MOB Journal — Editorial

The Last Gentleman of Summer by Rian Aru

A contemporary menswear story unfolding within the character-rich walls of a historic setting. Clean silhouettes, subtle gestures, and natural light come together to create an editorial that feels both modern and timeless.

A Conversation with Fashion Designer: Rian Aru

1 - Batik carries centuries of meaning in Southeast Asia, and you sourced these textiles specifically in Malaysia. What drew you to this particular indigo print, and what does putting it on a necktie, trouser cuff, and loafer rather than a sarong let you say about where the craft sits today?

Batik is such a special craft within southeast Asian culture. I was specifically drawn to the geometric pattern of this particular batik fabric because of the fact it was had painted it meant each individual geometric design is as unique as the next. Keeping the heritage of batik within the younger cultures is important to me and allowing this craft to show its versatility within these modern method of style such as the tailored trouser and loafer allows for a new generation and broader audience to be introduced to it and hopefully allowing this beautiful craft to stay and grow.

2 - We're struck by how restrained the tailoring is here. The shirts are crisp, the trousers are clean, and then the batik does all the talking. Was that contrast intentional from the start, or did the silhouettes get quieter as the prints got louder?

The idea was always to have the batik pop and be the standout eye candy within the piece. The simple silhouette of the trouser garments allows for the batik to truly be the centerpiece.

3 - There's a real risk when traditional textiles meet Western menswear that the result reads as costume. Looking at this series, where did you feel that line was thinnest, and how did you decide a piece had landed on the right side of it?

As a half Malay man who grew up going to Malaysia multiple times a year I want nothing more than to have the culture of Malaysia appreciated among the whole world. As mixed Irish and Malay man I wanted to combine the two of my own cultures together in these pieces. I never felt as though there was a thin line as it was made with appreciation and effort regarding discovering both sides of my own heritage.

4 - The location does a lot of work in these frames, all that dark carved wood and shuttered light against the indigo. How much of the heritage you wanted to express lived in the garments versus the setting you chose to shoot them in?

I specifically chose with my photographer Eric Jude a location that would speak Malaysian heritage when looking at it. And that’s when we decided on Rumah penghulu Abu seman. A location that truly matches the culture I want to bring out in my pieces.

5 - You're designing and modelling this story yourself. We'd love to know what that double role changed about the collection. Did wearing the pieces teach you anything about them you wouldn't have caught from behind the camera?

I wanted to model these pieces as it’s the ethos of my brand that I create pieces that I myself want to wear. Allowing myself to breathe in the clothes I made gives me a greater appreciation for every second of work that went into making them. I hope everyone will enjoy the clothes as much as I do.

6 - Working with batik means working with artisans and a supply chain that predates the fashion calendar. What do you want that relationship to look like as the brand grows, and how do you protect the makers while still building something contemporary?

I feel so honoured to be able to bring the culture of batik into my brand. I wanted nothing more than this beautiful craft to flourish and gain even more deserved recognition. The artisans carry such talent and preserving this is one my brands main goal.

7 - Collaboration often sparks fresh creativity. Can you share how working with the photographer for this specific Mob Journal cover feature led to an unexpected or exciting visual outcome for your garments?

Working with Eric was a breath of fresh air. Being able to connect with any creative within the field is a privilege especially when the specific connection breads such a fantastic result. Seeing the results after the work feels like a reward in itself.

8 - As you look at the future of menswear, what are the ultimate goals or milestones you want to achieve with your brand and your cultural storytelling in the coming years?

My goal for my brand is to proceed just being a clothing a brand and become a true cultural hub for everything creative. Not only preserving my heritage within my clothes but also working towards my own charity and art projects but also spotlighting local artisans and artists and giving them a platform and voice.

There is a particular kind of stillness that precedes a gesture, the held breath before a man adjusts his tie, the moment a gaze drifts toward something just beyond the frame. Eric Jude finds that stillness repeatedly throughout *The Last Gentleman of Summer*, a series that moves between interior shadow and equatorial light with the quiet confidence of someone who knows exactly what he wants to say. Shot against the carved teak and shuttered corridors of Rumah Penghulu Abu Seman, a preserved Malay heritage house in Kuala Lumpur, the frames carry the weight of a structure that has outlasted every passing trend and invites the clothes to do the same. The setting was not incidental. It was, by designer Rian Aru's own account, chosen because it speaks Malaysian heritage without translation required.

Aru, who is of Irish and Malay descent, brings to this collection something that cannot be manufactured by a design team operating at a comfortable distance from their source material: personal stake. The indigo batik fabric at the center of every look was sourced in Malaysia and hand-painted, which means that each geometric motif is singular, each square slightly its own. Aru places this textile not where tradition would expect it, wrapped at the waist or folded as a prayer cloth, but on a necktie lying against a crisp white poplin shirt, along the hem of a clean-lined trouser, across the foot of a black leather loafer. The restraint of the surrounding garments is total and deliberate. The silhouettes recede so that the batik can step forward, and it does, with a kind of authority that belongs entirely to the craft and the hands that made it. There is no costume reading here, no cultural pastiche. There is, instead, the work of a man reconciling two inheritances into a single, composed point of view.

Jude's photography meets that point of view with an aesthetic sensibility equally committed to precision over decoration. Natural light arrives like a collaborator rather than a given, carving the model's profile against blackened wood, pooling at the collar, dropping away before it reaches the floor. The model, Aru himself, wears the clothes with the ease of someone who built them around his own body, and that ease reads in every frame, whether his eyes are closed in an interior moment or his gaze is fixed on something offscreen with the studied calm of a man who has decided something. Across both models shown, the collection demonstrates that contemporary menswear can hold heritage not as reference but as material fact. Aru has stated that his ambition extends beyond garments toward a cultural platform, one that spotlights artisans and provides them reach. *The Last Gentleman of Summer* is not merely a portfolio of clothes. It is a declaration of where that work begins.