KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 -- For nearly four decades, BIBA has been a familiar name in India's fashion scene - growing to hundreds of stores nationwide with its premium ethnic wear, flowing kurtas and contemporary Indian silhouettes, catering largely to Indian women.

One year after opening its first store in Malaysia, BIBA is finding a different audience among Malaysian shoppers: Malay and Chinese customers looking for pieces to wear to the office or on weekend outings, rather than solely for Indian weddings or Deepavali open houses.

It is a small but telling shift - colours and silhouettes once associated largely with festive wardrobes are finding their way into everyday rotation, worn by women who simply like how the pieces look and feel, ...