At a private event in the Empire Hotel and Country Club, Brunei, the excitement was obvious amongst the groups of fashionistas, social media influencers and mainly ‘dUCkies’ who were eager, and perhaps anxious to get their hands on this new collection.
Her Royal Highness Princess Sarah, wife of Brunei's Crown Prince, is an idol to a lot of women here.
With the collaboration and dUCk’s large fan base in this country, it is only logical that the launch was held in Brunei.
The event which was opened to the public in the evening, saw some 3,000 people who pre-registered to attend it, without knowing the price and colours of scarves. This only proves the brand’s strong presence in this country.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
Founder of dUCk Group, Vivy Yusof said, it all started at a Fashion Valet pop-up store in Brunei for Hari Raya last year, when Princess Sarah came over, and started to talk about the idea of collaborating.
“I was pleasantly surprised at how involved she was in the project. I thought I would only speak to her people and just get a ‘yes’ and ‘no’ from her.
“But I got the privilege to speak to her directly, and she tells where she wants the flower placement, the colours that she likes, and the kind of story she wants to build behind the duck theme,” Vivy said.
The aspiration for this new collection is dedicated to a celebration of the women today - independent, feminine, classy, elegant, active and dedicated team-player, ever ready to give support to their family and peers.
In her speech, Princess Sarah said The Royal dUCk is special because it celebrates and stands for the defining characteristics of what makes every woman truly special.
“Many wondered what had given rise to this unexpected collaboration. At the risk of underwhelming everyone, it honestly was just one woman to another, being able to make a connection.
"Each being able to relate to one another, being inspired and wanting to build more on each other’s perspective and see where it would take us,” said Her Royal Highness.
UNEXPECTED COLLABORATION
For many, including The dUCk Group, and especially Vivy herself, she could not help being impressed and inspired by Princess Sarah who chooses to drive herself around town and sends her children to school despite having tight security around her.
“That became something I want to remember about her. As a Princess, she is independent enough, driving on her own and going where she wants to go.
"Of course she had an entourage with her but I’ve never seen that, a woman of her position, driving herself everywhere, picking up the kids, sending them to activities, coming to her own royal events - she drove,” Vivy said.
Vivy admits that this collaboration might come as a surprise to many people because it was really unlike her, as Princess Sarah is usually very private and humble.
"So, I’m very privileged and dUCk, just so honored, that she opened up a bit of her life to share with others, through dUCk.”
THE COLLECTION
The collection pf scarves was designed to celebrate the attributes of a woman, represented by five distinct elements, namely a wheel, the grids from a sports racquet, diamonds, flowers and bees.
“From the start, she said, this scarf has got to be about women. It needs to have Hydrangeas in it. She wants it to be floral and to look feminine.
“So we proposed to her, the flower, the bee, the diamond and the wheel. The wheel became the centre of the scarf and it worked out perfectly because it is round and covers the whole square,” Vivy said.
The collection consist of scarves priced at RM600 each, accompanied by scarf bags at RM190 each, available in four attractive shades of Red, Pink, Ash Blue and Peach. However, pre-order ended late Wednesday.
To maintain exclusivity, the dUCk Group decided to cap the number of production of The Royal dUCk scarves, especially it being a royal collaboration.
The collection has marked a major milestone for dUCk, not only because of the collaboration but because it holds a special meaning for women.
