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During the Zoom interview, designer Sabinna Rachimova sits secluded in a corner of her small studio in East London on a stool in front of her laptop.
The slightly wavy, light brown hair falls loosely over her shoulders, her look of blazer and patterned blouse looks tidy and casual at the same time.
Behind her a large palm tree climbed into the picture, a clothes rail with her designs can be seen, which are particularly known for the use of unusual prints and high-quality knitwear.
The ambience is just as unpretentious as the designer herself. And it was precisely this pragmatic attitude that brought Sabinna Rachimova one of the coveted places on the “30 under 30” list of the German-language edition of “Forbes Magazine” in 2019, on which she was named because of her special performance "Female Entrepreneur" ranked.
Growth at all levels
Sabinna Rachimova, who emigrated from Russia to Austria as a child, started her London-based fashion label of the same name in 2015.
Fast growth is not the focus here.
That would not be compatible with their holistic demands on a sustainably managed company.
“It is important for me to grow organically.
There is always this illusion in the start-up scene that growth has to be endless.
But I have seen how that exhausts people and how companies still have to close down in the end ”, says Sabinna Rachimova.
Designer Sabinna Rachimova worked for fashion houses such as Dior and Mary Katrantzou until she founded her own label
Source: PR
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Today the designer is at the head of a small team of ten people.
Together they are looking for as yet undiscovered ways to build a fashion company of the future.
In short: The structures here are anything but rigid, and it is precisely this flexibility that equips the company, especially in times of crisis such as the current corona pandemic.
Sabinna Rachimova's professional experience with fashion giants such as the traditional house Dior and well-known labels such as Mary Katrantzou prepared her for the challenges that her own label poses to her.
“What fascinated me most about Dior was the craftsmanship.
I was able to discover the unique skills of couturiers in the Paris studios, ”says Rachimova.
During her time at Mary Katrantzou, however, she focused more on the entrepreneurial and saw how a fashion company was built from the ground up.
But the young designer was missing one thing in both companies: transparency.
"I didn't just want to present a beautiful end product, I also wanted to put the craft and the people behind it in the spotlight," reveals the 31-year-old.
"I believe that if the focus is on the people behind the collections, then sustainable structures automatically develop."
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Sabinna Rachimova retains control of every single production step, especially through local production.
She is in constant contact with her producers, be it with the London print designer Tanya Rapai, her seamstresses with factories in Streadford, a knitting factory in Portugal and a small hand knitting studio in Vienna, or her local team.
“It is important to have these points of contact in order to be able to explain the production chain to the customer,” says Rachimova.
Craftsmanship instead of mass-produced goods
With her designs, the designer places a special focus on craftsmanship.
This is not only where her years of apprenticeship at Dior come into play, but also her own roots.
As a young girl, her grandmother taught her to sew, crochet and knit.
That gave her support when she came to Austria from Russia as a child - to a country whose language she did not speak, where she was completely foreign.
Pearl jewelry to make yourself
Source: PR / NIAN CANARD
The current trend is to be interested in handicraft products instead of machine-made mass-produced goods.
“The globalized world in which we live today often overwhelms us.
There is too much choice.
The craft often has a therapeutic effect, ”is how Sabinna Rachimova explains the phenomenon.
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The pandemic and ongoing lockdown have exacerbated this need.
Sabinna Rachimova converted her workshops, in which she crocheted, knitted and made jewelry together with her customers, from an analogue to a digital offer as early as the first lockdown.
The brand's online shop offers DYI kits that can be purchased along with an instruction video.
Life sessions are also held via Zoom.
“The focus is on pearl jewelry made from flowers.
So everything that reminds us of spring and should get us in the mood for summer outside of our own four walls, ”explains the designer.
Shift to the digital
The designer is not only treading unusual paths with her popular DIY kits.
With digital presentations, she challenged the concept of the twice a year Fashion Weeks even before the pandemic.
In 2020, Sabinna Rachimova took part in the first virtual fashion show with “The Fabric of Reality”, which was launched in cooperation with the Museum of Other Realities and the Fashion Innovation Agency.
With her presentation, the designer skilfully transported craftsmanship into the digital world.
“I wanted to build a bridge between tradition and the future,” she reveals.
Rachimova is known for her unusual prints
Source: PR
For her presentation, Rachimova used old landscape embroidery from her grandmother, which was already the inspiration for one of her collections.
With VR glasses, the fashion audience could immerse themselves in this world.
"I wanted to give the viewer, who was mostly locked in their own four walls due to the lockdown, the opportunity to go outside," explains Sabinna Rachimova the concept.
A digital avatar could wander through an embroidered natural landscape, pick flowers and catch butterflies.
The virtual impressions were underlaid with Tatar children's sayings, which the native Russian had her mother say.
"So the audience became part of my family's story."
Sabinna Rachimova responded to the new requirements that the pandemic brought with it with a lot of creativity, but also with a large portion of flexibility.
The label has switched 60 percent of its trade.
The colorful patterned masks are bestseller products to this day.
The wishes of their customers are now even more in focus than they were before the crisis.
“There's no point in creating a huge collection that nobody wants to buy.
One should produce clothes that are in demand.
This is also an important step towards sustainability, ”says Sabinna Rachimova.
For example, the label has further developed its cardigans at the request of its customers.
The result: a plastic-free, handcrafted cardigan made of organic cotton with threads made of Tencel and buttons made of nut shells.
"We also asked customers about their color preferences via Instagram and included them in the design process."
Sustainability as an all-round package
Of course, for Sabinna Rachimova there is much more to it in order to be able to act really sustainably as a company.
The designer thinks beyond the product.
What happens to the textile garbage?
Which coat hangers are used?
How are transport routes reduced?
How is the team treated?
These are just a few of the questions the young entrepreneur asks herself on the way to sustainability.
“We don't have the solution to all of these questions yet.
Nevertheless, the 360 degree viewing angle is important.
We are on this journey and we want to cover more than just two aspects such as material and production, ”said Rachimova.
As a lecturer, the designer encourages her students to break new ground
Source: PR / JC Candanedo
As a lecturer at the University of the Arts in London, Sabinna Rachimova conveys these values to a future generation of designers.
For a long time she believed that she was not qualified enough for the job at the university, because of her double migration background, her young age and above all because she did not have a master's degree herself - until she realized that this was precisely where her strengths were lies.
“Above all, I want my students to go their own way.
You shouldn't try to imitate something that already exists, but rather create something that no one has ever thought of before. "
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