Brand Kanvavez: Creating a Kashmir fashion label

When 23-year-old Mehvish Tariq began discussing with her friend Saba Altaf, 24, and brother Faizan Tariq, 26, about opening a fashion label, they came to a mutual agreement that they would not open a store.

“We didn’t want to start a store with a hefty loan from the bank,” says Faizan. “It seemed a commonplace thing to do. When you have more creative platforms like Instagram at your hand, what is the need for a physical outlet?”

   

Turns out e-commerce has given birth to community-focused retail spaces where fashion can be delivered to one’s doorstep while providing you with a better and easier way to shop.

With the mere investment of Rs 1500, they made ready their first design, purchased fabric, stitched the whole piece together, and uploaded it on their Instagram handle under the brand name of ‘Kanavez’.

“I got a call from Mehvish one day and she told me about her wish to open a fashion label. We have always wanted to do business together and this seemed a good opportunity, to begin with. I was pursuing my MBA from Amity University in New Delhi at that time and as soon as I came back, we started working on our label right away,” says Faizan who is in charge of customers and logistics.

While the trio was deciding on a name for their label, the discussion turned towards canvas fabric from where they derived the name of their brand, ‘Kanavez’. Before they realised it, this brand name was already cemented in their minds.

Kanavez is a year old and delivers across India. They have sold to customers in Delhi, Rajasthan, Kochi and Bangalore.

While talking about the initiation of their brand, Mehvish who has a master’s degree in Business Administration from SSM College of Engineering and is in charge of employ management and material handling, recalls with pride and talks about how her brother has been an immense support to her all through the journey.

“When we received our initial orders we did not have any delivery boys. Faizan came forward and volunteered to do it on his own without caring about what people would think of him. Loads of criticism followed. People could not digest the fact that an MBA degree holder was delivering orders on his bike rather than working in the corporate sector and earning huge sums of money,” says Mehvish. “However, that did not deter his passion and from then on we decided to keep all the negative remarks at bay and continue with our venture.”

Seemingly quiet, Saba has a huge contribution towards the brand creation and takes care of all the designing and creative handling. In the beginning, she learned the art of stitching from YouTube and worked on the apparels that she designed herself. Saba has a master’s degree in tourism studies and is currently doing bachelors in fine arts from Kashmir University.

While complimenting her friend’s innovative outlook, Mehvish says, “Saba has done an exceptional job for our label. She has devoted a lot of time to our brand and has never even uttered a single complaint. We have a special bond and understanding.”

Kanavez deals with shawls, pherans, abayas, bridal wear, tilla work, aari work and much more. They also deal with silk and are looking forward to using it in bulk.

Right now Kanavez is giving employment to five people wherein there are three tailors and two delivery boys. They are full-time workers and receive decent salary for their work at the end of the month.

The trio has now decided to open a physical outlet where their customers will be able to get all the details about the products and designs, improving communication between them. They will also be introducing digital imaging soon.

“We want to set up an outlet which will be more of a meeting centre, an area for information. At this place, people will come to know about our products and talk to us directly. It’s a good strategy to come up with a community-minded store and we are looking forward to it,” says Faizan.

Using social media platforms for the business requires a regular internet connection and that is where continuous blockades become a huge hurdle for these budding entrepreneurs who are exploring new options and creating something unique.

“Our business faces acute problems whenever internet is shut in the valley. Everything is happening online, so it becomes impossible to continue with our work once the internet stops working,” says Saba. “Another problem that comes across in our line of business is that being women, we get frowned at when we return to our homes at late hours because that is something that the society will never be able to make peace with. We want to break these societal stereotypes and we sure will.”

Kanavez is now also going to tie up with Amazon and Myntra. Their collection is displayed on their Instagram handle Kanavez.

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