Kashmir’s new age women – Mufti Sadia is leading for rebuilding her business from the edifice of broken dreams.
When Mufti Sadia lost her ‘investment of love’, her designer outlet to the 2014 floods, she found herself at the crossroads. But once the flood fury subsided, she decided to rise above the sense of loss to rebuild her lost world.
Moving away from her flood-torn outlet in Lal Chowk, Sadia opened her new outlet in Sara City centre mall in Srinagar. She toiled hard as she wanted to achieve a notch higher than what she had lost. Eventually the hard work paid off.
At 24, she’s counted as a well-known fashion designer in town, who sells her own designs under the brand name, Hangers the closet.
Her closet contains long gowns, Pakistani suits, dresses, Pherans and many other designer outfits. Her unique designs have been sold worldwide.
This winters, Sadia shipped and sold over 500 Pherans worldwide. She tries to add different detail to each Pheran, the outfit which is Kashmir’s traditional winter dress.
“I started with a low-budget, with a motive to make my venture different from the existing ones in Kashmir,” she says. “Today when I’ve already created my own identity in the market, some people are copying my designs. I’m happy that people get inspired by my work.”
Before starting her brand, Sadia had worked in the Human Resource Department of a few private companies. But she would always dream of becoming an independent businesswoman one day.
“I always wanted to do something out of the box,” she says, “so I decided to start my own enterprise.” At first, she faced stiff opposition from her own father, “but with time, he was happy to see me doing good.”
Kashmir is full of talent, she says, but lack of proper guidance often results in a confidence crisis.
“Being successful means exercising the free will in a very positive and progressive manner,” she says.
