MEET THE PAKISTANI MERMAID SAMIYAA G
22-year-old entrepreneur and influencer Samiyaa, is bringing fast fashion in Pakistan by being the first woman to own a western apparel brand. Established in 2019, ‘Mermaid Motel’ believes that style should be accessible and affordable to all by bringing runway and fast fashion trends to the country.
Mermaid Motel offers women’s trendy ready to wear apparel, footwear, accessories and handknitted products.
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“We are Mermaid Motel, the brand taking over your social media feed.”
“Our girl knows she can trust in us, whether she needs fashion trends or celebrity inspired looks. We strive to keep up with the world’s fashion trends and to introduce them in Pakistan. Our vision is to promote femininity, body positivity and individuality.”
Read the interview of the owner Samiyaa G …
Hello Samiyaa, to start off, we would love to know a bit about you. Tell us about yourself, your upbringing, background, education etc.
Hey. My name is Samiya, pronounced as Saam-ya. So, I’m 22-years-old. I’m currently doing a degree in business from TMUC that’s affiliated with the University of London. I’ve always been interested in fashion. I have four sisters who are little fashionistas and each one of them has their own style. It comes from our mom who loves fashion and makes her clothes herself.
Your clothing brand has a dreamy name ‘Mermaid Motel’. What is the inspiration behind this name and the brand overall?
Thank you. As a kid mermaid tales and mermaid animations used to inspire me so much in terms of their outfits and colours and for femininity. And I would tell my mother to create those outfits for me and they would turn out super pretty.
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Did you face any challenges when initially setting up your brand? Did your family support you?
In the start, it was a bit difficult when I couldn’t keep a track of my orders and had to get the company registered, problems the courier service. But eventually I learned how to tackle with the problems.
You run a successful merchandising brand, we would love to know more about your target audience, and the exceptional team behind ‘Mermaid Motel’.
Okay so, our target audience is mostly women from the age of 15-50, anybody who wants to keep with the trend. Also, we are trying to work on a collection for men.
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What according to you is the most fulfilling part of running a brand at a very young age?
The most fulfilling part is when I see customers finally wearing the outfits confidently. That gives me utter happiness.
What is fashion for you in one line? And how do you stay up to date regarding fashion?
I’d say I have a ‘passion 4 fashion’ (you must have seen the ‘Passion 4 Fashion Bratz’ movie), also I’d say I have
‘She can beat me, but she can’t beat my outfit’
kind of energy. I believe what you wear is what brings confidence in you.
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How do you deal with an arrogant client?
The key to deal with such clients is with patience and use words that calm them down. If our orders are late, we try to make it up to our customers by sending them a little gift as an apology.
Are you passionate about something other than fashion? If you were running a brand apart from clothing, what would that be?
I’m passionate about clothes the most. I love styling my friends and sisters for events. I’d either be a stylist or be a philanthropist because I love to help people.
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What do you think sets you apart from your competitors? What’s next for ‘Mermaid Motel’?
The things that set us apart is that we keep up with fast fashion trends and we have updated fashion. We aren’t trying to compete with anyone, just trying to inspire girls to do the same.
Where do you see ‘Mermaid Motel’ in five years?
My vision is to make my brand global, to be on runways, have worldwide chains and fulfil the needs of a trendy girl.
