FAHEEM MOSHARRAF, CEO OF RISE, FASHION ENTHUSIAST AND STREETWEAR AFICIONADO, TALKS ABOUT HIS BRAND, ITS COLLECTIONS, AND ITS REPRESENTATION.
RISE
How did RISE come to be?
Since my high school years, I’ve liked streetwear. I’m very particular about it. I’m very passionate about it. As a kid, I used to make my own clothes; never as a designer, but because I liked to create my own style. Sometimes I’d make clothes and sell them to other kids. They liked it, they bought it, and it was a way to make money. Years later, when I came to Bangladesh, I thought to myself, “Why not start my own brand? I’m passionate about fashion and streetwear, so why not open a brand and bring some proper streetwear to the Bangladeshi market?” And that’s how RISE came to be.
What was the inspiration behind the name ‘RISE’?
At a point in my life, I was going through a tough period and the only way for me to get out of it was to rise to the occasion. The word ‘rise’ has always stuck with me because it’s such a powerful word. When I was starting my own brand, I figured it needed a powerful name that can represent something. RISE represents someone elevating themselves. We are here to do that through fashion. RISE is a way for people to rise through their clothing.
What has been some of the challenges that you’ve faced since you’ve started RISE and the streetwear trend?
Whenever you bring something new and different, there are going to be people who are unaccepting. That has been a challenge. But I think, over time, people will begin to accept new types of fashion. When I was in high school, I was deep into hip hop culture, wearing jerseys, hats and baggy clothes. It was completely different from what people were used to, and they just didn’t understand that trend But since then people have become more accepting.
What is the creative process behind designing your collections and the form of expression they convey?
My process is based on what I like. It’s very personal. I don’t look at what’s on the runway, or what most people are wearing. Every piece in our collection, especially the streetwear, has to be something that I like. The creative process occurs in collaboration with my team of designers. I provide a concept and give directions on how it should be done, and the designers evolve it further.
What is streetwear to you?
To me, streetwear can be anything and everything. Today, streetwear has evolved into something completely different. The pioneer of streetwear is hip-hop, and from there it expanded to skateboard culture, punk culture, goth culture, and in the end, everything combined and became the current streetwear trend. Fashion comes from music, in my opinion. Now all the genres have been mixed and combined, and so has fashion. Streetwear back in the days was baggy pants, baggy t-shirt, big clothes. But now, streetwear can be tight pants and oversized t-shirts. It’s a combination of a lot of styles together.
What advice do you have for up-and-coming fashion designers?
The truth is that I’m not a fashion designer. I’m just a fashion enthusiast who loves clothing and has some ideas. But to the up-and-comers, I’ll say, Keep doing what you’re doing. If you have unique ideas, work on them, and represent yourself. Don’t look at what others are doing and replicate that. Do what you do, work at it, and you’ll get somewhere eventually.
What can we expect to see from RISE in the future?
You can expect to see that same thing we’ve been doing for the past few years, which is, drop new collections that you can’t find anywhere else. So far, it’s been good, and people have adopted, accepted, and respected everything we’ve done. For example, we launched baseball jerseys which has never been done before in Bangladesh. The jersey has ‘Bangla’ written on one side and ‘Desh’ on the other. This year we did American football jerseys. I just loved the way people praised it! That’s what gives me the push to keep doing what we do.