KUALA LUMPUR — Fashion designers seek inspiration from almost anything and everything.

For Malaysian designer Azzim Aziz, this includes the pocong, a ghost wrapped in Muslim burial cloth that is a mainstay of the Malay horror genre.

The designer’s Hari Raya 2018 bawal pocong, a hijab with a twist (quite literally) on top of its wearer’s head, was launched early this month.

Combining the scarf’s design with horror-inspired make-up, the resemblance is simply uncanny, perfect for those wanting to scare off pesky relatives.

Interestingly, Mr Azzim’s ghostly inspiration has gone viral in Indonesia and was even featured on news sites such as Detik.com, IDN Times, Wolipop and many more.

While some loved the bold trend, the unlikely combination of a religious holiday and a supernatural entity did not sit well with others.

“Not even dead and you want to be a pocong. Looks like a walking corpse, nothing to be proud of,” commented @suribeautyspa on Instagram.

“What a scary looking headscarf,” added @deerazuber.

Mr Azzim said he did not intend for the scarf’s styling to resemble the pocong.

“We decided to tie the ends of the bawal scarf as a topknot to try something different but after the photoshoot only did we see the resemblance and decided to call it Bawal Pocong,” he told Malay Mail.

The Baling-based designer said his scarves, priced at RM40 (S$13.48) each, were selling like hot cakes after they went viral and he could not be happier.

“Within days of going viral all 500 pieces of the seven colours available were sold out. We are now waiting for new stock to arrive,” he added. MALAY MAIL ONLINE