Encouraging Sports Through Fashion and Art

There is no such thing as a bad workout. The only bad workout is the one that you did not do. 

This summer, two fitness enthusiasts, based halfway across the world from each other, have decided to collaborate and start a movement to encourage women to lead and maintain active and healthier lifestyles, fuelled by fashion, photography, art and culture. 

The #PACEforward movement stands for Photography, Art, Culture and Exercise and is the brainchild of two friends, one from Malaysia and the other from United Kingdom. 

Nadia Hasbi hails from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and is the founder of Fit Rebel (fitrebel.com), an e-commerce site which offers fashionable and affordable active wear for women. Named as one of the top local e-tailers by Timeout Magazine, the site has also featured in Women’s Health Magazine, Shape Magazine and Urbanette. The brands carried by Fit Rebel include Seni, a line of leggings created by Hasbi which features the hand painted works of art by traditional batik artists from Malaysia. The line supports local artists and gives them an alternative platform to showcase their work. The idea is to create leggings so beautiful that women can’t wait to wear them, get out of the house and get moving!

Neil Shearer is from Manchester, UK and is an accomplished photographer, specializing in sports and active lifestyle photography. He has shot various sportsmen such as footballers, cross fitters and even the Ford GT racing teams in USA and UK. The founder of the ‘Sports As Art’ Project, Shearer spends his free time working with athletes to elevate his craft and further explore his passion for sports through creative ways. In May 2016, his work received the Gold Image Award from the National Photographic Society of the United Kingdom. 

Huge admirers of each other’s works, Hasbi and Shearer decided to combine their passions in fashion and fitness to initiate a movement to motivate women to be more active. Thus, the #PACEforward movement was born.  

The driver behind this movement will be a series of photographs released by the duo on the Fit Rebel and Neil Shearer Photography Facebook and Instagram accounts. These will be released on a weekly basis for 18 weeks, starting from June until September 2016. 

These photos will be a stunning collection of images showcasing women engaging in active pursuits, decked in the colourful leggings of Seni by Fit Rebel. The end goal of #PACEforward is to produce awe inspiring art through stunning sports photography to inspire viewers to get active.

To further strengthen their commitment to this movement, Fit Rebel will be holding weekly giveaways throughout the entire summer for all followers. By simply sharing their social media posts, followers will stand a chance to win products from fitrebel.com every week!

“Seeing Seni’s art inspired leggings on athletes, shot against scenes across the UK has resulted in incredible imagery which I believe, firstly, will make you fall in love and then will motivate you to get more active this summer. We are combining the arts and culture of both our backgrounds to create this international movement for all women to enjoy and participate in. It takes 21 days to form a new habit, and in this case, we are pushing this movement for the entire summer of 2016, which leads me to believe that women will continue to lead active and healthy lifestyles even beyond this,” said Hasbi.

“I was interested to work with Nadia as we share the same passion for sports and finding ways to make it beautiful and more enjoyable. Our shared dedication to create images to inspire women to get active has turned this into a fun project and I am looking forward to the responses received from women who decide to follow this movement,” said Shearer. 

Fit Rebel ships internationally, so women all across the globe are welcome to follow this movement and stand a chance to win prizes all summer long through Fit Rebel’s weekly giveaways. 

#PACEforward is a testament to what happens when fashion meets photography, coupled together with passion and culture of two uniquely distinct individual’s love for leading active lifestyles and wanting to make a difference. For more details, please visit fitrebel.com.

Counting My Blessings in the Month of May

May 2016 has been quite a month. Lots of ups and downs, but one thing that always comes through in the midst of all this madness is that regardless of what happens, we gotta keep moving forward and keep pushing through otherwise we will be stuck, and that is never good.

Let's start by counting my blessings for all that was good in this month.

For starters, SENI by Fit Rebel was featured in this month's issue of Women's Health Malaysia!

We were featured in their Style Scoop section in page 28. Yay and a big shout out to the team who made this possible!

TimeOut Magazine has nominated fitrebel.com as one of the best local online stores for active wear! Link here: http://www.timeout.com/kuala-lumpur/shopping/the-best-local-online-stores

In early May, my brother and I traveled over great distances to meet up with fabric suppliers and manufacturers to tie up some loose ends and finalized some details before I start production of the Seni by Fit Rebel leggings. Meetings were successful and I do not foresee any issues with production when the time comes.

Now, let's talk about the crowdfunding campaign.
For those living under a rock and have no clue about what I am referring to, here is a link to my campaign: igg.me/at/senibyfitrebel

So far, I have raised USD3,622 and we have 12 more days to go till the end of my crowdfunding campaign. Although this is a relatively low number, to a certain extent, there is a sense of pride, as I did this all by myself with no previous experience.

After a heartfelt discussion with my manufacturer, we have agreed to proceed with production of Seni by Fit Rebel leggings, but with smaller quantities that originally planned. I now hope to raise at least USD4,000 which will cover all costs associated with the new minimum order quantity (MOQ) as discussed with my manufacturer.

Being ever positive, I know I just need to push and hustle for the next 12 days. Leggings are priced at USD39.00 per pair, and these prices are only available through this crowd funding campaign which runs until 31 May. After this date, the regular retail price for the leggings will be set at USD59.00.

To all friends reading this, do contribute, if you haven't done so already! A small contribution of USD5 can go a long way if I have 100 friends who are willing to contribute that amount. Sacrificing 2 designer coffees at your favorite hipster cafe is definitely worth seeing your friend's dream come true, right?

Well, I guess I will end here. Whatever happens, the dream will live on and I will continue to push forward with my vision.

Thank you for reading and have a great weekend, ya all!

x

Nadia

On Crowd Funding and Manufacturing

The Seni by Fit Rebel Indiegogo campaign has managed to raise 18% of our intended goal of USD15,000. With 22 days left in the campaign, we are cautiously optimistic that we will be able to meet our target.

For those who have not been following this blog, Fit Rebel is creating a new line of high performance leggings featuring hand painted batik designs by artists from South East Asia. These leggings are suitable for a wide variety of fitness related activities as well as for casual wear. The designs were created by traditional batik artist and were hand drawn and painted using traditional batik painting techniques.

For more information about this project, click here: https://igg.me/at/senibyfitrebel

On to other matters.

Last week, my brother and I did some traveling to meet with fabric suppliers and manufacturers to confirm all the details before we begin with the manufacturing process of the leggings, which will commence immediately after the Indiegogo campaign ends on 31 May 2016.

All meetings and negotiations went smoothly and we foresee that the manufacturing of the leggings will go just fine.

We hope to meet our target of USD15,000 and begin manufacturing as soon as possible. Having said that, even if we don't raise USD15,000 we will still go ahead with the manufacturing of the leggings anyway. We are determine to make these leggings a reality for everyone to experience and enjoy!

Itsy Bitsy, Teeny Weeny, Many Free Brazilian Bikinis!

  

We are clearing out our past collections to make way for the new stuff coming in soon.

For the first time ever, we are not doing a sale, but we are literally going to give you a free bikini. Any style you want, while stocks last from our website here: https://fitrebel.com/

The Bikinis are from Liquido, a popular brand of Beach & Fitness clothing from Brazil.

Here's what you need to do to get your free bikini:

• Help us share the love of our new initiative. Copy and paste this link on your Facebook status: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/seni-by-fit-rebel-art-inspired-leggings/x/13000759#/
• A photo like the one below should automatically pop up in your post:

• Don't forget to tag us on Facebook @fitrebelapparel
• Get 15 friends to like this post
• This post should be up on your wall for at least 24 hours
• After this has been up on your wall for a day and you got at least 15 friends to like this post, do a print screen of the post and email it to us as hello@fitrebel.com
• The print screen should show the time stamp (that it has been posted for at least 24 hours) and that it has received at least 15 likes
• In your email, please specify the free bikini that you wish to receive (Limited to one per person)
• We will send you a code to claim your selected bikini for free!
• Take the code and order the bikini through our website
• The bikini will be free, but note that you will have to pay a minimal fee of USD10 for shipping and handling

Expected shipping time:

• Shipping within Southeast Asia will take about 1-2 weeks
• International Standard Shipping to everywhere else can take up to 6 weeks

And that's it!

The Indiegogo Campaign

Friends within the Fit Rebel community would already be familiar with our latest initiative, where we are featuring traditional batik artwork onto trendy leggings. Keep on reading for a brief overview of this project, and for the newest developments since our last blog post!

Research has shown that having fun and beautiful active wear inspires women to enjoy their workouts and train more often. We want to encourage more women to lead active and healthy lifestyles, so we set out on a mission to create beautiful and awe-inspiring active wear.

Taking influence from our Malaysian roots, we turned towards batik, a traditional and versatile textile art and created 5 beautiful, nature inspired designs to be featured on high performance leggings.

 

We worked with a community of traditional artist who hand drew and painted the designs using traditional batik techniques. Once the artwork is complete, it is transferred onto spandex fabric via sublimation printing, so that the leggings are machine washable, the colors will never fade and the leggings will continue to display the hand painted designs for over the length of it's lifetime.

Please watch this video for more insights to this project:

To bring this initiative to life, we will be launching a crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo on 22 April 2016.

For those of you who are not familiar with crowd funding or Indiegogo, crowdfunding is a process of raising funds in small amounts from our fans, followers and the public. The idea is to focus on "its not what you do, but why you do it." Fit Rebel's bigger purpose is to empower women with active wear that they feel confident, comfortable and beautiful in. But beyond that, we want to bring forward the work of local artists who work very hard on their regional art forms. This gives them a canvas to share their art, and #SENIbyfitrebel will continue to support them with growing commerce options.

Funds raised through this campaign will go to the artists to benefit and preserve their craft. The balance will go to costs of production of these leggings, which include costs of materials and costs of workmanship.

All backers will receive perks/rewards for your generosity. The perks are as follows:

• Pledge USD10 and receive a hand painted batik greeting card
• Pledge USD20 and receive a cotton batik handkerchief
• Pledge USD25 and receive a Japanese Koi painting
• Pledge USD39 and receive ONE pair of SENI leggings (Early Bird Special, limited to the first 50 backers!)
• Pledge USD49 and receive ONE pair of SENI leggings
• Pledge USD92 and receive TWO pairs of SENI leggings (USD46 per pair)
• Pledge USD129 and receive THREE pairs of SENI leggings (USD43 each)
• Pledge USD160 and receive FOUR pairs of SENI leggings (USD40 each)
• Pledge USD185 and receive FIVE pairs of SENI leggings (USD37 each)

Here's a sneak peek at the greeting card, cotton handkerchief and koi painting!

Please support this initiative by getting yourself a piece of art or a pair of these gorgeous leggings!

Our Indiegogo campaign is now live here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/seni-by-fit-rebel-art-inspired-leggings/x/13000759#/

Your Dream Yogapants

Alya, sitting under a tree :)

We are doing our part to preserve traditional art by featuring hand-painted batik designs by batik artist on our high performance leggings. On top of that, we also want to make sure that we create a pair of leggings that you will LOVE. 

Alya, friend and aerial hoop practitioner (pictured above) had these kind words to say about our leggings, "They're super comfy and stretchable, plus so pretty to look at!! Perfect for dance, yoga, fitness, etc as well as casual wear". 

Encouraged by these words, we are striving to do even better. And what better way than to hear your opinion about what features your dream leggings should have.

We have created the easiest and funnest survey in the world, which consist of only 10 questions and will benefit YOU entirely. We appreciate if you can take 1 - 2 minutes of your time to fill it out here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7PW6YC7

Your feedback will be taken seriously and incorporate into our design. To sweeten the deal, we will conduct a random draw and 10 lucky participants will receive a free sports bra as below. 

 

Thanks, and if you are curious to follow the developments of our new line of art inspired, high performance leggings, do follow us on any one of these platforms:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/fitrebelapparel

Instagram: www.instagram.com/fitrebelapparel
Twitter: www.twitter.com/fitrebel1

 

Introducing Our Leggings and The Ladies They Were Named After!

Last Saturday we held a photo shoot which involved 6 active girls, all who were shot while engaging in their favorite sport which were dance, yoga, capoeira and aerial hoops. As the girls have been practicing their preferred sport for a while, we captured them in their element, doing their favorite warmup, drill or pose.

It was a long day of shooting, but a fun one.

In honor of the girls who were so strong, graceful, beautiful and patient, we decided to name our leggings after them. And with that, we are proud to introduce the first collection of SENI by Fit Rebel's hand painted, batik inspired high performance leggings, named after these ladies.

The Zai Leggings

 

 

Our Phoenix themed leggings are named after Zai. Zai is a beauty junky and a bendy yogi who loves beach holidays. She is featured in our shoot doing modern dance poses, which she totally nailed.

A phoenix  is a bird of Greek mythology, which symbolizes rebirth. It embodies the spirit of the brand, which is to keep evolving, growing and trying new things.

The Alya Leggings

Alya is a self proclaimed cat whisperer who also loves dance. She is an avid practitioner of pole dance, aerial hoops and aerial silks. She is featured in our shoot as our lovely and captivating aerial hoop angel.

We named our Japanese koi leggings after Alya. In Japanese, 'koi' (simply meaning 'carp') is derived from a word that means 'affection' or 'love'; koi are therefore symbols of love and friendship in Japan.

The Feiticeira Leggings (Right, in green)

Christine, also known as Feiticeira (meaning 'Sorceress') is a capoeira instructor who runs strict training sessions, especially with her kids class, but doing so with the best of intentions and love. She is the epitome of a strong, independent woman protecting and supporting friends and loved ones.

Our hummingbird themed leggings are named after Christine, nimble and fast creatures that are able to get through life’s obstacles with grace and style. 

The Bonnie Leggings (Left, in white)

Don't mess with Bonnie! This petite lady may look unassumingly harmless but she has years of capoeira and most recently, Brazillian jujitsu training under her belt. Lovely on the outside, Bonnie is also a talented singer who participated in her first open mike session last week.

Our peacock themed leggings are named after Bonnie. Why do we think this is perfect? She embodies the spirit so well, as she, just like a peacock, is confident and beautiful, inside and outside. 

The Selina Leggings

 

Selina is a Malaysian yoga instructor, based in Singapore and part of the YogaMovement team. She has a serious addiction towards arm balances, inversion, and all things crazy which makes her energetic classes super fun to attend. Follow her beautiful & witty yoga journey on instagram @senoritayogini. 

Our dragonfly themed leggings are named after Selina. Dragonflies are powerful and agile fliers, capable of migrating across oceans, moving in any direction, and changing direction suddenly. For Fit Rebel, this represents the modern women, who are strong, adventurous and flexible.

Get these leggings here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/seni-by-fit-rebel-art-inspired-leggings/x/13000759#/

Photography by Jon K.

A Spectacular Display of Traditional Batik Artwork on High Performance Leggings

Imagine if your workout clothes were fun and beautiful pieces of wearable art, featuring hand painted designs by artists.

For the past 8 months, we have been working on a project where we combined beautiful, inspiring, hand painted art onto activewear. 

This whole project started based on a research which shows that having fun and beautiful activewear inspires women to enjoy their workouts and train more often.

 

We wanted to create a line that will continue to encourage women to lead active lifestyles, and that was how we came up with the idea to combine art on activewear. 

After 8 months of design, prototyping and testing, this is what we came up with:

Photo credit: Jon K. Stoutlager

5 nature inspired designs, that were hand painted, using traditional batik painting techniques by artist from South East Asia. 

What is batik?

Batik is an art form of applying liquid wax and fabric dye onto cloth. Below is a step by step process on how our artwork was created.

#1 - First, the wax is melted in a pot, over fire.

 

#2 - Once the wax is melted, it is filled in an instrument called the 'tjanting'.

#3 - Any excess wax is removed to prevent spillage during the drawing process.

#4 - The tjanting is an instrument used to apply the wax onto the cloth to draw the artwork.

#5 -  The wax is used to draw the entire outline of the artwork, and in this instance, it is two dragonflies.

#6 - Once the drawing is complete, fabric dye is used as the preferred choice of paint. 

#7 - The artist repeats this process several times, applying 4 - 6 layers of paint on the artwork, giving it more depth and character each time.

#8 - Here is a view of the artwork just before it's final layer of paint.

 

#9 - Once the artwork is complete, it is then immersed into boiling water to remove the wax. The finished piece is where you can see a white outline, which are the places where the wax used to be. The paints were unable to be absorbed into the cloth since it was covered with the wax outline - giving you our unique batik artwork via the traditional tjanting drawing method. 

We then reproduced this artwork onto Lycra (Spandex) to bring you our gorgeous leggings. Sneak preview available below!

Get these leggings here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/seni-by-fit-rebel-art-inspired-leggings/x/13000759#/

Back!!!

It's been a while since I last wrote.

There have been some changes, the most major one being that I have made the decision to expand & carry more brands instead of just Liquido.

We have added Gylder Apparel to the list brands that we carry. Glyder Apparel is a brand from the USA which produces beautiful active wear for women, of great quality at a very competitive price. We are also negotiating with several other brands from the USA, Japan & Singapore and even talking to a very interesting company that produces under garments specifically for the active women!

Another significant change is that I decided to do a rebranding exercise and move from liquido.com.my to a new domain, which is fitrebel.com. It didn't make sense to bring in new brands and offer them under the old site (liquido.com.my), so this migration to a new online storefront under a new name (fitrebel.com) happened very naturally.

Sales have been affected somewhat (because my customers can't find the new site!) so I'll have to keep on pushing the message that we are expanding and have moved.

This news been featured on several publications. Here's a decent piece that was published by The Malay Mail Online, one of Malaysia's leading online news portals: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/features/article/fit-rebel-daring-funky-fitness-wear-to-energise-your-workouts

So, here's to new heights & challenges!

Thanks for reading. xoxo!

Freebies. Free Shipping. No Kidding =)

We are rewarding the loyal customers of www.liquido.com.my (who are subscribed to our mailing list) by sending them freebies.

Free Stuff. Free Shipping. No Kidding.

We have been doing this in stages and have gotten EXCELLENT feedback from customers.

Beth Albright, emailed and remarked, "This is brilliant! Nobody does this!"

Well, nobody but us, I suppose :)

First thought that probably comes to your mind is - "Why are you doing this?"

Simple answer - We are nothing without you :)

It's really not thaaat difficult to find a budget to reward loyal customers. And if there's something that we have learnt along the way, we get a lot more when we give, compared to when we receive.

So enjoy your goodies, people!

If you are one of our loyal customers, but haven't received your freebie or an email notification regarding this, it's probably because you're not subscribed to our mailing list. So hurry and get to it!!!

You can subscribe by visiting our website here: http://www.liquido.com.my

Insert your email address in the space titled 'Subscribe for latest Liquido updates' located at the bottom right of the page.

We may or may not do this again. However, something we will do is give out coupon codes for discount on our website, exclusively through our mailing list - so there is benefit to sign up.

Thank you for your support, which allows us to keep doing what we do - to make sure that you look fabulous while pursuing an active lifestyle!

Much love! XOXO

Fun team pic #1

Fun team pic #2

Own Your Body

My bikini stocks were one big mess after #Ohhsome Fest and the Christmas Promotion, where shoppers get one FREE bikini with every purchase of 2 leggings from my website. After #Ohhsome Fest, I pretty much dumped all my stocks into a corner & was procrastinating sorting them out.. until yesterday. 

So as I was sorting out the bikinis by model and size, one thing was very apparent to me. I am almost out of all Small & Medium sizes for all models, but the Large sizes are barely moving. And that got me irritated. REALLY IRRITATED.

Did I miss a memo where voluptuous women have been BANNED from wearing bikinis? Is the Asian sense of beauty and what is acceptable so WARPED that only skinny women are allowed to show off their bodies? OR, are women so self conscious and lack the self confidence to believe that they have an awesome body and to wear a bikini proudly, regardless of their shape and size?

Whatever, it is, it's pretty darn irritating. And sad.

Let's put things into perspective, shall we.

I'm a size Large when it comes to Liquido Bikinis. Yes, really.

Above is one of my favourite photos of myself in a bikini, taken by photographer extraordinaire, Andy Kho. On some level, I do believe that I am beautiful and I am not self conscious in a bikini. Because of how I feel about myself and the confidence that I exude, other people believe it too :)

Let's look at some of the biggest stars in showbiz. 

Beyonce is big and beautiful and has been voted as the celebrity with the best body by the women in UK. 

I'm not a big fan of Kim Kardashian, but you're lying if you can take one look at that photo and tell me that she is not gorgeous. Kim is not a size zero. And she oozes sex appeal in that photo.

Let's look at some of the Instagram superstars. Recently, I started following Jen Selter on Instagram.

Jen Selter is not a size zero. She is fit, she has curves at all the right places and she has 5 million instagram followers. 5 MILLION.

Get with the times, people!!! Do you still think you need to be skinny to wear a bikini? It's not about being skinny, it's how you feel about your own body and how you OWN THAT BIKINI!

Sorting out the bikinis and getting annoyed reminded me why I got into this in the first place - to push a message that all women should be proud of their bodies, regardless of your shape and size. Because at the end of the day, what matters most is how you feel about yourself. And if you believe that you are beautiful, that confidence will radiate and you will shine.

I guess since I'm preaching this stuff, I should be the first person out there, confidently wearing the tiniest Brazilian bikini that I carry. And I'll do just that. Haha! 

Can one person change a culture? The warped perception that being beautiful is all about being slim and fair and if you are anything but that, you shouldn't be in a bikini because you don't fit the stereotypical cookie cutter perception of Asian beauty?

Beauty is in everything and everyone. You just need to believe and own it.

Time to round up the PR crew for a brainstorm. It's time to change things up :)

Share Love And Light This Christmas With Liquido Leggings

From the fashion district of Sao Paulo, Brazil comes Liquido, inspired by the bold and colourful beach and fitness culture in Brazil. 

This Christmas, Liquido is releasing 2 new leggings, which prints are influenced by the love & sharing of the season. The prints are inspired by the beautiful patterns and colours formed when light enters a kaleidoscope.  

  

As Christmas is the season for giving and sharing, why not pick up a pair of these beautiful leggings for your sisters, mother or friends to share the beauty and joy of the season. This will also incentivise them to maintain a healthy lifestyle for the upcoming year!

Ranked Top 5 By ESPN, Liquido has been reviewed as being “A Brazillian Company known for its funky patterns. Each print is limited. Their leggings and capris are durable, comfortable, supportive and stylish.”

Available in hues of pink, blue, green and grey, these leggings will be a sure hit with your fashionably fit mates. 

At RM250.00 (USD75.00) per pair, leggings are available for sale through www.liquido.com.my.

The website ships internationally at discounted shipping rates of just USD3.00 per piece worldwide. Free shipping for orders within Malaysia for all payment made with Maybank2u.