Levaus Jewelry & Lifestyle: A treasure trove of vintage ornaments

It all started with a Facebook page. A page that aimed to reach out to female consumers who love to adorn themselves with beautiful jewellery, but not necessarily made of gold or silver. 

Rather than bling, the ethnic value of the piece was more important to them. They wanted something exotic. Something beyond the ordinary. They wanted something which had a story to tell. Story of culture, community or a creative artist's muse. 

Thus Levaus was born. "I wanted to start a business of my own. I wanted to enjoy the freedom of making my own call," states Riba Zaman, a government service holder turned entrepreneur and founder of Levaus jewellery and Lifestyle.

When asked about the buyer persona of the brand, Riba informs that from her experience, she has seen mostly women in their 30s order from this page. 

"Professional women are mostly my customers, who love to embrace their free-spirited nature," she adds. "I study my customers' purchase patterns a lot. I also try to understand what they choose and why. This is important in the jewellery business. One must know the story of each product, as well as the kind of consumer it can possibly allure," Riba shares her nuggets of wisdom that she earned from running the business for more than a year.

Riba is connected with a vast community of sellers, designers and artists living in Delhi, Tibet and Nagaland who keep sharing their collection with her, from which Riba takes her picks. 

Levaus ornaments are mostly made of metals, beads and sometimes bones. "There are some rare handcrafted jewellery items, which are always in high demand and unusually get sold as soon as we post them on the page," Riba informs.

Levaus has been selling its products mainly online. It also has a small boutique outlet at Bashundhara City Shopping Mall. Most of the products' prices start from Tk1500. There are more expensive products too. Riba is grateful to her husband and one of her friends, Nowrin Jahan, for their motivation and support. She wants to scale up the business by adding more exotic items in future.