THE ‘90s inspired hair accessory is making a comeback! Cloth-made scrunchies were a big trend some thirty years ago, but eventually lost their shine and were even regarded as outdated, especially during the millennial years.
Back in 2003, on the fashion forward TV series Sex and the City, character Carrie Bradshaw (played by actress Sarah Jessica Parker) made a remark about women wearing out-of-fashion scrunchies in New York City in one of the episodes.
Fast forward to 2021, and sisters Jayme Teoh, 23, and Jessie Teoh, 28, owners of The Scrunch Bar MY (@thescrunchbar.my on Instagram), would beg to differ as they believe the accessory is still very much a fashionable item, and a perfect hair accessory for all occasions.
Jayme feels that everything vintage or retro has been making a comeback lately, so why shouldn’t the much-loved scrunchies?
After graduating from New York University in 2020, Jayme noticed scrunchies gaining in popularity among women in the city. In fact, US First Lady Jill Biden’s light pink scrunchies, which she wore in February this year, became a piece of national news.
“I feel like I see more people reverting back to ‘90s fashion and this is pretty clear on social media. It was most obvious while I was studying in New York, where a lot of my friends started wearing scrunchies again,” said Jayme, who is pursuing a joint Masters in International Affairs at Peking University and the London School of Economics online.
The sisters started The Scrunch Bar MY during the MCO in June 2021 as a fun part-time project to revive the trend with colourful batik materials, creating custom-made and ready-to-wear collections.
At the time the sisters were looking to try something new, especially Jessie, who is also the founder and principal instructor at Pure Pilates KL.
“I was on my gap year and my sister had to shut her studio during the lockdown, so we decided to start a small side business. Since I had taken sewing lessons in 2020 and purchased a sewing machine, we thought we could make something simple like the scrunchies,” said Jayme.
The brand sells scrunchies for RM6 per piece and RM15 for a set of three, and delivers the products with sustainable packaging. Its inventory expanded to include headbands, which were launched in November.
We recently caught up with Jayme and Jessie to talk about their favourite accessory.
