KUALA LUMPUR: Voir may sound like French, but the fashion brand is very much Malaysian.

Established in the Klang Valley almost three decades ago, the homegrown Voir Group is run by Malaysians and employs local designers.

The group, which today owns 17 brands and sub-labels, was set up in 1970s as a family-owned business.

Voir has grown leaps and bounds into a multi-brand fashion wear, casual apparel and lifestyle enterprise, covering women's fashion, casual and career wear, shoes and accessories, men's fashion and casual apparel, as well as children's wear.

"Voir was chosen because the name has international appeal. From the beginning when the brand was established, we wanted to make it an international brand," Voir managing director Ham Hon Kit told the New Straits Times.

After establishing a strong presence in Malaysia, the company expanded abroad about four years ago.

Currently, Voir is present in seven countries, namely Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Mauritius and Reunion Island, one of France's overseas regions.

Voir's overseas footprint is growing as the company continues to receive enquiries from abroad despite the sombre global economic situation.

Locally, Voir is a market leader in women's apparel.

According to a study conducted two years ago, Voir was the leader among the top 10 brands in ladies' apparel. It controlled about one-third of the market share of the 10 players.

In 2006, ladies' apparel accounted for one-third of Malaysia's total apparel market of RM3.26 billion. As a market leader, Voir captured about seven per cent share of the RM1.1 billion ladies' apparel market in that year.

Ham said over the years, many fashion wear brands had flooded the local retail market, yet Voir's business kept on growing. This indicates the strength of this homegrown brand.

Voir attributed its strength to a wide variety of products catering for mainstream as well as niche market, extensive distribution network, experienced management and design team, competitive cost structure because of economies of scale and strong brand equity.

The company does not own any factory as it outsources all its garments, accessories and shoes to buying houses, which in turn engage factories to manufacture Voir products.

These factories are under strict quality control and delivery time.

"We strongly believe in outsourcing business. If we want our brand to succeed, we should focus on branding and marketing," said Ham.

Voir Group was listed on the second board of Bursa Malaysia in 2007 before being transferred to the main board a year later.

The group's own products such as Voir, Applemints, SODA, South China Sea, G&H and NOIR, together with two licensed international brands Diadora and Chiemsee, are available through its network of multi-brand concept stores (Voir Gallery), mono-brand specialty stores as well as specialty counters at all major department stores.

The latest addition to the brand is the food and beverage outlet called Gardens Lifestyle Store and Cafe. -NST