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Founder Talks: Nabilah Islam of One Puram

Aug 15, 2023

At LOOQAL, we are committed to championing brands that make a difference to the people, planet, and heritage. We believe that behind each purposeful brand is a conscious entrepreneur with a story. In our series, Founder Talks, we get up-close and personal with the founders of your beloved LOOQAL brands to discover what drives them on their journey.

In this episode, our Founder, Joyce, catches up with Nabilah Islam of One Puram, a womenswear brand that designs wardrobe staples from prints and statement pieces using 100% TENCEL™ fabric that you can wear to the beach or in the city.

Nabilah shares why they chose to work with TENCEL™ fabric instead of linen and tells us more about how bold prints can still take up space in a capsule closet.

Read along or watch the full video on YouTube.

Joyce: You know, it has been, I think, about two years, two years plus, from the time we first spoke and I introduced LOOQAL to you. So maybe you can share with us what's the inspiration behind One Puram.

Nabilah: One Puram really came about at a time when I knew I wanted to do something in fashion. I think it was just the combination of having a great opportunity to move to Indonesia. I'm a dentist by career, so I couldn't work as a dentist in Indonesia. With the lockdowns during COVID, it meant that I could spend 100% of my time pursuing something in fashion.

It wasn't until I started delving into having a business in fashion and what kind of footprint I would make on the world by doing this that it really came about that I needed to think about the materials, the fibre, sustainability, ethics of fashion. That's when it hit me – all of the landfill sites that are full of fast fashion that gets chucked away, and I didn't want to add to the problem.

It was very clear from early on, it had to be sustainable, and I wanted to create something that was at the forefront, it was stylish clothing. Maybe if you didn't even know it was sustainable, you would just be attracted to it because of the colours or the cuts. My main driving factor is definitely the creative, and I think the whole sustainability aspect is just a non-negotiable. It has to be that way, but I can create ethical art.

That's how One Puram was born because the meaning of it is really like “one community” and “one village”. I always wanted something that was using communities to produce, but also to give back to the community in some way.

J: Do you have any background in designing? Anything fashion-related before this?

N: I actually don't. I'm really happy, like, very passionate about dentistry. But then at some point, I do realise looking back, I had a little bit of a creative side to me, but I never nurtured it. I just feel life is so short that why not try to nurture something?

I don't have any formal fashion training, but I don't think you need it. I honestly feel an artist is just an artist because they just feel it. For me, a lot of what happened with One Puram so far has just been learning on the job, and I think that's okay.

J: I can definitely draw parallels between what your entrepreneurial journey is in mind, because basically I study economics, but I landed in marketing. That's where I had the opportunity to work with very good brands, learn to build brand equity. Basically, I don't even have a background in running an e-commerce business, but you're right. Time is short, and we should really carve something out for ourselves.

N: I feel too many people are scared to pursue something out of fear. I'd rather try and fail than never have tried at all. It's the journey, and it's fun. Who knows where it's going to lead to, or what's going to happen in 10, 20 years. But I feel, for now, I'm just enjoying the learning aspect.

J: Maybe you'd like to share with us a little bit about the creative and the production?

N: The first collection was inspired by Bali. I was living in Bali for about one and a half years during COVID, and this collection was an idea that I probably had early on when I was also in Bali, where I just loved the Balinese parasols and looking at the underside of a parasol when you're like, playing in the sun. I always just thought the colours were so pretty. So the name, Para-Sol, is a play on obviously this parasol, but also para el sol, like the Spanish for the sun. I thought this collection should be bright, and summery. But I mean, the story behind why it's so bright is really because I went through quite a tough time between collections.

I had a tough pregnancy. My baby wasn't so well after I gave birth. I was not feeling like myself for the longest time. I had delayed postpartum, baby blues. It was a lot that I hadn't really dealt with emotionally. I think as a person, I just put up this barrier that, okay, I'm fine, but three, four months postpartum, it suddenly hit me. It got to a stage where I finally felt like I could be normal. I was feeling a little bit more like myself. I got back into exercising. That's when I thought, okay, I feel like I can be creative again.

The collection is really about overcoming adversity and just embracing every season of life. I went through a tough time, but now I have a beautiful son. He's 14 months old, happy, and healthy, and it just showed me that there's always light at the end of the tunnel. It's such a personal collection. I think I'll always look at this and I'll remember not the bad times so much, but the coming through, the difficulties.

J: I’m having the feels! I shared with you that I love the vibrancy of the colours. I love the print. But personally, I love the fabric. It's so comfy. I know you are using Tencel, which is a sustainable fabric. So maybe you want to tell us a little bit about why Tencel?

N: I went into the research of what can I get hold of within Indonesia. I wanted to lower the carbon footprint as well, but also aspects like water consumption, were important, and just knowing the process. The great thing about Tencel is that because it's biodegradable, it can just dissolve into the Earth within about 16 weeks or so. That was a great aspect to know that whatever happens, I don't feel like I'm adding to the waste. I know we don't need any more virgin cloth, but I still felt for me it was the best decision to go with Tencel.

J: With this conversation, I just came to realise that we are so aligned in terms of what we want to do, what we want to achieve with our business, and also basically in terms of our values and all. I'm so happy.

N: I felt that the first time we spoke and I felt that connection. Even then I was like, Yeah, we're on the same wavelength. We're on the same page.

J: Thank you so much, Nabilah, dear!

Discover One Puram’s bold and vibrant Para-Sol collection at LOOQAL.!

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Founder Talks: Nabilah Islam of One Puram

Aug 15, 2023

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