Member Article

Leeds fashion entrepreneurs generate profit in their first quarter with homegrown startup

Two Leeds entrepreneurs have found success with their bespoke fashion startup, Emelia Bass, which is already making a profit after setting up in August 2013.

26 year old Kawther Mokhlif, who studied Fashion & Clothing at the Leeds College of Art, and 23 year old Noor Albazie who studied Architecture at Leeds Metropolitan University, have kept costs down by operating from a home studio to with sufficient space for all the machinery and equipment, however they are looking to expand the business to a more prominent location in the near future.

All their materials are sourced from fabric retailers and wholesalers in West Yorkshire and are aiming to create a tailoring service targeting professionals that work in the city, offering both call out and call in services, develop their own fashion line, and are in negotiation with an agent for a unit in the centre of Leeds.

Kawther said: “Whilst in University education I developed a strong interest in the technical side of fashion, and was fascinated by the manufacture of clothing.

“I began sewing clothes for myself and friends; the demand for bespoke clothing gradually grew through word of mouth.

“In 2009 upon graduation I began working with local dressmakers to develop my skills, and I kept my own bespoke service on going.

Noor said: “I studied interior architecture at the Leeds Metropolitan University, however I based a lot of my University projects on fashion so I did extensive research into the fashion industry.

“Growing up in a family which worked in property development and working for the family business extended my knowledge and experience into the architecture world, whilst giving me a good insight into the business industry.

The pair said: “The fashion manufacture industry in Yorkshire once flourished, it is unfortunate that many factories have closed down and moved overseas. However over the past couple of years we have seen a lot of companies bringing manufacture back to Britain.

“A lot of fashion businesses especially boutiques are now opening up in Yorkshire, thanks to the internet you can now set up business from any part of the world and sell to a wide audience.”

“We take pride in our work and so a satisfied customer is our main objective. Without satisfied customers we would struggle to sustain our reputation and although we do market our brand we believe that word of mouth is key to our success.

“Getting customers to trust our brand has been a key challenge. Sourcing our materials was a struggle to begin with as we wanted to find quality materials at reasonable prices. London and international fabricators were our first point of contact however we were soon able to source quality materials in the West Yorkshire region.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .