SAFW Presents: The Bazaar
South Asian Fashion Week (SAFW) is thrilled to host SAFW: The Bazaar experience. Featuring a variety of well known artisans, craftspeople, jewelers, and other sellers that are masters of their crafts, the bazaar will be the hotspot to explore up and coming South Asian brands and contribute to the small business community. From desi salwars to dazzling jhumkas, the opportunity to shop and learn about South Asian culture is endless at the Bazaar. SAFW would like to thank our partners, including our tech partner Nate, who have helped build the foundation of this amazing event. With the Nate app, you will be able to shop and share your most favorite outfits at the touch of a button.
Below are some of the vendors who will be showcasing their art at the SAFW Bazaar.
Amaya Jewelry by Apurva Agarwal, a jewelry vendor providing the ideal South Asian jewelry - Bridging the gap between fine and fashion looks.
Apurva, the founder of Amaaya Jewelry, used her family experience of 35+ years in the jewelry industry to bring Amaaya to life. Amaaya Jewelry is a South Asian owned brand on a mission to bridge the gap between fine and fashion jewelry by using quality metals such as 925 sterling silver, rhodium & 24k gold and producing everything in-house to pass any cost savings to you. All pieces are punctuated with quirks like stones and textures and are crafted by highly skilled craftsmen. They are brought to life inspired by the modernity of American lifestyle with the vibrancy of Indian culture.
Aina by Nisha Saboo, an online app to help you find your perfect outfit.
Nisha got her first taste of retail as a Buyer at Macy’s in their Men’s Active clothing division, working with innovative brands like Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour. She then went on to start her own clothing line called NS2, where she custom hand-dyed clothing and donated the proceeds to COVID efforts. From her experiences, she saw the mess of sizing and fit in the industry, and that is what inspired her to create Aina! Aina means “mirror” in Hindi, and helps clothing shoppers better understand what will fit their bodies. Using cutting-edge 3D body scanning technology, Aina is on a mission eliminate confusing size charts and rid the industry of size confusion.
Sakhya by Nandini and Priyasha, your community to buy or sell secondhand South Asian clothing.
Sakhya is a curated resale platform designed to make shopping for South Asian fashion more accessible and sustainable. Currently, ethnic fashion can be expensive, hard to find, and especially wasteful with the "wear once" culture. But Sakhya, meaning friendship and community, is reinventing the way we shop South Asian fashion. Through their trusted seller network, Sakhya sources and styles trendy, timeless, and vintage second-hand pieces that deserve a second life.
MyDecorify by Nithya, an artist bringing digital and handmade artwork and projects to your doorstep.
Nithya Gundlapalli, a South Asian female entrepreneur, content creator, and digital illustrator had a mission to create a one stop shop for all things DIY. She founded MyDecorify, a business selling both curated DIY kits for adult craft projects as well as South Asian inspired stationery. Her goal is to allow adults to unleash their creativity without running around craft stores or wasting unused materials by providing the ideas and exact amount of materials they need. She began sharing my artwork and creative process on social media alongside my DIY Kits and saw a positive response from my community. Her unique illustrations include a lot of intricate henna designs as well as detailed South Asian traditional and bridal wear. She takes these designs and silhouettes and often integrate luxury Western brands to reflect her background as an Indian American and the merging of both influences.
Navaa by Ravleen Kaur, a place to shop for the hottest South Asian designer wear.
Ravleen grew up in Delhi, India, always loving fashion. From designing her own saree blouses to hustling her way to get passes to fashion shows, she was in awe of successful and amazing designers who conceptualized and created outfits for years for her family and friends. Fast forward, she moved to Canada and wanted to help her family and friends have access to these talented designers and the same type of outfits, without the hassle of making expensive trips to India. Navaa’s vision is to offer the very best of authentic and traditional South Asian clothing with a modern twist. The designs are trendy, unique but at the same time use traditional textiles and techniques originated in India. Their mission is to give ethical and talented South Asian designers an opportunity to expand their reach and better showcase their exceptional craft and provide customers access to a wide selection of sustainable and modern South Asian clothing, with their needs always at the forefront.
Verve and Vogue by Rina Patel, a small business for unique and modern curated South Asian apparel.
Rina Patel is the woman behind Verve & Vogue. Her aspiration was to create a multi-designer boutique for women like her. From a young age, Rina has always had a love of fashion and her culture. As a consumer, however, she found it difficult and time consuming to find contemporary fashion that also honored South Asian culture. Most designers are located in India leaving many women with few options. As a result, she began designing her own pieces. Encouraged by others to expand, Rina saw an opportunity to create an online boutique that allows women to celebrate their traditional heritage while expressing themselves through modern and unique South Asian design. Verve and Vogue’s Mission is to empower the contemporary woman by providing access to modern, unique fashion that enhances her confidence, honors her culture and supports the artisanship of South Asian designers. Their brand pillars revolve around creating thoughtfully curated modern design, honoring tradition and culture, supporting artisans from all over India, providing accessibility and convenience, and emphasizing sustainability.
Fancy Florist by Muralee Mahathevan, supplying an array of floral arrangements for a broad spectrum of celebrations as well as your daily flower needs.
Fancy Florist is a leading provider of specialty and traditional flowers and garlands. Headquartered in Buffalo with a storefront in Toronto, Canada, we proudly serve clients across North America. Founded by an engineer in Chennai, India more than 20 years ago, our business is built upon a tradition of supplying fragrant, high-quality flowers and garlands for temple ceremonies and weddings. Today, we specialize in festive arrangements for a broad spectrum of celebrations as well as your daily flower needs. From carnations and mums to jasmine imported directly from India, Fancy Florist prides itself on offering a diverse array of customized flower arrangements, always delivered fresh. CEO Muralee Mahathevan and his family run Fancy Florist together with a network of dedicated floral specialists and partners across North America.
So grab your friends and join us for a day of vibes with your favorite local South Asian artists and DJ’s, and a live painting demonstration by Hafsa Khan! It’s an event you definitely don’t want to miss.
For more fashion takes, check out other articles in our blog.