- Hauteside takes women back to their roots
By Venessa Anthony
Hauteside Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mahdiya Farook was always driven by passion. Her dream of starting a label that was meant to help women feel the most comfortable in their own skin came to life with the launch of this label.
The Morning Brunch caught up with Farook on her label, design process, and more.
Here’s what she had to say.
How would you describe your style?
I have an eclectic personality, regardless of whether my preference is in fashion or interiors. I love bright colours and a mix of patterns and prints. I find nude colours and whites very boring; I believe a splash of colour provides attitude and personality. My world is full of colours and symmetries.
I worked for the aviation industry in Qatar and felt something was missing in my soul. It didn’t take me long to realise it was my passion for art and fashion.
I am a very creative person and my profession started as a fashion merchandiser in Hong Kong. I always found excitement in pitching new designs and found working on new concepts and ideas to be more meaningful. My husband is an artist too, and we both appreciate the finer things in life. Whether it’s food, our home or the style of clothing, it does not necessarily need to be pricey, but everything has to be pretty and colourful.
How did you develop an interest in blogging and fashion?
I was always interested in fashion and the history of fashion. I would walk past designer stores in Hong Kong after work and daydream about owning them. When I visited the purchasing office of a popular brand in New York for the first time, I was amazed at how the fashion designers curated artistic pieces; it was then that I decided that one day I too will make my own brand.
My blog however is just three years old. I started just when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, as I was super bored working from home. I started my YouTube channel making motivational videos and then started my Instagram to connect with people and started posting random stories. This caught some brands’ attention and they started sending me packages for review.
It was an exciting phase to get recognised, but now I am careful about which brands I work with. I want my blog to be purposeful and strategic, so I refrain from working with all brands and choose to collaborate with only those that I love or am commercially aligned with.
Tell us about your brand Hauteside and what inspired it.
It is a collection of high-end, haute-couture, ready-to-wear pieces that are 100% handmade by women. I wanted to create sustainable clothing which women can be proud to wear. It was a dream my best friend and I shared, to create statement pieces that we love for other women like us.
Saman, my partner, is a fashionista as well, and she has a unique dressing sense; she runs an amazing fashion blog. Her sense of fashion coupled with my background in business management was a successful cocktail for the startup. We wanted to create modest wear that was inclusive and that all women can wear, despite their sizes and ethnicities. Despite the range, our clothing will have some connection to our ethnic roots. We want women to be proud to wear clothes of their culture.
We started with formals, but hope to incorporate basics and workwear as well in the future.
Tell us more about the Lashakary collection. Where did you draw inspiration from when creating this festival collection?
We wanted to create festive wear with a modern twist. “Lashakary” means soldiers. This collection is drawn from both our personalities. This collection is for the rebel in you – women who want to break norms and not stick to stereotypes; women who like to explore colours and wear what they want to.
In the fast fashion world, women also tend not to wear the same pieces repeatedly. The special part about sustainability is that you should use your clothes for a longer period, hence our Lashakary collection is a capsule collection which can be mixed and matched. The pants can be worn with another blouse or tops can be worn with simpler pants.
How do you want women to feel when wearing your clothes?
Confident and powerful. All women are beautiful – that is what we believe in, so our clothes should empower women to feel regal.
What’s next for Hauteside?
Expect to see many fusion designs, we are hoping to launch in four different destinations slowly but steadily by the second quarter of 2023. We are currently focused on educating people to wear handmade sustainable fashion instead of generating sales.
