Kelantan Batik in Modern Fashion: From Sarong to Office Shirt, Kaftan and Abaya

A generation ago, most Kelantan batik was sold as the sarong, a length of cloth wrapped around the waist and worn at home, to the market or to prayer. Today the same cloth is cut into office shirts, kaftans, jubah (long robes) and abayas. The technique has not changed: wax, the canting pen, copper blocks and dye. What has changed is the cut of the garment and how people buy it. This article follows that shift through the range of D'Rose Batik, a batik shop at Bazar Buluh Kubu in Kota Bharu, open since 2001.

Fabric by length: clothes cut to your own body

The first step away from the sarong was fabric sold by length for a tailor to make up. Many buyers of Kelantan batik still shop this way because they choose the cut and the fit themselves.

D'Rose sells two lengths:

• 2.5 metres, a shirt length. Enough for one man's shirt. Available in hand-drawn cotton satin, block-printed cotton satin, and crepe silk.
• 4 metres, a suit length. The usual length for a baju kurung, the Malay woman's long tunic worn over a matching skirt. Available in cotton, crepe, crepe stone and satin silk. The shop's premium label, Madamme Rose Million Dots, also comes as a 4 metre satin silk length.

Offering hand-drawn (batik tulis) and block-printed (batik cap) versions of the same fabric gives buyers two price points. The shop's current range is roughly RM 35 to RM 120 for batik cap and RM 150 to RM 800 for batik tulis.

The batik shirt goes to the office

The biggest change has been in menswear. A long-sleeved batik shirt is accepted as formal dress at many functions in Malaysia, and civil servants are encouraged to wear batik on Thursdays. For many men the batik shirt is now weekly work wear rather than something kept for weddings.

The D'Rose shirt range shows how a batik shop has adapted:

• Long-sleeved cotton shirts in nine sizes, SS to 5XL.
• Short-sleeved cotton shirts in eight sizes, XS to 4XL.
• Crepe silk shirts in abstract geometric patterns, a long way from the traditional flower motif.
• Kemeja Crepe Exclusive, solid-colour shirts in red, mustard, blue and purple with batik panels and a batik collar. Here batik is the accent, not the whole garment.

Note that the two sleeve lengths do not share a size range: long sleeves go up to 5XL, short sleeves start at XS. If you are at either end of the scale, check the sleeve you want before buying.

Kaftan and jubah: large motifs on loose cuts

Kelantan batik motifs tend to be large, with flowers and leaves set against open background. Loose cuts such as the kaftan and the jubah give wide, unbroken panels of cloth, so the pattern shows in full instead of being chopped up by seams.

D'Rose sells kaftans in two fabrics, crepe and cotton, and a maxi-length jubah. Cotton absorbs sweat; crepe is smoother and hangs more softly. For women who prefer a traditional cut, the shop also sells a modern baju kurung in crepe and brings out a Raya collection every year for Hari Raya, the festival at the end of Ramadan.

Abaya and modest wear

The abaya comes from Middle Eastern dress and is usually made in plain, dark cloth. Made in batik, it keeps its long, loose cut but carries Kelantan motifs and colour.

The D'Rose Abaya Albira line has six named designs: Ashella, Asheera, Alma, Alya, Alfira and Alana. In the same section the shop sells telekung, the two-piece prayer garment worn by Muslim women, and cooling inner layers.

What stays the same

The cut has changed; the way D'Rose makes its patterns has not. The workshop draws its own rose motifs, and five of them, including Ros Kembang Bertiga and Ros Tiga Serangkai, are registered for copyright with MyIPO, Malaysia's intellectual property office. The shop also keeps one rule, "one design, one owner": a pattern is drawn once and sold once. For washing the finished clothes, D'Rose sells its own batik wash in two sizes.

How to see or order

Everything above can be seen at the shop, Lots 1-39 and 1-40, first floor, Bazar Buluh Kubu, Saturday to Thursday, 10:30 am to 6:00 pm. To ask about sizes or stock, send a WhatsApp message to +60 12-679 7137, or browse the batik catalogue for the latest designs.