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Molek FMThe Swagger Salon + Koh Yung Shen
Koh Yung Shen
Boss Man
A former advertising slave, graffiti artist, and rapper, Shen’s got the unadulterated confidence and creativity that have managed to launch LANSI from meagre fitted caps to ultimately materialising The Swagger Salon into a physical store from its origins as an online store dedicated to his brands. Despite what you might presume about the guy behind a premiering streetwear brand such as this, Shen is actually all about integrity when it comes to building The Swagger Salon brand and of course, he does it all with the namesake swag that he touts.
(Just don’t ask him about his defunct rap career though)
Why did you choose to set up shop in Penang?
It’s a more familiar place to set up shop, everything is easier. It’s also our second biggest market for our brand, after KL. I don’t know, KL to me is oversaturated, not just [with] clothing brands but all these things. But it’s fresh lah to open in Penang. It’s not only fresh for us but also for the people there because they don’t have any streetwear shop until we opened. And for us, it’s something different after being in KL for like 10 years. It’s a bit more laidback and a bit more relaxed to do it Penang.
How is the response from the Penang crowd since it is not as competitive as KL?
We’ve been selling every single day since we opened. Above average lah from what we’ve expected. And we’ve hit our target, so it’s quite cool.
Have there been obstacles that you encountered since starting the store?
KL people complaining why we [are not] opening in KL (laughs).
How do you respond to that?
We tell them soon. It’s also partly because we didn’t want – I know it’s quite cocky – but we didn’t want the brand to be too accessible because that’s the whole point when we started. We don’t mass-produce and we still keep – I hate the word ‘limited’ – but we keep a certain quantity for every release. So, I was afraid if I opened in KL then you know we would have to cater to the demands. Okay, now the current problem is that we’ve been an online store for a few years, right? So we can put things as ‘sold out’. With a physical store, you cannot have empty shelves, so you have to make sure that there is stock and yet not over-produce and saturate the market with the brand.
Beginning with trucker caps, now t-shirts and accessories, any plans in the future to venture into some other article of clothing?
Not shoes lah. I love shoes too much to do shoes.
Why not?
I don’t know. Shoes are a different level, I can’t (laughs), because it’s like me being a sneakerhead, right? I really cannot see myself buying any other brands than the brands that I already buy. So, I know even if we come out with shoes, maybe if it’s a crossover thing, it might work. Like we did that crossover with the Nike Air Force One recently, a customisation, so probably that one would work but not our own shoes. But other articles of clothing, got lah, I mean not jeans, that’s really not our forte. [There are] shirts, it’s still very much upper half but we’re moving towards kids and more female [clothing] hopefully.
Speaking of the kids clothing line, how has that been coming along?
We’ve got the designs done. Production wise, we’re still trying to figure out how… we’re still trying to get the numbers right like how much we should put out. I’m still trying to think of a proper idea behind [it] because I don’t want to just have a kid’s line which is just a like a replica of whatever [we already have]. I want it to be somewhat different: It’s appealing to kids but still has an idea behind it as well. So we’re still trying to iron out those little, little ideas. But so far, so good.
It’s somewhat crude for a kid to be wearing LANSI and TAIKOR but we’re sure that your customers don’t mind having their children wearing the clothes, however, are you concerned with the reception of other parents?
True. I mean, we will still definitely have the same few brands and after a while that’s what the brand is and that’s where the demand is. Existing customers want it for their kids because they like the brand, but we can still play around with other things under The Swagger Salon brand, so it’s not just under LANSI or TAIKOR, but rather, it’s gonna be called The Junior Salon. So from there, maybe it’ll venture into more like… There will still be a few staple pieces, you know, the cari makan pieces (laughs).
We’d say that featuring badass chicks as a marketing ploy is a smart move, but we were curious if there were a time when you got some backlash for it? Because the images could get pretty racy.
Got lah, there are always trolls everywhere (laughs).
Have you encountered feminists who are like, “Hey, you’re exploiting the female body!”?
Not really. From what I gather so far, the reason why using guy models don’t work is because while girls might like guys, guys might not like [male models]. But if you use girls, girls like them as well. Everybody likes to look at nice, pretty things, so it’s just making sure that the shoots don’t look crude I suppose. As long as it looks nice, I mean, skin is one thing but just because there’s skin, it doesn’t have to be something that’s terrible…
Speaking for the ladies, we were wondering where are the boys though? Is this where TAIKOR comes in with its male-centric advertising?
Yes. We started TAIKOR because I was afraid one day people might get sick of LANSI because after all it’s just a word on a t-shirt right? So, that’s why I started a second range to see if people would layan; it took off as well. But of course, LANSI as a brand, overshadowed the TAIKOR brand. So, this year I wanted to kickstart [TAIKOR] again. But with a brand called TAIKOR, you can only market to guys. As much as girls want it, I really cannot bring myself to do female cutting for the word ‘Taikor’ for a TAIKOR t-shirt.
Because of its meaning?
Yeah, yeah. Like not giving in. Just because, you know, you wanna make a quick buck and you know that girls will buy, so “Eh, let’s just do this!” No, it doesn’t work that way. So I maintained it as a male-centric brand, that’s why we use guy models.
LANSI, TAIKOR, they’re all Cantonese slang words; being a Penang lang, do you have any plans to do something in Hokkien?
Yes, it’s a brand that basically sells itself because of the word but eventually I don’t want people to see it just for the word. I don’t want people to buy it for the word but rather for the brand. It’s not just about ‘Lansi’ as a Cantonese word, it’s about the attitude, you know? So it’s like cockiness, confidence, arrogance, all in one. It’s more of an attitude thing. So when you’re buying, you’re buying into the clothing brand, you’re buying into the whole attitude that we portray. When people ask, “You don’t want to come up with ‘Lan Yong’, ah?” or “You don’t want to come up with another word?” I’m like, “No, no.” I’m not trying to sell the word, I’m trying to sell the attitude, the brand.
Does Schizzow still rap?
(Laughs) I still write lah.
Do you still perform?
No. Not really.
Then why do you write if you don’t perform? It’s just a waste.
I would record. I would record songs, I’m not really the kind to get on stage to perform.
Oh, then why did you get into the rap business?
I don’t know, because I like writing? I mean, I really like writing. But yeah, not the performing part, it’s like… (groans).
Why didn’t you become a poet then?
Hmm… Selling t-shirts makes more money (laughs)? I was a writer, I was a copywriter. Although I was a designer and I majored in design, I still preferred writing.