Before we start, let us do a little bit of a public service announcement to all:-
Lansi is pronounced as “LAN – SEE” and NOT “LANG – SI”. The guy in the show ‘KL Gangster’ got it real wrong and because of him, a lot of people are pronouncing it wrong. In direct translation from the Cantonese dialect, Lansi means D*ck Sh*t. Also used as a term to depict arrogance, cocky-ness or just being plain snobbish. In modern terms, Lansi is sometimes used to describe excessive confidence.
With that out of the way, lets move on to more pressing matters like our latest edition of The Borak-Borak Sessions which is with the most ‘Lansi’ guy in town, Yung Shen from The Swagger Salon. We had a chat with him about almost everything under the sun, but what we will share with you is more related to the brand and what are his thoughts on some random questions.
Taikor, boleh intro sikit?
My name is Yung Shen and I’m 26 this year and before I decided to become a “Taikor” at The Swagger Salon, I was a slave to the advertising world. Was there for 3 years. I started out the brand right after university and also at the same time I got offered a job. So I was juggling the brand and work for the past 3 years and finally, after much consideration I have decided to focus on the brand full time.
What was that light bulb moment that lead you to start the brand?
It all started with this cap. Back then, about 6-7 years, when trucker caps were still in, I bought a plain trucker cap, and drew on it. I wore it to events, I wore it to graffiti outings, I wore it everywhere, and a lot of people gave me good feedback about the cap, even though it was kinda ugly. And that was how it all started.
When I first heard about “The Swagger Salon” I thought it was a barber shop! LOL! How did you guys came up with the name?
Funny enough, nobody has ever asked me that question before. But yeah, people go to salons to get themselves styled up and to look good, so that’s why I wanted a brand name that has a word ‘Salon’ in it. I wanted the brand to be a place where people come to to get styled. The “Swagger” word just came naturally, because everyone wants to bring their swag out.
The brand can be dubbed as one of the most prominent local streetwear brand around thanks to the word “Lansi”, can you tell us about the challenges that your brand used to face last time and now?
I mean for any brand that is starting out, the challenge for them would be to stand out among the rest and to outlast your competition too. Last time it was harder to get your stuff out there, it was harder to let people know about you, but once you do get out there, the reward is great. In a way it was easier back then to stand out. But right now, with the help of technology, and also with the increase in support from the general public towards local made clothing, there has been a tremendous increase in local brands popping up. Just go to Instagram and search the hashtag “#lokalah” and you can see how many local brands there is in our current market. So in a way, now it is easier to let people know about your brand, but because there is a lot of other brands around, it is even harder to stand out now.
One major problem we had back then was actually to do with our own branding. “LANSI” isn’t really regarded as a nice term to a lot of people, so pushing your stuff on newspapers, TV or even radio is hard. But I think people’s perception have change over the years and also they have become more open. So hopefully in the near future you will start seeing more “LANSI” caps and tees on TV.
As for challenges we are facing now, it would definitely be piracy. Our stuff is being pirated like mad. I have received so many pictures from friends that spotted fake ‘Lansi’ caps in pasar malams all over Malaysia. The “best part” was a friend who spotted some fake ‘lansi’ caps over in Taiwan too and I haven’t been to Taiwan myself. Although it may seem like the brand’s revenue potential is being cheated, I guess you can see it as a compliment too because only the big brands get ripped off. But I still have mixed feelings about this.
If money doesn’t exist in this world, what would you be doing?
I will probably be still doing graffiti. Going around spraying stuff on peoples properties. Don’t really have to worry about being sued or fined because there isn’t any money to begin with.
What do you think is lacking in our local streetwear scene?
Originality. Good for you and the scene if you wanna start a brand, but at least be original. Too many brands blatantly rip-off other international brands. We at The Swagger Salon also follow closely with the trends of the international brands,but we make it a point to change it up, or add in our own take on it to make it look our own, but nowadays, people are just so lazy until they just copy and the only difference is the just the brand name.
An example of taking something which isn’t yours and making it your own would be like JunkCult’s take on the Staple Pigeon. They took something from a famous brand and added in a Malaysian twist to it. And it was tastefully done too.
Another thing lacking in our scene is unity. Our scene is still divided somehow. For example take the recent Tempatan Fest 3.0, almost all of the brands that were seen at the fest were mostly Malay owned brands. Either the non-Malay brands were not invited or they chose not to participate, I don’t know. But one things for sure, if all of us are united regardless of our race, class, or whether we are urban or ‘kampung’, our scene will be a much stronger scene.
Among all the super heroes, which super hero can you imagine wearing your brand’s stuff?
I just have this obsession with The Simpsons, so I would say Pie Man, who is actually Homer. He goes around throwing pies at the bad guy’s face. I guess it sorta mirrors me, since my tummy size is sorta similar to Homer.
Why the hot chicks?
It is pretty simple, sex sells. It really does. Some people may hate it, and a lot of people like it because of the girls in it. Partly why we did it was because I didn’t want to go around endorsing celebs or famous people, so I thought it was a good way to promote the brand. And it does sorta live up to the brands name, because we are “LANSI” after all. And also at that point of time, no one else did it, because we are in Malaysia after all. In a way it did the brand a lot of good, by getting us out there.
Now we are sorta toning down on the sexiness and not showing too much skin in our shoots because we have a bigger audience now which are from various walks of life, so it may not be appropriate to certain people.
Best quote or best advice you have ever received?
You have to be your own slave before you become your own boss. That was the motto I lived by when I was working in the advertising firm while still running The Swagger Salon. It was really tough, but it helped me pull through.
