From brands offering artisanal and ethical products to those who are merging influences and cultures of the east with the west, Bangladesh is proving to be a fertile ground for creativity to unfold.
Long regarded as the manufacturing hub for the world, the country has been cementing its own fashion dominance in an effort to marry the high levels of quality and craftsmanship the country is known for with the distinct needs and demands of its customers.
In our latest feature, we shine the spotlight on five notable brands fuelling the fashion and home segment in Bangladesh.
Read on to discover!
AARONG
Aarong – Bengali for ‘village fair’ – is one of Bangladesh’s most popular lifestyle retail chains.
Incepted in 1978 as a humble means to empower rural artisans to rise above poverty, the brand has expanded to 26 retail stores across Bangladesh and over 100 fashion and lifestyle product lines today.
Aarong supports 65,000 artisans with fair terms of trade. Revolutionising the retail industry with high standards of quality and artistry, the brand blends the traditional with the contemporary to appeal to a wide cohort of consumers both in the domestic market as well as abroad.
From silk and cotton fabrics to brass and leather merchandise and clay pots to diamond jewellery, Aarong’s vast range of innovative products, backed by a robust supply chain and distribution network, makes the brand a household n
Hailing from various parts of Bangladesh, 30,000 of these skilled craftspeople work through the Ayesha Abed Foundation (AAF) and its network of 15 production centres and over 700 hand embroidery sub-centres spread across Bangladesh. The rest of the 35,000 artisans work in independent workshops and traditional family-based artisan groups and produce for Aarong.
The brand is further classified into five sub-brands that cater to specific segments namely AARONG, TAAGA, TAAGA MAN, HER STORY and AARONG EARTH.
FREELAND
Freeland was founded with an effort to inject a fresh and new sense of design and style for Bangladesh’s younger generation. Setting the benchmark for youth fashion with expressions of freedom, joy and passion coupled with the innovative design ideas, use of colours and quality of elements, Freeland has established itself as an emblem of youthful passion that resonates with the very spirit of Bangladeshi young generation that are making positive changes everywhere.
The brand offers clothing for both men and women and includes product categories such as shirts, T-shirts, jeans, joggers, kurtis, dresses, jackets, hoodies, sweatshirts, blazers, suits, shorts footwear, etc.
Unlike most other fashion start-ups today, Freeland underscores the importance and value of quality over anything else. It is because of this that Freeland does not feature thousands of new designs every month despite the huge popularity it enjoys among its fashion-conscious client base. Freeland can proudly claim that the products it makes can be compared to any leading global fashion brand in terms of design and quality.
As the leading fashion retailer for serving the younger niche of the market, Freeland provides unmatched quality that is blended with a superior sense of contemporary aesthetics.
KAY KRAFT
Kay Kraft crafts and reinvents products for fashion-conscious people who are young at heart and cherish traditions and heritage.
Essentially a lifestyle brand and fashion design house, the brand manufactures and retails fashion apparel, fashion accessories, home textiles, handicrafts and handloom-based products of Bangladesh having strong social commitments.
What initially targeted the young generation of Dhaka city, has, within a short span of time, become popular among the upper middle-class young professionals and students of Bangladesh.
Merging traditional handloom skills, artisan resources with Kay Kraft’s own innovative design and presentation, has contributed greatly towards the brand becoming one of the leading brands in the fashion and lifestyle sector of Bangladesh today.
Kay Kraft consists of about 8000 contractual workers, small entrepreneurs and more than 400 permanent employees.
All major weaving regions feature high on the priority list for the company, in terms of fabrics including cotton, khadi, endy, silk and other variants. These fabrics have been patterned with both trendy and traditional techniques and then ornamented with eeri, zardosi, sequin-work, cut-work, applique, embroidery, knot stitch, kantha stitch, satin stitch, tie ‘n’ dye, block print and screen print, keeping the present flow in mind.
DORJIBARI
Prominent, innovative and progressive, Bangladesh-based Dorjibari is reinventing a wholly modern approach to fashion by redefining luxury for the 21st century.
Founded in 2003, the brand has, within a short span of time, transformed as a top textile major with 44 showrooms all across Bangladesh with plans underway to open outlets in every single district of the country.
Known for its commitment to quality and attention to detail, the brand is always trying to create eclectic and contemporary products.
What started out as a menswear-focused brand, is considering expansion into the women’s fashion segment in an effort to keep up with customer satisfaction.
The brand endeavours to nurture quality and leadership by forging on the path not taken and utilising only the finest fabrics within their collections to meet the evolving demands of the youth and teenagers of the country.
Vertically and horizontally integrated, Dorjibari aims to provide its customers with a total textile solution by offering a fusion between eastern and western cultures and setting a new trend amongst teenagers.
One of the largest players in fabric, designerwear, formal/executive shirts, casual shirts, D-polos, T-shirts, panjabis, fothua, koti, coat-blazer-suit, jackets, denim/ formal/ gabardine pants, trousers and men’s accessories in national markets, the brand’s manufacturing plants leverage on cutting-edge technology that holds to the highest quality parameters while also being environment-friendly.
SAILOR
Sailor is an eminent lifestyle brand in the retail fashion industry of Bangladesh with the purpose of ‘sailing life’. As a fashion brand, Sailor is renowned for its unique style and variety of collections of fashion apparel and accessories for all age groups.
The target consumer of the brand is someone who believes themselves to stand out with their unique fashion sense and style statement.
Sailor celebrates all festivals and seasons with an extraordinary collection of products that are designed in-house boasting of one of the largest design teams to deliver a fabulous new fashion every season.
From menswear to womenswear to kidswear, newborn babywear to footwear and even home and gift products, Sailor offers an extensive range of product assortments for everyone, all under one roof.
