In Southeast Asia, fashion is inseparable from multiculturalism. For as long as memory serves, styles have evolved across borders. Chinese tailoring merged with Malay draping, Indian textiles met Nyonya-Baba silhouettes, and colonial Western suits left their mark. Today, we see designers embracing this hybridity openly. They borrow from different design languages, combine them, create juxtapositions, and celebrate all influences. The result: identities that feel layered, which in turn signal something new.

Malaysia is especially fertile for that kind of fashion. With Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Eurasian heritage all interwoven into daily life, it’s no surprise that some of its labels are doing their own brand of fashion. Among those, Anaabu stands out. Not because it shouts loud, but because it’s been steadily refining its own niche of minimalism and androgynous pieces.

Founded in 2010, the label’s aesthetic draws from tradition without being bound by it. You’ll notice shapes that echo the baju kurung, tangential nods to Chinese samfu, Japanese workwear sensibilities, paired with cuts, volumes, and fabrics that are clearly contemporary and unmistakably flowy. What makes Anaabu neoretro is this: its designs reference retro, meaning tradition, silhouette, and heritage. But they always pull forward through unisex fits, flexibility, soothing color palettes, and a keen eye toward how people live now.

Founder Ana Abu talks about this explicitly. In their Kongsi Masa collection (which blends Malay and Chinese festive elements), she told CNA Lifestyle: “We wanted to celebrate the beauty of traditions—Malay, Chinese, and beyond—while offering a collection that feels inclusive, timeless, and meaningful to a diverse audience.”

That sense of groundwork is visible in earlier collections, too. Take their Him & Her line from 2016, their debut unisex ready-to-wear. Pieces like kurtas, parkas, kimono jackets, culottes, loose and tapered pants, all rendered in natural fabrics. The collection was designed so that the same piece could work just as well on someone looking for masculinity, someone looking for femininity, or someone who wants neither. The cut and fabric became the gender-fluid signal.

The Essence line pulls back even more to the core of a capsule wardrobe: basics, everyday staples, cleaner silhouettes, relaxed tailoring. Or the Sarung 2.0 drop in their Essentials line that plays with dropped-shoulder tops, oversized culottes, checks, muted earth tones.

All that sets us up for their newest collection, which takes on “office wear.” Office uniforms are often rigid, formal, and designed to be mundane. But Anaabu’s version turns that on its head. Shirts that flow, pinstripe trousers with adjustable waistbands and generous cuts, boxy blazers. These are pieces you’d feel good wearing at work, but also after 5 PM or on a weekend. It references the ubiquitous corporate look, but in the classic Anaabu fluidity that denies strict gender/formality boundaries.

There’s also the evolution of the founder’s journey. Ana Abu didn’t come from fashion school. A former civil engineer, she started out curating and styling secondhand pieces, even used items from her mother’s closet. “I picked up skills through hands-on experience, learning from pattern makers, artisans, and industry professionals. Over the years, I refined my understanding of garment construction, materials, and silhouettes through continuous research and experimentation. While I may not execute every design myself, my vision remains the foundation of Anaabu’s aesthetic—one that balances functionality, comfort, and storytelling via garment design,” she said in the same interview with CNA Lifestyle.

Ana Abu’s reflections show the intentionality of the label—and almost a decade into the business, Anaabu’s sartorial aesthetic is unmistakably obvious in a sea of brands that have come and gone through time.

Lastly, if you’re thinking of hitting up Malaysia and its cities like Kuala Lumpur to explore its rich style sensibility in person, here’s a link that helps with discovering and booking activities that you can add to your travel list.

All images via Anaabu.