Co-owner, Silkandy
Co-owner, Silkandy
Despite the fact that you have been working as a fashion designer for quite some time, Silkandy was founded in early 2020. What motivated you to start your designer brand?
Designing has always been a passion of mine. The feeling I get when I see my imagination come to life is pure excitement! I love drawing, crafting and designing all sorts of things, and I have always enjoyed the process of getting my own dresses made using different fabrics and combinations. Over the years, my taste has mellowed down and I eventually realized that my favourite outfits are most often the ones that are comfy to wear when I’m lounging, but also beautiful enough so I can look my best when I go out. Moreover, now that the market is filled with imported clothing, I haven’t seen much embroidery work around lately. As a result, I wanted to incorporate traditional hand-embroidery to my designs and create a simple yet gorgeous deshi party-wear label that will stand out.
The finally the push for starting this business was the desire to do something together with Mitu Haque, my partner. Before the inception of Silkandy, both of us were doing our own thing, but soon we found that our tastes were similar and that we got along really well. As such, we began working on Silkandy together and it just feels so rewarding.
Silkandy brings a unique blend of subtlety and sophistication to its clothes. Where do you look for creative inspiration?
My partner, Mitu Haque works mainly with cotton designs while I focus on the party-wear. My inspiration behind the party-wear line is traditional deshi dresses, and the cotton collection is designed to look trendy and feel comfortable. I always keep a keen eye out for pretty colour combinations, patterns and motifs when I’m out, or watching movies or surfing the web.
How do you walk the line between being unique and having commercial appeal?
Generally, we stick to our favourite colour palette and try to incorporate new designs from time to time. That said, we also think it’s very crucial to pay attention to what our customers may like to wear. While we think each brand should have their own theme and personality, taste differs among different customers. We try our best to find the right balance when designing so that we can produce the best outfits for everyone.
Silkandy has been able to thrive despite an ongoing pandemic. How has this been possible?
The pandemic started soon after Silkandy was created and honestly, it made things quite difficult. Sourcing materials became a hassle and the production process slowed down due to the restrictions. However, as Silkandy is an online store, we actually did quite well, probably because that online stores have gotten more popular during this pandemic. While running our store wasn’t easy, our customers seemed to really like our designs and our sales were great.
How do you envision the future of this brand? Can we expect to see it go beyond our border to the international market?
Our vision for Silkandy is to continue to create unique outfits for more and more people to wear. We want to create designs people love and feel happy in. The world is so much different than it was. In the past, establishing a brand’s presence in a new country required having to set up an office space and invest lots of time and money. However, now it’s possible to reach an audience much more easily. We already deliver internationally to customers who request for it on our Facebook livestreams and inbox. We are thinking of joining other platforms to make Silkandy more accessible for our international customers.