Regal, ethnic couture at House of Ahmed
House of Ahmed LTD, which has had many stellar collections and campaigns, recently launched "Tales of a Modern Desi Woman ft. Jaya Ahsan" for which, they're very much in the spotlight, due to an iconic collaboration with Bangladesh National Film Award Winner, Jaya Ahsan, and through their brand partnership with luxury diamond company Amisheé. "We started off with a very male dominated brand, but during the pandemic, the number of clients that came to House of Ahmed to order bespoke bridal lehengas, bridal sari, bridal dupatta along with men's sherwani was staggering. It was then that we decided to work on a luxury sari line, which was perfect for our clients celebrating their wedding day in an intimate setting. We worked endlessly for five months to come up with ten bridal saris, all in a variation of vibrant colours, trying to showcase Bengali iconic fabrics like Mirpur katan, premium Bengali silk, raw-silk and even organza. The response was amazing, as within five days after the launch, we received many orders from our sari collection," said Tanzila Elma. "Jaya Ahsan also decided to be the face of this campaign from House of Ahmed LTD, as she is also very passionate about our Bangladeshi heritage, and upholding and enriching our Bengali artisans and their craftsmanship," added Tanzila.
"So, for an iconic sari collection, we decided to embark on a strong marketing campaign, which was the "Tales of a Modern Desi Woman," featuring Jaya Ahsan. I felt that we needed someone that both the older and younger generations could relate to, together, to help guide them, how to style themselves for this year's wedding scene. We also needed a strong business collaboration and partnership. It was then that I decided to bring Amisheé, as they are the top luxury jewellery company in the country. This campaign not only added value to the company's branding and international level production capabilities, but also finally made sure House of Ahmed emerged as one of the country's best ethnic houses, not only for men, but also for women," stated Tanzila.
Tanzila Elma also spoke about Bangladeshi artisans and upholding the dying artisanal craftsmanship that they represent in our country. For her, it was more about creating something that was truly of Bangladeshi heritage and made people want to purchase traditional attires from our home country, rather than make a trip to India for special events like their wedding day. "From our market research, before launching House of Ahmed, we came to a realisation from seeing the vast number of Bengali people shopping from a luxury boutique in India that, we needed to create a luxury ethnic Bengali fashion house that had everything proudly Made in Bangladesh. Moreover, we had to ensure that we are still uplifting our artisans by not only making a safe space for them, but also push their creative boundaries to create ethnic wear, capable of competing in the global market," stated Tanzila.
Besides this campaign, Tanzila Elma spoke of the non-profit campaigns HOA has organised during the pandemic, saying, "We made sure we didn't lay off a single one of our artisans. At a time when businesses were terminating their artisans and employees to cover losses, we didn't accept it as a business strategy. We instead hosted a non-profit campaign called "Project Ray of Hope" to raise funds to ensure groceries for over 200 artisans and their families. From there, we raised around Tk 50 lac and made sure our artisans had groceries for themselves and their family for five months."
In addition to that, she has been an advocate for sustainable fashion and influencing more of the fashion scene through her entrepreneurial journey to be responsible by promoting fashion for development and by ensuring the betterment, enrichment of local artisans and their lives as well as by uplifting them.
Photo: Rafiqul Islam Rafiq
Model: Jaya Ahsan
Wardrobe: House of Ahmed ltd
Jewellery: Amisheé
Makeup and Hair: Aura Beauty Lounge
Styling: Mahmudul Hasan Mukul
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