1. Let’s begin with introducing yourself and your background?

My name is Zubaida Faiza. I grew up in Chittagong and attended primary and secondary school at CGS. We moved to Dhaka late 2011 after I graduated high school where I completed my bachelors from North South University. Around 2016 I moved to Malaysia to complete my masters in International Business from Monash University. I started designing as a profession in 2017 about a year after I got married. Alhamdulillah we just crossed our 3 year mark and are parents to a remarkable baby boy. It’s been an incredible journey so far. Alhamdulillah. 

2. What does a typical day of yours look like? 

My life is all about multitasking and micromanaging, considering I’m the mother of a 3 year old. My career as a fashion designer is basically just as old as my son is. Being married, with a toddler and living in a joint family entails many responsibilities. These responsibilities can’t be relegated no matter what my occupation is and I’ve always believed in having a healthy work-life balance. 

Therefore, I spend a big chunk of my day with my family. After finishing up breakfast and lunch, I set out to work. I visit my factory first where I see the progress of my craftsmen’s tasks.  We develop new designs and experiment with potential ideas that I’ve cooked up for the day. I also visit my showroom after to ensure everything is running smoothly, usually on alternate days.  My husband and I both try to finish all our work by 6 pm so that we can spend the rest of the day with our family. We believe in not bringing work back home. This requires a lot of consistency and commitment which we try our best to maintain everyday.

3. Could you tell us more about your academics? Any willingness to study your passionate topics in the near future?

I have always been a very studious student and passionate about my studies. I initially completed my masters with the hope of pursuing a career as a lecturer. However, having become a mother at a young age made it a little difficult to even consider a career that required a fixed number of office hours. The commitment of having a 9-5 job while also maintaining my familial responsibilities seemed impossible. I still hope to someday pursue this career in the near future when my life is hopefully more stable. In sha Allah. Before starting my masters, I had completed a professional course in supply chain management under ISCEA and interned at Nestle Bangladesh’s supply chain management department. During this time, I was also freelancing as a graphic designer and making content for well known organisations. I self learned photoshop and illustrator from youtube and that’s when I discovered my creative calling and my love for design and fashion.

4. As we know you have been quite active in extracurricular activities during your university tenure. Also, you have won a few business competitions. Could you share your experiences regarding that?

Well, I think I learned more participating in competitions than in my 4 years of university combined. University lectures taught us how businesses work theoretically. However,  participating in competitions allowed us to understand the inner workings of big organizations and research real world problems. Working in a team and brainstorming ideas and potential solutions really fueled my flair for creative thinking. It taught me to work efficiently under intense pressure and time constraints, to multitask and think on my feet and the ability to grasp the finer details that go into a successful business. These experiences really helped shape me not just as a student but as an individual.  

5. How did Zubaida Faiza Clothing start and what inspired you to work in the fashion industry? What do you love about being a fashion designer?

My mother used to run her own boutique in Chittagong. Watching her love for fashion from a young age really inspired me. Due to our Pakistani roots we 

travelled to Pakistan quite often during my teens. I always believed that Pakistan was very ahead of its time when it comes to fashion. Thanks to our regular visits, my mother was always very up to date with changing trends in fashion and alway had the most beautiful collections at her boutique . My sister and I never had to worry about what to wear to events. My mom always had us covered in that department. However when we moved to Dhaka, my mother decided  to not continue her career in fashion. 

Around six years later in 2017 when I was pregnant with my son, like most women I gained a substantial amount of weight. It really affected how I viewed myself. It was an emotional time for me as I battled depression stemming from lack of self esteem. Fashion really helped me get through this period of my life as I immersed myself in making something that I believed instantly picks up a woman’s self confidence. 

My taste in fashion was always heavily inspired by Pakistani designers even when Indian designs were extremely popular in Bangladesh. This is what made my designs different from a majority of designers in Bangladesh who were more influenced by Indian artists. Thanks to the great response I always received from my inner circle, I was inspired to start my own clothing line. Someone important once said, when you’re good at doing something, don’t do it for free. 

Alhamdulillah, after our very first collection launched, orders started pouring in much more than we were prepared for. We moved to our new factory and slowly began scaling up. Soon enough Alhamdulillah We launched our first store and moved to a bigger factory. Like most other entrepreneurs during this pandemic we too faced a road bump but Alhamdulillah with time we managed to pick back up and move forward and are gearing up for 2021.

6. Could you tell us about your career journey and what motivated you to choose this aspiring profession?

I have always been interested in design, be it fashion or graphic design. I believe that a good closet is integral for every girl in every profession. It is my belief that dressing well really gives you confidence in whatever work you’re doing and motivates you. This is what inspired me to get into this industry. 

My favourite part of my profession is the brainstorming and planning process. Coming up with designs and putting it down on paper, researching about the fabric, materials, cuts and creases, right before I finalize a design or concept and share it with my craftsmen.

7. What is fashion for you?

Fashion is something you’re comfortable and confident in. It is something you feel beautiful in. It has little to do with trends in my opinion. 

8. You are a mother and an entrepreneur too. How do you balance work and family?

It’s a lot about setting boundaries and not bringing work back home. Something we cannot do  right now, since we are all mostly working from home. I at least try to limit my time. I try not to engage in anything business related after 6pm. There’s a lot of things we working moms have to juggle and It requires a lot of planning, setting clear priorities, time management and a lot of commitment.

9. How do you plan on growing your business? 

For now, we are moving into the bridal industry and are currently working on  really heavy bridal designs. The workmanship Required for such designs require completely different allocated resources. Minimum of three craftsmen work on just one bridal outfit for 3 months straight, for 9 hours everyday. The collection we are working on is our biggest. We are also about to launch our sister concern “Nazaqat” which includes premium bridal potlis and belts perfect for every occasion. This is a project we have been tirelessly working on since the beginning of covid and we are excited to finally be ready to launch.

10. How do you see yourself change in the coming year? 

Time is something I will never again take for granted. This pandemic has taught us how unpredictable life is. I have always been a person who plans a lot but when it comes to implementation I’m always waiting for the last minute. This is something I would like to change about myself this coming year and be more proactive .