My Experience On Creating My Own Line of Fitness Leggings

SENI by Fit Rebel leggings has officially launched and the first batch of orders has been processed and delivered to the backers of our crowd funding campaign.

The best moments from the previous weekend was receiving emails, messages and seeing posts from friends & customers receiving their leggings & doing social media shout-outs.

Here's Claudia from Vienna, Austria, enjoying the weekend, going about town in her fun, new leggings.

Suhana was spotted engaging in the #22pushupchallenge in our phoenix inspired leggings.

 

Alya was captured ice skating in our Japanese Koi inspired leggings! 

When good things happen in life, one has to take a moment of silence to feel gratitude and to give thanks to the universe, and to everyone and everything that has helped me along this journey to make this moment possible.

I believe that things are better when shared, so I would just like to share some learnings and observations that I picked up/ experienced through out this whole journey of creating my own line of leggings and running a crowd funding campaign.

LESSON #1: To Build Something Great From Nothing, You Must Really, Really, Really Want It

All I started with was an idea. Just an idea. Something in my head.
Literally, it went like this, "I want to create the most beautiful yoga pants in the world".

I didn't know how I was gonna do it, or what it took. I just really, really, really wanted it.
And the reason why I wanted it was due to a calling that was much bigger than myself. I realized that most women would get more excited about their workouts if they had fun and beautiful workout attire. Having been through some difficult times in the past 4 years (death of father, broken engagement, etc) I have personally felt the positive benefits of exercise which helped me overcome some of the most difficult moments in my life.

If having fun and beautiful active wear can get women to exercise more often, then I was going to create the most beautiful leggings in the world to inspire women to do just that.

It took me 12 months, which consisted of the following:

• 2 months of design, and finding the right artists to work with
• Going through 20 different prototypes before I was happy with the final product. 
• Traveling through the region, visiting fabric suppliers and manufacturers to compare fabrics, printing and manufacturing quality
• Weeks of stress testing the prototype with friends who engage in a wide variety of sports such as running, yoga, aerial hoops, martial arts and dance. Making improvements to the prototype based on their feedback
• Photoshoot, videoshoot, running the crowd funding and doing all the necessary marketing activities required to grow awareness
• etc

 It was hard. But I was clear on my vision and my intention, and I was unstoppable.


LESSON #2: You Must be Willing To Give Up Everything For What You Really Want

There really is no other way about this. To get something you really want, you need to do something you have never done. It's a shift of priorities that comes from within, once you have committed yourself to the goal.

I quit my job.
I think twice, three times before going on vacation, because that means I'll be away from work.
Hanging out with friends for a period longer than 3 hours makes me uncomfortable because it's time away that I could be doing something else for my business.


LESSON #3: People Will Surprise You

This has got the be the best lesson/ observation that I gained from this entire experience.
What I realized is that most people who can help, will do everything they can to help you succeed. Everyone from my models, photographer, artists, friends and family rose up to meet me and carried me even higher.

I can still remember the day of the photo shoot, when we were on our feet from the crack of dawn until sunset. I was barking out requests to friend & photographer (Jonathan Khee) the whole day, and he patiently obliged to everything I wanted. Till this day, I am filled with gratitude that he put up with my moment of crazy and we remain good friends :)

The flip side to all this light is the 'dark side'. Some people disappoint.

I guess that is life. Everyone is fighting their own battles and I should not judge people for what they did or did not do. I can only hope that with time, everyone will show their good side eventually.

And that's all for today, folks!

To view the SENI by Fit Rebel collection, you can visit the Fit Rebel website here: https://fitrebel.com/

The #PACEforward Movement

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. The background story of this movement can be found in our post titled 'Encouraging Sports Through Fashion and Art' if you click *here*.

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!

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. 

 Be a part of the #PACEforward Movement! Details below:

• Photos will be released every Friday, starting 3rd June until 30 September. Therefore, one photo will be release every week, for 18 weeks in the Summer of 2016.
• Photos will be released on both our Instagram and Facebook accounts. Follow any one you prefer:
• Fit Rebel
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/fitrebelapparel
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/fitrebelapparel
• Neil Shearer Photography
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/neilshearer_photography
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/NeilShearerPhotography
• Share our photos on either Facebook or Instagram.
• Mention both Fit Rebel & Neil Shearer Photography in your caption (Or to make it even easier, just share the original caption of the photo which will already have all the details).
• Please include this hashtag #PACEforward.
• Tag us in your photo.
• A new winner will be announced every Thursday via our social media accounts.
• A winner will be selected at random, so everyone stands an equal chance!
• The winner will win one free sports bra as below. Colors and sizes are available while stocks lasts. We will ship this item for free, anywhere you are located, so women all over the world are welcome to participate.
• Share our photos with your girl pals and get ready to be inspired to have an active and healthier summer! With the possibility of winning a new sports bra, there is even more incentive to follow the #PACEforward movement!

 *Stand a chance to win any one of these sports bras below every week for the next 18 weeks starting from 3 June 2016 till 30 September 2016*

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.