The homeless lone parent who built a top 'slow fashion' brand

AS LIFE lessons go it was a pretty tough one. Back in 2005 while still a teenager Rokeya Khanum was left homeless after having a baby and was forced to move from hostel to hostel with her newborn.

- Lucy Tobin

“It was traumatic,” the 35-year-old explains, “but I always knew it was just a stepping stone to where I would end up eventually. I didn’t have the finances or right circumstances, but I had grit and I refused to be yet another young, lone parent dependent on the Government. I had to pave my own way.”

Fast forward 18 years, and Khanum has come a long way since those traumatic days and now runs her own eponymous clothing brand. She says: “I always wanted luxury designs but couldn’t afford the price tags. So I wanted to specialise in hand-embellished garments, on a slower-pace production to reduce waste and dead stock.”

The entrepreneur launched Khanum’s in 2018, while working full time for a bank in organisational development. She saved £2000 from her salary to use as start-up capital, which went on samples, photography, and a model for a portfolio to show off her wares.

“Initially I did most things myself, using free website builders, calling in favours for product shoots, and loaning samples to influencers for marketing. There was no huge launch, it was a business intended to act as an additional stream of income while I had the security from my nine-to-five job. I wanted to test the product, steady and slowly with minimal costs.”