Braun Bueffel and I never once saw it nor heard of it. People there are more into Goldpfeil, Joop!, Porsche Design and such.

wow that shop looks amazing..

hmmm i thought crocodile was from hong kong, or is it singapore?

http://www.crocodilehouse.com/

This post has been edited by jind86: Feb 1 2010, 02:06 AM

Ah, memory served me wrongly with regards to Crocodile. The brand that we know so well is actually a Singaporean brand established by Dato’ Dr. Tan Hian Tsin in 1947. And there's also another brand called Crocodile Garments established in Hong Kong by Dr. Chan Shun in 1952.

Do you know that Lacoste and the other two croc companies have been in constant court battle for years over the use of their very similar logos?

Battle of the Crocs
Lacoste vs. Crocodile Garments: http://edition.cnn.com/2003/BUSINESS/10/31/crocodile.logo/

Lacoste vs. Crocodile Pte. Ltd. :

Anyone had any idea about Ben Sherman this brand ? Was it originated from UK? I found none of this brand appearing in Malaysia Market at the moment. I have one of their signature polo which is white red blue stripes.

Ben Sherman is a UK brand catered to british mod styles. The only thing I have from them is a pair of cufflinks.

Bonia stuff for me are untrustable
I just feel that

Untrustable in what sense? Quality?

So many ppl using Bonia some more, probably because of its low prices.

This post has been edited by Daymon: Feb 27 2010, 06:20 PM

Hush Puppies is origin from where actually? I mean the apparel section. I googled and found Hush Puppies website for shoes only.

Bonia isn't low priced. Really. You compare them to many other brands on sale and you can see the pricing is 2-5% more.

East India Company is Metrojaya's answer to British India. EIC cost less than BI, and EIC does not have a stand alone boutique but is housed in Metrojaya's dept store. The styles offered by both these brands are almost similar. Linen & cotton is used heavily. So if earthy color tones. But BI sells furnishings where EIC doesn't.

Other brands that are in the low to mid range is

- D'urban
- Emmer Zegna
- John Master
- Smalto
- Rudynacci
- Renoma
- GQ
- John Langford

Their dress shirts range from RM20 (on sale) to RM239. The dress pants from RM49(on sale) - RM259.



This post has been edited by netmatrix: Apr 7 2010, 02:10 AM

I wouldn't recommend SEED...preferred PADINI instead..
but I think we should be proud of M'sia brand..
what's wrong with their design or quality?it feels like westernize..
u just over react because it's a M'sian brand??

SUB is a Malaysian-based international fashion group and one of the country's most successful, fastest growing retailers.
With more than 200 stores in the major shopping areas of 20 countries, we pride ourselves in providing an unique brand of clothing most appealing to the fashion-conscious movers and groovers of the clubbing community.

http://www.sub.com.my/

this also. someone telling me before was Hongkong Brand. But I find 1 of their 'factories' was locate in ipoh, off jalan kampar.

Hope this are suitable in this topic. Thanks you

knew Bonia was local ^^ they are doing great! i love their specs! Very durable got kicked in the face but specs intact bt face not intact! XD well done Bonia!

Some extra info for Bonia is that they have a much higher line in Japan which they dun sell in Malaysia, in terms of business they're doing extremely well and some describe it as Louis Vuitton of Malaysia

bata is a french brand... tadah.. many people thought is MY brand

Bata is Czech no?

I saw a 7-storey Bata store in Prague. hahah

Wahlauehh....really have much much longer history if not, legacy compared to so many brands out there.

Yupe .. they are some soft of JV thingy! No doubt, they producing quality items !!!

Voir, Soda also Malaysia brand
and Lewré ..

This post has been edited by tjwn: Mar 22 2011, 06:21 PM

For girls, KITSCHEN from Malaysia. Affordable price and average designs!

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Added on March 22, 2011, 6:30 pm HAha! Ya! Thought it is Buatan Malaysia.

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Added on March 22, 2011, 6:32 pmLewré also from Malaysia?
thought UK brand.

This post has been edited by Albigo.blogspot: Mar 22 2011, 06:32 PM

Wait, Raoul is from Singapore? Jaspal is from Thailand? Crap! Didn't know that! But their stuff is awesome.

SUB is malaysia, philosophy is malaysia, yishion is china (cheaper version of esprit)
many people think some of the Malaysian brands are international brands
People of Asia - singapore
anyone ever heard of POA/People of Asia? how is the clothing quality.from the pictures that i had seen online seems to be formal wear

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Added on April 13, 2011, 10:53 pmand bonia also do contract manufacturing for some of the world famous brand like Valentino, etc

This post has been edited by ryan18: Apr 13 2011, 10:53 PM

Her surname is Liew, not Yeoh..and Yes British India is a local brand with HQ/ warehouse at Kota Damansara, and note their name is actually spelled "BritishIndia", not separated. The company's established in 1994 to rival East India Co., a Metrojaya brand and both of their shirts are manufactured in India, with some in China.

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Added on November 1, 2011, 4:01 pm

I've been working in the mid/ high end fashion industry for many years and it seems to me that a lot of people in the country are easily conned by spending good money buying some cheap local products/ brands.

I mean, a lot of the local brands try to sell their stuffs nearly as much as imported brands, with only a fraction of their quality, and that seems ridiculous to me. All the company needs to do is hire a few merchandiser and get their supplier from any factory in Guangzhou and then hire a few agencies/ in house designer to design the branding and a few visual merchandiser to design the store's outlook and with some nice marketing and PR strategies, they can easily give you the impression that this is a very serious brand from overseas and thus selling their stuffs at 10 times the price they deserve.

Of course there're local brands that still care about quality, but not much, really.

In a lot of cases, the local distributor gains the right to sell certain overseas brand in the local market and as time goes on they gain more and more control over the brand and whatever they do (design, quality, strategies, etc) is entirely up to them and the oversea HQ normally don't even care. A few such example is B.U.M Equipment and the female lingerie brand Wacoal. Sometimes you spend a lot of money thinking you're buying a high end branded imported shirt, but truth is, a lot of those brands are now 100% M'sian control, M'sian development and M'sian quality.

There are also a few local brands trying to imitate an already successful overs brand and register the brands locally with similar name, logo and image. One perfect example is Diesel shirts M'sia has nothing to do with the successful Diesel brand in Europe (originally founded in Italy).

And of course, these local brands don't even need a single fashion designer under their belt (they don't even design their own products, duh!). Their so called "design and development" process only involve a few merchandiser (usually of fashion design background) flying to china and select a few items and comment on minor changes (i want this design in purple and black, i want the sleeves to be a little bit shorter, etc) and ask the OEM factories to produce a certain amount of the items and put on their brands. And of course, coming from a family doing one of such businesses, I was already well aware of this since 10 yrs old, and i assume most of you guys already know this is how it works.

I totally don't mean to spread any hates here but the whole point of sharing this is so that the next time when you spend your hard earned money on any products, it's good for you to know the brand stories, and whether they deserve your money. This is important as most of the local business don't even seem to care about improving their qualities.

This post has been edited by darkprince1781: Nov 1 2011, 04:30 PM

anyone heard of Pony before?

brands outlet is also under padini...

I've heard that Padini and Seed are under Bata company. And Bata is actually a UK brand. So, what makes Padini and Seed the? malaysian or Uk's?n

Mind to share which company are there?

Agree. I think we can compile a list of apparels brand that offers good quality at affordable price

One really needs to go around the shops and dept stores to know what is happening. But in the end everyone is out to make money. I used to like snails, Bum and such. But u know why i don't but them anymore? Because they cut corners. I mean really cut corners! Have u seen any of their shirts lately? Its like they think human have grown 20cm shorter!!! All the t-shirt can reveal belly button when you raise your arms. WTF?!?!?!? And one still have to pay RM30 for those crap! I might as well pay RM7 for a tshirt which still looks like a t-shirt than a tank top in Carrefour than them! I have worked in Metrojaya before so i do know a thing or 2 about how things are run. U are definitely right about most things. Unless you are still in the clothing line, u will know that everyone is being hit hard and almost all stuff comes from china. Everyone is out to make money. Its not like the old Globe silk Store, Mun Loong days.

Padini Holdings (Padini, SEED, Vincci, Brands Outlet, MIKI, PDI, P&Co.) is a Malaysian brand with HQ at Glenmarie, Shah Alam.

Bata is from Czech.

bonia perhaps

Tried out a Braun Buffel wallet 5-6 years ago...the wallet lasted for 12 month before the outer layer disintegrated..so that was the only time i buy wallet from them....now wallet I only use Head Porter from Japan, very nice and spacious wallets, as I do a lot of travelling, i normally have long wallets and a bit bigger to fit in currency notes like Yen and HKD, Euro which is a bit larger than the size of our money.

its fine when you get what you pay for..but a lot of cheap shit and local brands are selling at exorbitant prices and you still get shit in the end. case in point Polo Haus, Crocodile etc.

Lacoste vs Crocodile? srsly.. no fight, Lacoste uses MOP buttons, the fabric is light and breathable.. colours are awesome.

And Polo Haus.. whats with the curved mallet? How the hell you play polo with a curved mallet.. and people pay a hefty sum for what they get believing its PRL.

thanks for the heads up on Jaspal.

How about Hush Puppies? I believe they bought the rights to the brand here and they seem pretty successful.

Obermain.. I never seen this brand at all while I was in Frankfurt.. German my @ss.

Agreed..braun buffel is overrated..quality wise so so but malaysian loves it..

wow, i've been fooled by my friends for so many years, thinking bata was a malaysian brand!

you guys must beef up your knowledge on brands then you will know where to hunt for good stuff and segment your shopping wisely.

bata, if none of u know is actually a very expensive brand. when i was in paris, their shoes are approx 100 euros or higher. leather pair of shoes which is approx RM100 here because the market hasn't picked it up.

last time FCUK was at FOS for RM50 per pc around 10 years ago.

I love Padini too but I only buy their share from the KLSE.

Xuzen

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Added on December 15, 2011, 6:53 amI completely agree. Braun Buffel started out quite promising, I used two of their wallets before. The earlier one is of decent quality, but my perception is that their quality has dropped. The second one lasted only about 12 mths before the outer leather layer start flaking.

Lousy brand.

Recently, my missus started to look at Anya Hindmarch and their products look really decent, but pricey.

As for me, I started using Kaufmann, an in-house brand by House of Leather. Really solid products and at affordable price. Best bang for the buck. It is a no frills brand, i.e., no expensive celebrity endorsement nor highly paid models to jack up the price.

Quickly buy it before House of Leather start those marketing bull-shit.

Xuzen

This post has been edited by xuzen: Dec 15 2011, 06:54 AM

hm... i thought BATA is from the czech republic

tomas bata anyone?

Bonia now owns 50% of Lianbee-Jeco so we can pretty much assume BF = Bonia now...........

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Added on July 11, 2012, 6:43 pmBritishIndia's founder previously was from the East India Company..

This post has been edited by EricLow: Jul 11 2012, 06:43 PM

British India is local i think

Does anyone know the brand Thomas London? I only wear these to work. But can't seem to find any info on them on the web.

Thought I'd revive this thread. Heheh

This post has been edited by Eterna: Oct 24 2012, 01:17 PM

if you cant find it in the interweb then it must be from bolehland.

Polo Haus- seriously poor quality, and TONS of Malaysians still think it's under Ralph Lauren.

Giordano- I only bought a couple of their clothing few years back including a plain t shirt. The quality is just average-ish and the fitting is terrible. Bought a size XS or S t shirt but it feels like a size L.

Larrie- Only thing I know about this brand is that they have a cheap knock offs of the Birkenstock Gizeh. Looks very similar to it but at 1/3 of the Birkenstocks price.

POLO HAUS-mislead the buyers,seriously

why so? they never said they are siblings with ralph lauren right?

the logo, design, almost 90% alike ralph lauren..
just my thought

Agreed, they market it in such a way it looks like Polo RL but it actually isn't.
Some of their designs really look like Polo RL,seriously.

especially signature big pony on classic plain color.reli difficult to tell the different.
n small as well..so tiny

This post has been edited by bosco1314: Oct 28 2012, 12:31 AM

when I was in UK, I'm trying to be a cheapskate...
I always like George

Polo Haus is M'sian brand, i have friends working there. Right now they own the right to distribute Fila in M'sia.

Larrie is a M'sia brand, they produce shoes for Crocodie, Alain Delon, Camel Active, GEOX, etc.

This post has been edited by EricLow: Dec 5 2012, 12:09 AM

Fila, still exist in Malaysia?last time got a lot of outlets , nowadays like no more,

Geox and CA shoes is made by a malaysia company? wow, just wow.

GEOX is not M'sian, I'm guessing Larrie is distributing for them in M'sia.

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Added on December 5, 2012, 3:34 pmNot sure about outlets but for sure the company has just obtained the right to distribute their products here in Msia not too long ago, I'm sure they're planning sth at the moment.

This post has been edited by EricLow: Dec 5 2012, 03:34 PM

oh I c , but Fila still hot in other country?

Not really, Fila International has been sold to many parties and its most current owner is from Korea. They're based in Korea now.

mean FILA aint so successfully i think, look at Nike Adidas, just for comparison

Anyone know where are Massimo Dutti leather products made? Quite expensive here but belong to same group as Zara and Berskha. I know it is a spanish brand but wondering if the leather bags are made in China.

I thought its a internal buyout?

Padini- Hit and miss for me. Bought a shirt that cnt be ironed, a shirt which its button came off after a month. but some of the shirts are okay for the price. Can't complain.

Obermain- shit brand. bought a shoe to bring to NZ hoping that its gonna keep my feet warm and comfy. Ended up replacing it with a hush puppy shoe at the same price that is much more comfy and warm

Bonia- got my first expensive wallet as a gift. really love the feel and quality of the leather. oh, and the smell

Polo Haus- We don't have RL in sabah, so we always thought RL=PH. So much that i made a fool outta myself complaining about the RL prices -.-

Anyone knows what is up with Elle?



I know that the magazine is from Paris, but what about its clothing and boutique?

Padini is okay for me but I am avoiding polo haus like hell...

Wish to get pedro shoe but i am stick DMs right now.

Did went to mitsui outlet and stumble upon Tomasz brand..quite nice ...price is good too..made in malaysia ,right?

Pedro is by Charles & Keith whose owners are from singapore btw.
Just want to stay related to the topic

Most likely yes. Even Bally or HB or RL sneakers are made in China, or to put it subtly, PRC.

btw, padini originated from which country ? anybody knows ?

Padini, pdi,giordano,brand outlet, hi style, they are all from malaysia

Never owned a pedro before. what's it like in terms of quality. From the feel of it, pretty much like local shoes ex. santa barbara, polo, aka. shopping mall shoes category.

Any opinion on the quality is welcome.

Quality is rather acceptable for its affordable price. Made in China after all, can't expect much. Better than paying more with Aldo & still Made in China with comparable quality.

Giordano is from Hong Kong

lol really.. tot is from malaysia
seems quality look identical

Pedro shoes are not comfortable and the linings come off easily.

Thanks for input guys, regarding pedro. Usually when I walk into any shop, I like to touch and feel the shoes. And Pedro, in particular feels very weird to the touch. Hard to bend as well.

Oh, and the price not cheap. Around 300-400 nowadays.

This post has been edited by GreenWhite: Feb 4 2016, 09:17 PM

Obermain is Singaporean as welll...
The same company distribute Hush Puppies, Renoma and Dockers branded shoes...

This post has been edited by arashikage: Jul 19 2016, 01:38 AM