Eight brands started by south Asians that are selling good and doing good
Finding yourself spending countless hours trawling websites for things to buy whilst stuck in lockdown? You’re not alone. And there’s nothing wrong with it. Self care and treating yourself are important now more than ever and any purchases you make are helping to keep companies, small or big, high street or online, afloat.
It’s wonderful then that there are a number of small businesses owned by enterprising south Asians which sell fantastic products and do good either by making the products sustainably or by putting some of their profits towards worthwhile causes. Below are eight such brands.
So have a scroll and treat yourself all the while making a difference in the world. Do good, feel good, look good.
From Zarif Instagram
Zarif
Zarif is a slow fashion and conscious clothing brand that aims to revive and share the rich cultural heritage of Afghanistan through traditional textile weaving and design. Created by Zolaykha Sherzad, a native Afghan, architect, designer and artist, the brand features long, warm wool coats with beautiful designs and embroidery and hand embroidered t-shirts in collaboration with American brand TSE.
The word Zarif means precious in the Afghani language Dari and the company aims to preserve ancient artistic skills like hand embroidery, weaving and intricate detailing by producing the clothes in Kabul, employing local artisans and thereby providing them economic opportunity, sourcing traditional materials and textiles and using natural dyes.
In addition, its founder Zolaykha, who became a political refugee in Switzerland after leaving Afghanistan at the age of 10, has created the non-profit School of Hope which sponsors education in Afghanistan.
From Samara Instagram
Samara
Samara is a luxury, vegan leather bag company created by Salima Visram. She started the company after finding she couldn’t find a bag that was cruelty free, simple, and elegant. Today, the brands sells totes, weekend bags, shoulder bags, crossbody bags, laptop and iPad sleeves, jewellery boxes and pouches, fanny packs, backpacks and wallets.
The company takes pride in creating bags that are eco-friendly too so one of their goals is to develop and use more sustainable materials. To this end, they do not use typical vegan leather which is made of PVC, a plastic that is terribly damaging to the environment but instead use water based PU and Microfiber which are less toxic. They hope one today to replace this with plant based leathers like apple leather.
In addition, a portion of the company’s profits go towards supporting The Soular Backpack, another of Salima’s ideas. The initiative provides children in East Africa with a backpack fitted with a solar panel that charges a light inside the bag as children walk to school everyday, so that in the evenings they can do their homework without using Kerosene lamps. The initiative also employs women in Kenya.
From Gundi Studios Instagram
Gundi Studios
Gundi Studios is a slow fashion and progressive media brand that was started by Natasha Sumant, an art director and multidisciplinary designer. The company sells plush velvet sweatshirts, structured shift dresses, svelte bomber jackets and a casual, comfortable matching t-shirt and trouser set. All of the clothing is embroidered with the word Gundi using the traditional art form of zardozi.
The company say they use the Hindi word Gundi, which means female thug or gangsta but which is used colloquially to describe a woman who misbehaves, to try to reclaim it and represent assertive and independent south Asian women. A self described feminist brand, they say they are committed to building a women-centred supply chain.
To achieve this, they have partnered with Craftizen, a nonprofit which upskills low-income women in India, many of whom who were taken out of school to marry young, to create their clothing with flexible hours and a consistent income. Because of this, their clothing is produced in small batches.
From Muskaan Makeup Instagram
Muskaan
Muskaan is a high quality, eco-friendly, vegan, halal, cruelty-free and alcohol and gluten-free makeup brand! Created by Sabeen Zia, the brand’s name is inspired by her Pakistani roots and means smile in Urdu. The company stocks five different shades of highly-pigmented, matte, moisturising, lightweight and easy-to-apply lipsticks with fun names like ‘Burkini Beach Day’. The formula for the lipsticks is created with only organic and natural ingredients.
The company is committed to sending part of their proceeds to a rotating lineup of local and global charity partners and there are always at least two at any point in time, so when making a purchase you can pick which of the current charities you want a portion of your money to go to. And when the charities change, they company says they will email you to let you know how much money was raised for each charity in total.
Currently, Muskaan works with the charities Thaakat and AcuteAir and Aitheras Aviation. In particular, Muskaan have chosen to work with the Thaakat project; Little Promises in which the charity aims to improve Sierra Leone’s high maternal and infant mortality rates by providing free and quality access to healthcare. AcuteAir's and Aitheras Aviation Hurricane Relief conduct search and rescue operations and provide medical teams to places hit by hurricanes.
From Cuyana Instagram
Cuyana
Cuyana is a sustainable clothing brand that aims to create elegant, classic, long-lasting and timeless products that can stay in your cupboard for years to come and be worn multiple times over, so you can buy fewer but better quality garments. In this way they hope to help to reduce the amount of clothing that is thrown into landfills each year. The brand sells bags, wallets, tops, bodysuits, jumpers, coats, dresses, jumpsuits, skirts, trousers, pyjama sets, belts, scarves and hats.
Co-created by Shilpa Shah, an interactive designer, the company pledges to be as sustainable as possible from start to finish. Their production is done by small family-run businesses which have been audited for social compliance like labour laws, which have a low carbon footprint by being close to the needed resources and so both local economies and heritage production techniques are supported. After the product has been bought, the company offer a two-year warranty and the facility to have your piece repaired.
The brand has also created a scheme called the Lean Closet through which old Cuyana products can be kept out of landfills through donation and resale. By partnering with H.E.A.R.T (Helping Ease Abuse Related Trauma), customers of Cuyana can donate their old Cuyana products directly to women healing from abusive situations. Alternatively, you can send your clothes to thredUP, an online secondhand shop and receive a 15% credit at Cuyana. And when you use your credit, 5% of the profits will go to H.E.A.R.T.
From Zohra Rahman Instagram
Zohra Rahman
Zohra Rahman is an ethical jewellery brand created by its namesake Zohra Rahman, a Pakistan based designer. The company creates earrings, rings, necklaces, bracelets and accessories like broaches and hair clips. The designs are highly unique - like jellyfish jumkhas and there are two clever and creative collections - like the memo + unsent letters collection that has paperclip earrings and torn paper bracelets!
The brands makes its jewellery by working with local artisans through apprenticeship schemes in which Zohra trains them individually herself, further spreading specialised skills to the local community, in Pakistan. The artisans are taught traditional silversmith techniques and then allowed to experiment and create novel designs and pieces themselves.
From start to finish, every product is made by hand and produced at the workshop; from melting the metal through to reforming it and polishing it. Today, jewellery from the brand has featured in a number of editorials in fashion magazines from around the world.
From Abhati Suisse Instagram
Abhati Suisse
Abhati Suisse is a vegan, cruelty-free, sustainable and fair-trade hair and skincare brand. The brand uses botanicals from the Swiss Alps, known for their therapeutic benefits, organic plants and resources from the Himalayas and the ancient Indian science of Ayurveda to produce shampoo, conditioner, hair oil, body lotion, body cleanser, hand wash, face oil, lip balm, face oil, face cream and a candle.
Created by Anju Rupal, the brand derives its name from the language Sanskrit, in which Abhati means shine. The company works to help the people and the environment from which their products come so they support education and reforestation projects in these local areas as well as try to minimise waste and use sustainable elements in their marketing.
In particular, the brand makes efforts to support initiatives for the education of women in rural India, for example, by making it possible for them to attend school, where none existed before. Some of their profit also goes to support local farms and woodland initiatives like weforest.org which has been instrumental in planting over 15 million trees so far.
From Rahemur Rahman Instagram
Rahemur Rahman
Rahemur Rahman is a sustainable and fair-trade male clothing brand started by British Bangladeshi designer Rahemur Rahman. The brand sells men’s trousers, shorts, shirts, jackets and suits. The most recent collection, the Spring/Summer 2020 collection is beautiful and unique and features traditional patterns as well as laser-cut top-trouser co-ords.
Rahemur uses traditional and ethically produced textiles and the traditional technique of natural dye from Bangladesh to create his designs. He works with the artisans from the Bangladeshi fair trade organisation Aranya to develop the collection. He also collaborates with the World Fair Trade Organisation and is a member of the World Crafts Council.
Currently the designer is encouraging customers to donate to a Go Fund Me page, raising money for the Hijra Community in Bangladesh which has been badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Hijra is an umbrella term used to describe intersex people, castrated men and transgender women.