DOMAKAYA
Karima Riachy, The Creative Behind Domakaya
Domakaya is the first two letters of the girls in my family in order of age. My mum is called Doris, oldest sister Maria, Karima and Yasmina. Luckily it sounded good. We started Domakaya in December 2002 in London. It took a few years to get everything up and running and it took a while to learn how the fashion industry works but once we started getting stockists worldwide we knew we were doing something right.
Challenges of starting your own brand?
Starting your own brand is a bigger challenge than I would have ever thought. It has now been 8 years and every day I am still learning. There are so many sides to starting a fashion brand, from the creative designing to the controlling of all accounts so you have to be on the ball 24/7. I started the business with my sister Maria so we had each others support which was great.
Greatest inspirations or influences?
I get inspiration from everything. I try to go to art exhibitions as much as possible. I love street fashion as well as couture fashion so the mix of both always manifests great ideas!. There are some designers that I follow religiously like Karl Lagerfield Alexander Mcqueen.
I love shopping at vintage clothing stores. I always find great things there. Vintage knitwear is so interesting.
Who is the person you have in mind when you design things for?
I design my collections for the fun loving woman ready for an accessory that pops. I hope that women of all ages could wear a piece from any Domakaya collection. The designs are quite diverse so there are more conservative items like simple knitted scarves and on the other side of the spectrum there are crazy multi coloured mohican hats for the more adventurous buyer.
Proudest moment so far?
I think my proudest moment so far was being stocked in Saks 5th Avenue nationwide in the USA. The best feeling ever!
Other favorite brands?
I love Dolce and Gabbana because I think they make the sexiest clothes in the world. I also love Converse. I own around 10 pairs and in live in them.
Favorite stores in London/NY
One of my favorite stores in NY would have to be Jeffreys. I also think Bergdorf Goodman is one of the best department stores. In London I love shopping at Zadig and Voltaire as its perfect for little jumpers and vest. I also love going to the markets in london like Portobello and Camden.
Plans in 2010 for Domakaya?
I am planning on expanding to kids and mens wear eventually so I will be working on that. I would also love to open a pop up store for a few months.
