Picture a dense mangrove forest as old as our beautiful islands. Glide along the seeds of the mangroves with “Vaki”, take in the earthy aroma with the kandoo pods and catch a glimpse of  deep roots or “moo” of the mangrove tree. Any who have visited a mangrove forest can attest to that sense of belonging to something much bigger than themselves. This sense of community is what Ra.nign emulates with their stunning collection.

“All our pieces are inspired by nature and our love for it”

Api and Lafu  ~ Co-founders of Ranign-

Kaleo Media sat down with the hearts behind Ra.nign, Api (Aishath Aafreen) and Lafu (Aminath Elaf). A brand that initially started out as a passion project @ra.nign is now on Instagram and capturing the hearts of many. It all started with a classic walnut jewelry box when they were. Lafu recalled the doors on either side which opened to reveal the necklaces that hung inside. Api took us back to the first memories of the sisters playing dress up, “Mamma’s jewelry box housed many trinkets, some were gifts, some were custom designed. We would look through her jewelry and try them on. Safe to say we always liked to accessorize”. Lafu appreciatively recalls “I feel like we were also included in the design process by our mom. She would ask us “is this pretty?” “Will this be better?”. Fast forward several years and Ra.nign is born.

Among the dark green vegetation of Borneo’s Rainforest, their love for nature blossomed  nurtured evermore with their love for the outdoors, “I love the greens, the higher altitudes and climbing mountains” Api says. We would go on walks while we lived there and each time was a beautiful experience”. Lafu noted how much she missed the stream that they came across every day while returning home from university. Anyone familiar with the Ra.nign brand can practically see the images swimming before their eyes as they described it.

Amid the Covid-19 restrictions and lockdown, we were designing these pieces by ourselves and for ourselves in Hulhumale’, we wondered if there might be others out there who would like them as much as we did.  While our initial approach to Ra.nign was purely as a passion project, it has since then evolved into something much more significant”

Api ~ Co-founder of Ranign-

“… and it has actually become a really refreshing change, almost feels like breaks that we get from our professional career”.

Lafu ~ Co-founder of Ranign-

And so the sketches born out of Lafu’s apartment in Hulhumale’ went on to become Ra.nign who officially launched their stunning first collection in June 2023. When asked about how they collaborated on the name, which is the plural for ‘Queen’ in Dhivehi, Api and Lafu recalled that they had each come up with a separate list of names, both lists had only one name is common. Lafu joked and laughed as she said, “We both tend to have very similar ideas about things, maybe because we are related”.

When it comes to Ra.nign the brand, the concept came first and the name followed. The brand has now become a cult favorite and captured hearts all over the country. “When we were discussing the brand, we really wanted to create pieces that were versatile in its use. Ideally any of our products could be used to dress up, dress down or even wear to work. Giving the wearer the chance to be creative and invent their very own personal style”. Just like that, one of the first fine jewelry lines in the country was brought to life

Api explains by saying, “For instance, I like to wear pretty loose-hanging clothing and might look a little plain initially, but the second I add on some pieces and accessorize, it pulls the whole look and I look a lot more put together. So we wanted our pieces to invoke that”. Lafu also described how she drew inspiration from everyday work wear, where the pieces of the Mangrove Collection perfectly complement.

Take one look at the pieces and it’s not hard to see that the co-founders of Ra.nign achieved what they set out to do. Just as every single piece can find itself attending and adorning a glamorous event with sweeping ball gowns, the pieces can also find a home within a boardroom the very next day, surrounded by collars and cuffs. They have managed to beautifully capture the epitome of a modern woman’s versatile life.

Looking at this venture from a business perspective, Lafu talked about how the costs and effort beyond the production phase wasn’t thought of initially, “It was a passion project, and we initially didn’t think about the 3D models, branding, packaging, registering a company or the minutiae of owning a business and how all that happened as an afterthought of the design process. She added, “Then came the part where we cultivated the content and made short videos clips and took some amazing pictures”. Both sisters note the importance of having a reliable team around. “Yaani who helped us do (and sometimes redo) all the 3D models, Aishy who so tastefully captured the essence of our first collection in terms of branding and finally Shifa who is an incredibly talented and tireless photographer. All of whom we absolutely loved working with.

The advice that Ra.nign has for those that might be on the precipice of a similar venture is to not wait for everything to be perfect. “Because you don’t start with perfect, you build towards perfect,” Api noted. Lafu adds to this, “Just go with the flow and be open to learn from your business at every stage”.

“Since the launching of the brand we have noticed, more often than not people prefer statement pieces to the smaller daintier ones. This came as a bit of a surprise to us”, they recalled. Speaking about the future for Ra.nign, the sisters expressed their excitement to work on the next collection, while they did not disclose any hints on exactly what the next collection would be based on. With every single new piece we see even more stunning than the next, we can’t wait to see what they come up with next.