Alex Firdaus Koh founded a footwear brand with the mission to offer chic, timeless and comfortable shoes to ladies (All photos: Sam Fong/ The Edge Malaysia)
While it is true that shoes play an important role in transforming an outfit, their value extends beyond aesthetics. A pair of perfectly fitted heels or mules can boost confidence and motivate someone to show up and carry themselves effortlessly. After all, a building block stands tall and proud because of its reliable and solid foundation. With this in mind, Alex Firdaus Koh founded a footwear brand with the mission to offer chic, timeless and comfortable shoes to ladies.
The Melaka-born designer grew up surrounded by artisans. His dressmaker grandfather used to own a bridal shop in Jonker Street while his parents worked with multinational footwear manufacturer and retailer Bata.
“My dad was the store manager and mum, a salesgirl. I spent most of my younger years in the shoe shop. I dreaded it. But as the eldest, I had to help out,” Alex says.
Even though his father taught him a lot about shoes, Alex did not expect to establish his own business decades later. “I went to study marketing and worked for a few advertising agencies. One day, I was retrenched. Jobless for a few months, I was desperately looking for work when I came across an advertisement saying a shoe company [needed] a product development executive. I just wanted to try it out.”
He began learning more about shoe design when he joined companies such as Hush Puppies, Vincci and Bata. While his family provided the basic knowledge, he picked up practical skills on site. “When I first got the job, I spent a lot of time in the factory, working with shoemakers who were the artisans. That’s how I learnt the trade.”
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As his career progressed, he was posted to Europe, the Middle East and China. “When I was in China, the factory I was working in manufactured products for big brands like Jimmy Choo and Burberry.”
Eventually, the 50-year-old dreamt of starting his own label. “I toyed with the idea for many years before deciding to start the business.”
Three years ago, he finally got things moving by brainstorming on the kind of shoes to focus on for his enterprise. After carefully weighing his options, Alex settled on women’s footwear.
He worked with a local factory based in Ipoh to roll out a number of prototypes for his brand Scenshuz. It was not until January this year that he officially launched the label, though. Why did it take him that long to come to this?
“There was a lot of trial and error. We were making many prototypes. It is not only about designing; you also need the technical know-how. I want to make sure my products fit properly. So once a prototype was ready, I had a number of ladies walk in the shoes. When all is good, then only we proceed with production.”
Scenshuz comes from the word ‘sensuous’. “My shoes are about lines and silhouettes that accentuate the feet. They must give you a different kind of feel and emotion when you wear them.”
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Why women’s shoes? “Ladies’ shoes are not as boring as men’s because there are so many things you can play with. As a creative person, you just want to let the creative juices flow. Ladies’ footwear is very interesting as there are many silhouettes, patterns, heel heights, materials and embellishments to explore.”
When it comes to designing, he normally starts by making a lot of sketches before streamlining them into categories on PowerPoint. “I do most of my work using PowerPoint because it is easy for me to decide on the details such as shape, heel, colour and all.”
Shoe designers must have an eye for silhouettes, Alex comments. “We need to observe if the structure of a product is cohesive or not. And for shoes, every millimetre counts. If it’s a little less, the shoe doesn’t hold. If it’s slightly too much, it is bulky and the silhouette doesn’t look sensuous. Just like designing a car, you have to consider the top and bottom ratio to achieve the perfect balance.”
His late sister was his muse, inspiring him to come up with evergreen styles for his collections. “She was also my biggest critic,” he recalls warmly. Not one to let trends dictate his creativity, Alex likes to challenge himself according to what he sees fits his brand aesthetic best. “I want the wearer to enjoy the shoe for a long time so they don’t have to worry about what is trendy, or not. My collections are timeless; they can be worn many times over and are not limited to certain occasions.”
His job does not stop at sketching. He works closely with his supplier, travelling back and forth between Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur to oversee issues that might crop up during the manufacturing process. The hardest thing about producing shoes is getting everything — the combination of materials and components — right the first time, he admits.
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“Sometimes, they will tell me they cannot make the shoes that I want. Then I have to think of ways to solve the problem. Sometimes, the materials don’t stick together. And when you make a certain shoe, the upper may not hold the feet nicely. Then we have to change it again.
“There are a lot of adjustments because we make shoes that not only look good but also hold the feet properly, which in turn give the wearer confidence and comfort.”
As the brand is still new, Alex figures that setting up pop-up stores across the Klang Valley is much more convenient and efficient than opening a physical boutique straightaway. This allows the team to test the market and introduce the label. Since Scenshuz started selling early this year, feedback from customers has been promising. “Nine out of 10 say stability, security and comfort are there.”
In the future, Alex plans to look into environment-friendly materials for his creations. But for now, his main focus is convincing Malaysians to support and appreciate the beauty of locally made shoes.
This article first appeared on Apr 15, 2024 in The Edge Malaysia.
