“TOUT PASSE, tout lasse, tout casse”—everything passes, everything wears out, everything breaks. Yet, standing against the tides of time is the songket. Once exclusively crafted for the Malay Sultanate’s regalia, it has evolved into a more accessible symbol of heritage for all.
But going beyond the evolution of the songket into a piece of clothing accessible to the public, lies the challenge of how open we are today to the reimagining of it in non-traditional forms. I, for one, am intrigued by a rising Malaysian brand, Fétiche the Label, that has been experimenting with the songket—very daringly at that.
