One Step At A Time: Hatta Dolmat: More Than A Celebrity

His story

Born as Muhammad Hatta bin Dolmat in December, 1982, he has always shown interest in Art. Encouraged by parents, he was sent to participate in different Art competitions. He believed that participating in these competitions had made him competitive and always made him to evaluate himself.

Another earlier interest was towards hospitality management. He was working in a hotel after SPM so he knew the in and out of hotel management. Hence, he never intended to further his studies as he has fixed his aim to work in the Hotel and Management industry. However, in order to fulfill his parent's wishes, he accepted an entrance in UiTM and that too in FSSR (Fakulti Seni Lukis dan Seni Reka).

Soon his interest steered towards Fashion and there he graduated as a best student in his final year. As a student, he was inspired to create a collection for Nasha Aziz, whom he mentioned as a lady of class. He specifically mentioned Laila Isabella, a movie Nasha starred. However, instead of Nasha, he was awarded with the opportunity to design for Erra Fazira. That, he took as a blessing in disguise.

Celebrity

His design was worn by our beloved Dato Siti Nurhaliza, Yuna and Christina Aguilera. He designs bridal wear as well as street wear. His brands are Hatta Him and he has a collection of hijabs for the Muslim women.

He is currently in discussion with Tabung Haji to develop attire for Malaysian pilgrims.

He is also doing research on a possible line of Muslimah collection.

Advice

This event at Setiabudi Primary was mainly to educate teachers and parents on styling and communication. These two aspects are very important when it comes to teachers who deals with parents and students on a daily basis.

Hatta points out that we should dress comfortably. If we are uncomfortable in a certain material or trend, it doesn't serve a purpose. It all boils down to who we want to be. He adds that trend can be a guide and just that. He urges us to refer to different role models if we want to dress differently. On that note, he mentioned Vivy Yusof several times.

He also emphasized that as a teacher, dressing up is equally important as teaching the subject. The students are often observing what we wear. We might attract them closer to our subjects just by portraying our best self in classrooms.

Styling

He advices the female not to go over the top by dressing out of context. He reminds that if she dresses in plain colour, her hijab can be in plain but contrasting colours. Else, she could opt to have printed scarves.

He also encourage men and women to experiment with colours. He reminds that Indians and African wear strong vivid colours yet they look very good in their attire.

I think he is encouraging us to find our taste by figuring out what looks good on us.

Communication

He admits that as a shy individual he has opened up and learnt to accept opportunities to speak in public. It must take him a lot of courage to do that. Just thinking of speaking in public gives me the shivers. He adds that with these opportunities he get to meet a lot of interesting individuals.

Hatta reminds us to leave a good impression everytime we meet someone. He adds that we might never meet the same person twice so it is better to leave with a pleasant experience rather than a negative one.

Inspiration

Hatta said that there was no particular method or way of getting inspiration. He did imply that inspiration comes when he least expected it, especially when he was about to doze off. He did mentioned in particular that nature directly inspired his collection of bettle design on hijab and sweatshirt.

End Note

To wrap it up, Hatta advised us to be cautious with the current economic situation. He smilingly mentioned that when we are under pressure, that is when we think creatively.

He suggests that we opt for a mix and match approach in choosing our attire. Instead of just sticking to the same set of baju kurung, day in and out, and buy a new one out of boredom, he suggests that we try out different combination of tops and skirts.