By Nurhafizah Tan
KUALA LUMPUR: Hari Raya is just around the corner, and as much as we like to dress up for it, so do our feline companions.
For cat parent Mohammad Affan Aizat Anuar, it is important for his furry felines to look cute on this festive occasion especially for the family photography session on Raya morning.
This had inspired Mohammad Affan, 32, to create special Raya outfits for his kittens to look adorable in their family portrait when all family members pose wearing their traditional Malay clothing.
“It was five years ago when I started sewing cat attire for my beloved cat ‘si Koko’ to match the family’s colour theme for that Raya morning,” he told Bernama recently.
Since then, the mechanical engineering graduate who is also founder of Meowkushop had been stitching custom-made Malay traditional outfits for cats and the products, without compromising on safety and comfort, are now being sold online.
“To ensure that the designs and materials are comfortable on the cats, we will try them out on our pets first. We do not want them to get stressed in the outfit.
“Usually, the cats would be dressed for just a short time and the accessories are worn for up to three hours a day,” he said while referring to his fur baby models Brownies, Koko Jr, Mox and Zizi.
At present, Meowkushop has 10 Raya design outfits such as baju melayu, teluk belanga, baju melayu cekak musang, kurta, baju batik, baju kurung, kebaya and kurung kedah in various colours.
Apart from that, they also have a variety of headwear accessories such as songkok, samping pelikat, tanjak (traditional headgear) and ribbons sold from RM5 to RM65 per piece.
Meanwhile, Meowkushop co-founder Raja Nur Alya Raja Abd Aziz said the clothes are made of high-quality fabrics, namely pearl skin and songket of various colours, while the songkok are made of velvet and cotton.
She said the outfits are sewn by five experienced seamstresses under the supervision of Mohammad Affan’s mother, as the small-sized clothes with girth measurement of between 28 and 62 cm, requires meticulous sewing.
The ready-made clothes come in sizes ranging from S to XL, but cat owners can also make special requests if the sizes offered do not fit, she said.
Raja Nur Alya said this year, Meowkushop will be making 2,500 custom-made and ready-made kitty outfits adding that they have also received orders from cat enthusiasts in Brunei, Australia and Singapore. – Bernama
