By Yumna Bodiat
Edited by Imaan Moosa
We spoke with 24-year-old founder Nasrin Dhorat Darsot on her entrepreneurial journey creating her online clothing brand, WILDROSE.
Desperately needing a way to fund her travels, the founder of South African clothing brand WILDROSE began her collection via Instagram.
Nasrin Dhorat Darsot created WILDROSE in 2017 to pay her own way for an overseas trip. She started by selling Eid gifts during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. Having made enough money to cover her flights and accommodation expenses, she still fell short of spending costs.
To rectify her situation, Nasrin's mother, Noorjehan Dhorat, who is an established entrepreneur herself with a children’s clothing brand Comfy Kids, suggested the 24-year-old create a clothing line for all shapes, sizes, and ages.
Excited by a solution to her problem, she chose to launch WILDROSE.
WILDROSE is named after its founder, whose Arabic name ‘Nasrin’ translates to ‘wild rose’.
The collection does not specifically cater to modest wear. However, Dhorat incorporates modest items for women who require longer-fitting blouses.
The first item she created was “a longer length button-down shirt, the ‘OH-SHIRT’”.
This [the OH-SHIRT] range took off unexpectedly well and that’s when I realised that this game is for me.
Dhorat comes from a family of entrepreneurs. Beside Noorjehan, her sister-in-law Adila Dhorat owns an abaya (thobe) and modest wear range called Lil Jewels. As the next woman in line in her family, she was ready to jump on the 'entrepreneur' bandwagon.
WILDROSE was inspired by photographs Dhorat saw on Pinterest. Her collections are minimal, which mimics the style of her own fashion sense.
When I fit on the samples, if I can’t see myself wearing it I don’t add it to my collection. I think that this is the fun part of having your own brand, it can be truly you in every aspect.
She describes the design process as “fun”. “I find ideas of items I love and then create a collection of items that will fit into the same range.”
I find fabrics suitable for the different designs and have samples made. Once the samples are made and perfected, I take pictures and advertise them,” she says.
Dhorat says her favorite step in the design process is advertising because she is able to be "punny" with naming her collections. Once the advertising step is complete, she gathers customer responses and orders the clothing items.
Despite the fun Dhorat has had in creating her brand, she has faced some challenges.
She told To EmpowHER that not being able to sew herself, she has to wait on a seamstress to sew her clothing items which can be frustrating when there are delays. However, she says her customers are very understanding.
In terms of expanding her brand, Dhorat has multiple ideas. While some pieces take time to make, keep an eye out for those that are already in the works. "Baby steps! But we’re getting there!" she says.
If you are interested in checking out Nasrin Dhorat Darsot’s clothing line WILDROSE, you can head to @wildrose.nino on Instagram.
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