Hello, my name is Aliya! I’m a speech therapist by day and womenswear designer by night and really love the two. I started my brand out of an intense need to express my creativity and deepen the relationship between identity and style. I’m very motivated to create garments that are as comfortable as they are stylish so they become a second skin as we present ourselves to the outside world. A lot of consideration goes into color across collections as I’m very interested in the impact it has on a person’s mood and well-being.
It’s important for me to represent women of color in my work, especially black women as we are often viewed outside the standard of beauty. Growing up with this constant message made it hard to see the beauty in myself, and this has become my way of speaking to others who have felt similar. There is no standard of beauty, just beauty.
The brand’s mission is to uphold ethical and sustainable practices as much as possible from working only with natural fibers to paying a living wage to small batch production to using zero waste packaging. The life of a garment is at the forefront of my design process so that my customers are encouraged to wear my clothing often and for a long time.
It’s important for me to represent women of color in my work, especially black women as we are often viewed outside the standard of beauty. Growing up with this constant message made it hard to see the beauty in myself, and this has become my way of speaking to others who have felt similar. There is no standard of beauty, just beauty.
The brand’s mission is to uphold ethical and sustainable practices as much as possible from working only with natural fibers to paying a living wage to small batch production to using zero waste packaging. The life of a garment is at the forefront of my design process so that my customers are encouraged to wear my clothing often and for a long time.
Photography by María Esme del Río