Dude & the Duchess

Rather hard to miss, Dude & the Duchess stands out from the average retail fashion store with its tasteful interior design. Framed by windowsills on either end the large wooden door at the entrance leads into a studio apartment; with a bicycle out front on the patio of mosaic tiles, a four-poster bed, a fireplace and dining table in a singe space garnished by living room plants, Matisse-esque propped paintings with brackets of kitchen utensils and ware. An interior design as stylish, intricate and unique as such is a rare breed for a Malaysian independent retailer. Okay, we bite.

Dude & the Duchess is the brainchild housing fashion designer Richard Tsen, interior designer Ben Yong and Ben Read the graphic designer (the latter two of Delicious restaurant fame). With an excess of style testosterone, they merge to provide a label that name fittingly, meets the elegance of the renaissance and the sleekness of modernity. However their designs are only expressed in retailing tops - most of their mannequins are shamelessly half naked - due to the store's belief that most wardrobes have the fundamental bottoms, therefore Dude & the Duchess aspires to provide the public with high quality tops to go with them. The broad range of jackets, shirts and blouses tend towards a more minimalist approach in style and are priced on average between RM129 and RM399. With understated, yet stylish, classics and basics, it will be extremely hard for Dude & the Duchess to go out of style.

Text Claudia Low Photo Julian Cheong