Who (and what) is HIND?
We are HIND (yes, even the tiny human!).
Here we are on our way to a holiday lunch in December 2020, after the onset of Covid-19. This was the first time Khaled had been to his sister's house since 2019. The irritatingly so "effortlessy-cool" dressed one in the middle - hogging the shot - is Tasneem (she is both a blessing and a curse to Khaled, who by the way, in no way, had anything to do with this About Us page). The tiny human will always be the tiny human.
Khaled (think "Khan" from Star Trek when saying his name) and Tas (or Taz like the Tasmanian Devil that is her spirit animal, creating chaos in Khaled's outback), worked for over a decade in the retail industry, even when they didn't really love the brands or values behind what they cashed a paycheck for.
Eventually life moved on, and Khaled was able to work for non-profits, and Tasneem left corporate life while their family grew, but we knew there was a side of fashion that just wasn't getting the recognition it deserved.
With times being so turbulent, some might question why we decided to open up an online multi-brand boutique at the start of a global pandemic. To be completely frank, we were too far along to quit what had been years in the making.
HIND began out of a love for craftsmanship, something that doesn't really come from the high-street, and definitely not something you find in fast fashion. Clothing that is handmade, versatile, long lasting and can be used in different settings and weathers, is the antithesis of what you find in malls and most high-streets, as they can often run against the need to make sure the customer buys on a monthly, if not weekly, basis. Alternatively, the global mega-labels weren't focused on quality that lasts, or craftsmanship, but really just growth off their brand-name and fulfilling the "ego" that comes with the hand-over of the branded shopping bag and wearing the latest collection.
None of this made us feel right, especially when looking at the state of our closet.
Why couldn't a dress work in the Spring, and then be layered to work in the Fall? What was wrong with having something that transitioned from the office to the after-hours cafe? Did shoes need to have faux-leather, or fabrics need to have essentially a plastic base? The answer was no, and we'd known this for years, working within fashion for some of those same high-street brands, fast-fashion brands, and luxury mega-global labels that filled our closets.
We began with a selection of fashion labels working out of India that we felt not only embodied these ideals, but also deserved to be shared with the world. From this base, we were able to quickly partner up with labels and craftsmen everywhere that use natural materials, hand-work and sustainably-sourced or ethically-made materials, and even to open up to categories beyond clothing.
Why do we do this? So that we can tell the tiny human we do something we love, with people we respect (and love), so that he knows that even the small ones can make a difference. #realclothesmadebyrealhands