Shamima Dola : Relevant learning before starting business is important to keep sustainability in operations, said Tania Taslima who emerged as a successful apparel entrepreneur from millennial group leveraging the knowledge in respective field.
In an exclusive talk with NewsNow Bangla, Tania shared her success tale overcoming bunch of challenges. NewsNow Editor Shamia Dola briefed the talks in Friday Feature.
Tania studied business administration major in management to become an entrepreneur despite getting chance to learn law in a reputed public university.
As an media enthusiastic, Tania started investing money in television drama production in early of this century, however, she was looking for something more stable where growth opportunities are more.
No doubt RMG is the best sector for this in Bangladesh context. Now she needed to be ready for that. “I can do it, but first of all I have to learn it in classroom, not in the field. I believe in preparing myself before act,” she said.
Then Tania went to Bengaluru to learn fashion designing in apparel and leather technology, popularly known as ALT. After returning Bangladesh it’s time to have some experience.
“I always believe in doing intern. It is a part of the learning process”, she said.
She started internship in Kumudini Handcrafts Limited, one of the oldest fashion house of Bangladesh. After finishing the intern, Tania set up her first textile endeavor in Rajshahi which was a silk mill.
Tania started producing finest Rajshahi silk there and most of the fashion houses of Bangladesh became her clients within a short period. Tania had to work with Kumudini also a couple more years, because they were not ready to lose their best intern yet.
They made Tania the chief designer of their fashion house. But that was only Tania’s day job. At the night her own works starts and every weekend she rushed to Rajshahi to oversee her silk production.
When the silk business became bigger, Tania found, there are leftovers. She drew her scissors and measurement tapes to design outfits with the leftover silks. Then she bought some sewing machines and set up a small factory nearby her house. It was 2007.
That year’s Eid season Tania sold silk outfits worth of five-million-taka in the local bulk market, all designed, produced and marketed by herself.
Business started growing. But Tania never ignored the importance of training. She attended every workshop and fashion shows around.
“There are many teachers of mine in the industry, now we may be sitting in the same table but I always address them as sir or madam”, said Tania.
She has attended many fashion shows in USA, UK, Netherlands and many cities in India with her own fashion collection. She got the chances to work with many international fashion designers. In 2009 an Italian designer sent her sketchbook to Bangladesh to produces some designer clothes.
The next international buyer was a Japanese. It was Yusuke Yamaguchi’s first visit in Bangladesh. He was planning to produce some denim products. He was sending back from every door because they did not risk to give Yamaguchi for standard quality.
She started sending fancy dresses for Halloween in different European destination each year. In 2020 during the first lock-down to tackle the corona virus in Bangladesh when every owner is struggling to run their factories.
Tania first designed fabric masks following the instructions of CDC, USA on April 2020. Her first client of those mask ICDDR’B in Dhaka. She also thrived in Mask business, though first couple of months of Corona virus outbreak Tania only sold masks for production cost only.
This year Tania is producing kid’s and men’s ware for different European, American, African and Middle Eastern destinations. Her delivery capacity is one hundred thousand units each month.
