Words by Imala

For generations and generations, women all over the world loves dressing up and dolling themselves with makeup and jewelries. And it just does not limit to women as there are men who loves to follow the latest trends as well. The world of fashion has changed over time with people making it an essential and important part of everyone’s life. It could be said that how we perceive our fashion sense depicts who we really are.

When we say fashion it does not restrict to clothes. It’s also about the jewelries, shoes, hairstyles.etc. We see a lot of people working towards in contributing new products in all aspects to enhance the fashion industry today.

It would not be a lie to say that our small nation of Maldives is also contributing so much to fashion everyday. Hence, for this week’s special feature we sat down to have a chat with a handcrafted jewelry brand called Dreamers Maldives. They are a local brand which creates and design unique products that represents the beauty of Maldives.

We started off by asking the founder and creative director of Dreamers Maldives, Rifga Naaz Athif on how she established her business venture. “My sisters and I initially started the business in 2017 with imported products. Due to a lot of online businesses selling the same products during that period we were thinking of ways how we can stand out from the rest. We started to brainstorm on what items that we can create on our own to be distinct. We did a lot of research and experimentation and after one year of testing and getting ready we released our own jewelry line at the beginning of 2019.”

“We get inspiration from our Maldivian culture. We try to represent our nation. So our main collection is called Futtaru Collection which includes products like shells with dhivehi names. We also have a Glam collection that we get inspiration from celebrities, international designers and runways.” Rifga spoke with a gleam in her eyes.

As for the raw materials that Dreamers uses to make their jewelries, she replied that, “When we first started making the products we used polymer lay which is like clays that we used to play as kids in texture wise. But it has different properties than those clays. When we bake the polymer clay, it plasticizes which makes it very durable. Recently we introduced Resin products as well. We do market on the durability and how to handle the jewelries in order to make it last longer. We practice sustainable environmentally friendly practices in our process and none of the material is wasted. All the experimental components or those that doesn’t meet the quality check is used for another project. We always re use and recycle the scrap clay to make a new product. We have special collections which we create from scrap clay.

“Since our products are handmade, each and every item is different and would have a uniqueness to it. Our customers also note the distinctiveness in each piece we make. So we believe that it’s something special about each of our products.” Rifga proudly states.

As we sipped our coffee, we inquired her on what a typical working day is for her. She replied that, “From the minute we decide to add new items to our collection, we have meetings to design and chose a color concept. We always plan at least six months ahead before we launch any new collection. Hence, our team meet to design and brainstorm for ideas. We do most of our production on the weekend since all of us work full time either at office or working from home with kids. We strategize a lot by planning ahead since all our making is very labour intensive. There has been times that we worked throughout the weekends when we get big collaborations or a huge order.”

“At the time that our business was launched, our main audience has always been to Maldivians, even when we started making our own products, for the first few months our target was to sell to Maldivians. But when we launched the products in January 2019 at our first PopUp we arranged in Hulhumale’at a prime location for tourists, a lot of tourists were fascinated by our products. That gave us a lot of confidence and we decided to target the tourism industry as well. And now majority of our customers are international orders with sales through Authentic Maldives stores and through our Instagram page. ” Rifga said with a smile. “Initially we struggled a to promote our products but working with the Authentic Shops by BCC, has provided us with immense opportunities to showcase our brand.” She added.

As we were conversing, Rifga took out a pouch from her bag. When she opened the pouch it was a few pair of colorful earrings which was no doubt from her Glam collection. It was indeed a delightful sight to see such beautifully crafted items made with such care and love. It was evident from Rifga’s expression that she truly enjoys doing what she does.

We continued by asking Rifga whether she ever run of out ideas and she replied with a big laugh, “Actually no, we have too many ideas and sometimes we are not even able to do it. What actually happens is that we come up with an idea, we forget, and then we will be scratching our head to remember. So now we note it down systematically in case we forget.

Moreover, for the future Rifga hopes, “To have the resources to produce more in order to supply our brand to more customers. To be able to provide authenticly made in Maldives items to every corner of the world. More specifically, to showcase our brand on an international runway by collaborating with designersWe r have worked in collaboration with Raidha’s Maldives, creating statement jewelry pieces for fashion shows on an international platform. With every assignment we do, it is a learning opportunity for us. So it’s quiet interesting whenever we receive a new order or collaboration to be work on.”

The final message that Rifga would like to give to any jewelry designer or anyone who wants to do something creative is, “Be authentic. If you want to do anything creative, there is nothing holding you back. It may take a while but keep trying because all the resources are there and even with a little bit of effort anything is possible. It is a completely different world now. You can research online and learn anything. Just go for it using your own style and uniqueness.”

We wish to see the day when Dreamers Maldives is featured on an International platform making our nation proud. We always applaud the hard work our creative and talented individuals do in showing that we Maldivians are nothing less at what we do.