Ever since the birth of the brand last year, the local shoe brand Z’NG has made its mark in the Malaysian fashion industry and has been featured in various publications and online media both internationally and locally. Celebrating Z’NG’s first anniversary, founder and chief designer Jonathan Wong also showcased his latest Spring Summer 2014 shoe collection for Z’NG and we were lucky enough to be the first few people to try on his brand new animal-themed and impeccably-made shoes.
We also got the opportunity to speak with Wong about Z’NG, and he was indeed a delight for us to have a chat with. Read our interview with the bubbly designer below.
Q: How has it been for you as a designer for this past one year since the birth of Z’NG?
There definitely has been a lot of challenges for me as I didn’t come from a well-to-do family. I had to use my own funds and find my own resources to obtain what I wanted to achieve from the brand. I’m not from the business background so it has been a challenge for me to produce good business plans and come up with numbers. Also, I had a little trouble dealing with the media because I was not very well-versed with how the media works but it’s a miracle that we have been featured on over 30 different types of media both locally and internationally in the past one year. However, I’ve learnt many things along the way so, it’s been okay so far. Being a designer and being a business person is two separate things and I would say that I’m a hybrid of both. When I design stuff, I always come up with things that are sellable and there are many other factors to consider such as practicality, the colours people prefer and whether people would actually like it. These are the things that every designer should think about and that’s the way I see it.
Q: Why did you choose Fashion Valet?
Like I said, because I’m a business person and I’m very critical with my business. Not being racist or anything, but the population in Malaysia is very driven by the Malay community and Fashion Valet is also very Malay-driven. The founders are Malays and how they target their customers are also very Malay-based. That is exactly what I want for Z’NG. Obviously, I mean if I want to achieve sales, I need to target the population that has the most audiences.
Q: Do you think Z’NG has grown throughout the past one year?
The brand has really grown a lot, in terms of marketing and branding, I think we have really set the tone for a lot of other brands and they look up to the brand for how much it has achieved throughout the past one year. However, to me, there is still a long way to go because we have a lot to catch up on in terms of sales. Some of the opportunities and milestones that we have achieved include being featured on Harper’s Bazaar for their September 2013 issue, being appointed by AirAsia X to design a pair of heels for Sir Richard Branson and being endorsed by local celebrities such as Mizz Nina, Marion Caunter and Deborah Priya Henry. I’m also designing a new shoe collection for Mizz Nina’s fashion label and I was offered the opportunity to design a pair of men’s shoes for an NFL star, for him to grace the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week event in February next year. I’ve already sent in my designs so I’m still waiting upon the results. We were also one of the two Malaysian brands that got the opportunity to exhibit our collection in Taiwan back in October this year.
Q: How is your Spring Summer 2014 collection different from your previous collection?
As a business person, we always have to listen to what customers have to say about our products and they are always demanding for more comfort. So, there is supposed to be a stiffener on the materials used to make Z’NG’s shoes and it is supposed to make the shoes have more structure and last longer, but the disadvantage is that it will make the shoes feel hard and rigid. Hence, it makes it uncomfortable and I didn’t include the stiffener in the shoes for this latest collection. I’ve also changed the materials on the upper lining of the shoes into something more comfortable and soft.
Q: What was your inspiration for this collection?
Because of all the changes I’ve made to the shoes, I wanted to set a genesis kind of thing and give it a brand new character. When I sketched my previous designs, they were all very animalistic in certain ways and I thought why not? When I look at big brands like Charlotte Olympia that came up with the kitty flats, I wanted to do something similar that was fiercer but still remain practical and cute. So, I went for snakes at first and that’s how the whole animal theme came about. I just put all the bits and pieces together to resemble animals such as the zebra, Colobus monkey, snake, tarantula spider and eagle.
Q: What do you expect from yourself and from the brand in the future?
One thing that has to be achieved in the next two to three months is to get an investor to fund the expansion of Z’NG because many people believe that my designs don’t just belong in Malaysia but also on the global arena. I can’t depend on myself and I need an investor who can help financially and also someone who has the right experience in fashion retail. So, that’s what I’m looking at. My main goal right now is to expand Z’NG globally. My main concept for Z’NG is that I want it to be a luxury brand built digitally but right now in Asia, they are not fully exposed to the idea of a brand that’s being built digitally so for each of these countries that I’m going to expand to, we’re going to have a showroom for people to try on the shoes and go home and think about it, before buying it online. I think that’s going to be the concept for the next three years and after those three years, we’re going to close the showrooms to focus on doing it online.
Q: Where do you get your designs produced?
It’s a true blue Malaysian brand. Everything is done locally and I believe in supporting the local manufacturers because I feel that this is the way it is supposed to be. Businesses should help another business so that’s how I see it.
Check out the stylish and affordable shoes by Z’NG on Fashion Valet today!
