SINGAPORE – His talent on the pitch is proven, but national skipper Shahril Ishak is capable of creating magic off it too.

Fashion design magic, that is.

Three weeks ago, the 33-year-old held a fashion runway show to display the new Hari Raya collection of inloveXtns (inlove by TNS), a clothing brand jointly managed with his wife, Nur Hidayah.

Staged at their showroom at Primz Bizhub in Woodlands, it was attended around 90 guests, comprising family, friends and fashion bloggers.

While it was the couple’s maiden experience hosting a runway show, it went smoothly and had the support of 26 sponsors.

“Many of those we invited were pleasantly surprised that we could pull it off,” Shahril told TODAY.

Hidayah, 29, recalled how they explored the idea after being surprised by the “overwhelming response” to last year’s Raya collection, when a men’s series was included for the first time since inloveXtns’ launch in late 2014.

Adding that six months of planning went into the show, she smiled, “It was a proud moment for us.”

Their sense of achievement was heightened by the fact that neither possessed experience in fashion or business prior to establishing the brand.

The business began in 2013 as a streetwear label called The Number Seventeen – a reference to Shahril’s jersey number and TNS for short. He was inspired after coming across such apparel in Indonesia, where he played from 2010 to 2011.

“There were these shops in many districts, so I mingled around and got to know the owners,” said the attacking midfielder, who turned out for Indonesian clubs Persib Bandung and Medan Chiefs.

Hidayah added: “They do all the printing themselves, so we had the chance to see (how it was done) and from there, Shahril had this interest of designing the clothes and getting their help to print them.”

All TNS apparel are designed by Shahril, who experimented with various software on his iPad and referenced YouTube videos.

When asked whether design was his hidden talent, Hidayah chuckled and interjected: “I think yes la, got hidden talent!”

Lions team-mate Baihakki Khaizan, who was present at the runway show, recalled how Shahril was always on his iPad when they roomed together on national team duty. “So now I know what the scribbling, drawing and designing apps were for,” he posted on Instagram.

“No wonder you kept quiet most of the time and focused on that iPad!”

EXPANSION

TNS was a home-based business that took orders online and also set up booths at flea markets and outside football stadiums on S.League match-days.

The idea of adding a ladies’ line was suggestd by Hidayah and resulted in inloveXtns being established, which sold sequin skirts that she designed.

“I said that if we were going to have a (physical) shop, maybe we should have a ladies’ collection also, so that’s when the idea started in 2014,” said Hidayah, who had been a housewife up until then.

As the business took off, they used their house as a temporary showroom. But the couple decided to take the plunge to establish a permanent one to display their collections.

Woodlands was chosen as the location would be more convenient for Shahril, then playing for Malaysian second-tier side Johor Darul Ta’ziim II, to make the daily commute across the Causeway.

“It was a big risk, of course,” Shahril recalled. “We had to learn (from scratch) how to manage a shop, handle the staff, do our own marketing, bring in the stock – everything.”

“We are not risk-takers, so to open a showroom in less than two years…was a very big step,” Hidayah said.

“The motivation from our families and customers’ response pushed us to do so… If not, I think we’d be forever home-based and online.”

Around S$100,000 was invested in setting up the showroom, which opened in early 2016. Currently, three staff – two full-time, one part-time – are employed to help the couple, who remain very hands-on and still design every piece that goes on sale.

A new design is conceptualised around every three months and it takes close to five months for a piece to go from sketch to finished product.

Shahril came up with a new range of kurtas - a type of loose shirt - for the Raya collection, while the range of colours for Hidayah’s skirts has expanded from two to 34.

With an annual “five-figure” turnover, business is doing well enough for the couple to consider opening a second branch next year in a more central location. Other future expansion plans include setting up a website that offers international shipping, spurred by customer enquiries from as far as Australia.

“We want our brand to move to the international market,” said Shahril, citing Malaysia and Brunei as targets.

They are also looking to take up business and fashion-related courses to improve their knowledge and run the brand better.

“We still have a lot of things to learn if we want to grow bigger,” Shahril pointed out.

LEGACY

A typical day for Shahril starts with sending his five-year-old daughter, Mysha Aludra, to school before heading to the showroom to get it open for the day. Hidayah then takes over before he leaves for training at S.League club Warriors FC, whom he joined at the start of the year. He returns to help out after training and the couple also operates it on weekends.

The three-time AFF Suzuki Cup winner and Singapore’s second-most capped international admits it is “tough” splitting time between football, business and family, but draws motivation from his wife and daughter, as well as customers’ compliments.

“I think this (place) serves as a playground for my daughter,” he chuckled. “She studies here, and also plays with other customers’ kids!”

The second level of the showroom, where this interview takes place, serves as a small office and also has a small space where the couple’s relatives like to gather on weekends.

Mysha, who was playing with some of her cousins, bounds over and squeezes herself in between her parents. Hidayah laughed: “During the runway, she was one of our models. She’s into fashion also and wants to be my designer when she grows up.”

Some of the other runway models included five players from S.League side Garena Young Lions, and they now hope to stage an annual Raya show.

The involvement of his younger peers is also Shahril’s way of showing that business is a feasible post-football career. While he has not set a date for retirement, the business was partly set up with a view to that future and he hopes to be a role model.

He is not alone in such planning and other prominent examples include Baihakki, who runs a spa business with his wife, and ex-S.League player Jeremy Chiang, who owns food and beverage company Churros Factory.

“You have to make your own goals and plans,” he said. “I want to be an inspiration; if people like Bai, Jeremy and me can do it, why not others?”

*inloveXtns is located at Primz Bizhub, 21 Woodlands Close, #01-15. Visit https://www.facebook.com/pg/inlovebytns or https://www.instagram.com/inlovebytns/ for more information.