Two years ago, the Covid-19 pandemic forced fashion designer, Bruno George Sadiwa to close his promising business in contemporary and traditional fashion design and retreat to his home in Kionsom, Inanam, Sabah.
However, recently, due his extraordinary skills, he was chosen to design an exclusive bedazzled ‘sigah’ (traditional Kadazan Dusun headgear) for the winner of Mr Kaamatan (Sabah’s cultural male pageant) this year.
For Bruno, 33, his passion for designing costumes was merely to fuel his love for creativity and the slowdown brought by the pandemic had him turn his home into his ‘atelier’.
Little did he expect, his creations of traditionally inspired costumes had become a hit. But Bruno admitted that was how it all began for him in the fashion industry.
From humble beginnings, Bruno’s hand-made designs have since won various competition awards making him a well-known young contemporary fashion designer in Sabah.
This includes the winner of the Creative Traditional Fashion Design Competition during the Borneo Arts Festival in Labuan in 2015, and the Best National Costume for Miss Crocker Range 2019 in Keningau, Sabah.
His designs also recently won him the Best Evening Gown of Miss Cultural Ambassador 2022 and the Best National Costume of Mister Cultural Ambassador 2022.
“I realised that when you know the basics of art, you can expand it anywhere. I’m glad that I followed my passion,” said Bruno who actively promotes his business on social media.
According to reports in the New Straits Times, the cost for his contemporary designs varies from RM280 to RM680 while for original traditional costumes, it is priced between RM500 and RM1,000.
Bruno who is also one of Sabah’s favourite traditional costume makers said respecting the original craft is important to progressing it.
“Keeping the tradition alive with an added flair of creativity is at the very heart of what I do,” he said enthusiastically.
