MiAA: Bringing back class in luxury
Working with more than 50 artisans in the northern region of the country, the brand specialises in natural dyes, kantha stitching and shibori dyeing
An indigo jacket, almost like a Japanese kimono, was on the mannequin. It had white swallow applique all over it and the hems of the collar, sleeves and border had triangular applique from the same white cotton fabric. The jacket also had beautiful kantha stitches all over it.
The entire piece is made of cotton fabric and the organic indigo in which the fabric is dyed, is produced in the northern region of Bangladesh.
The stitching and applique is handcrafted by the artisans of MiAA - a small boutique based in Dhaka. With more than 50 artisans in the northern region of the country, the brand specialises in natural dyes, kantha stitching, and shibori dyeing (an ancient Japanese dyeing technique).
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There is also a lovely silk shari displayed in the MiAA retail space on the third floor of Unimart in Gulshan-1. Its pink-red hues came from madder plant roots, pomegranate shells and myrobalan (haritaki). The anchal or free end has golden kantha stitches.
The store also has silk and cotton scarves, pocket squares, quilts, jackets and sharis. The tiger scarf collection has four colours - that came from catechu (khoyer in Bangla), indigo, onion peels, and eucalyptus. The scarves can be customised with different fabrics as well.
In small bowls, the creator of the brand, Mishael Aziz Ahmad, keeps the dyeing agents - catechu, indigo, myrobalan, pomegranate shells, onion peels, and madder plant roots. He is a designer, entrepreneur, and he also introduces himself as a promoter of art and craft.
He also worked with cotton gamchas and sharis. The Isfahan Kantha jacket is crafted with gamcha and cotton sharis sewn together, with kantha stitching all over it.
"Everything you see here is painstakingly handmade, with time and effort. These are not just clothes, these are collectibles that you and your family members will inherit for generations. It can be passed down and repaired. I want to bring back class in luxury, and that is why I have a very niche customer base," Mishael said, standing in front of his store.
One of his handmade quilts can come with a price tag of Tk 29,000.
"I have huge, jaw-dropping collections of quilts, but I cannot bring those to my shops. Because not everybody will be able to afford them. These are not just quilts, but rather art pieces that took multiple months for my artisans to make," he said.
Mishael's artisans have been acclaimed in the international arena, and he has collaborated with international brands. Currently, he exports some of his products to France and Japan.
A rather unique logo
In 2019, Mishael decided to create his own brand of clothes, and the logo of MiAA was created with the letters of his name.
It has a spool of yarn as the 'i' and the dot of the i resembles a flame created with a stitching motif. But what really caught my eye was the lilac colour of the logo.
Was it something taken from the natural dyes? No it was not. It turns out, Mishael has colour blindness. And this experience taught him that the human eye cannot really detect the exact shade of indigo. It is not blue, but when a human-made computer makes indigo, it takes hues from blue and red - which can be purple in a certain ratio.
"And the irony is, my designer, who designed the logo, also has colour blindness. When he created the logo with this colour, I decided to go with this shade," Mishael said.
13 years of creating slow fashion
In 2006, DFID-funded CARE Foundation launched a project in North Bengal called 'Nijeder Jonno Nijera' to improve the quality of life of the people there, by utilising the local resources and manpower.
The project later transitioned to focusing on indigo cultivation and production of indigo dye, following the identification of the indigo plant in Rangpur. Living Blue Private Limited, a company jointly owned by local artisans and Care was launched.
I want to sell elegance. I remember a French classic I once read that said, people who enjoy the good things in life, appreciate beauty, they go to watch plays wearing indigo scarves around their necks. This stuck with me. It has come full circle now - people will buy my indigo scarves and come to the shows. Because they are the people who have the time, money, interest and exposure to buy the crafts made by our rural artisans
In 2013, Mishael joined Living Blue, and started working with the artisans, providing them with training and going to international fairs with their pieces.
"I don't know how to make anything, how to handcraft a beautiful thing. When I saw the artisans, I was mesmerised. I knew how to take them to international platforms. And that is what I did," he said.
Outside of being their mouthpiece, Mishael became so absorbed in the process of this creative designing and making beautiful things that he didn't want to do anything else. With time, he developed a strong connection with the artisans.
In 2019, he left CARE Bangladesh, and unfortunately, that is when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. "I realised I had to do something for the artisans. This is what I know, and this is all I want to do." And he started his own brand, MiAA.
"Dyeing with natural elements guarantees no repeat or consistency. The colours vary depending on the source and the conditions of the day. Working with indigo is tough because you need warmth to have better colour. In the winter, it doesn't give you good colour. And you cannot rush the process," he explained on why it takes time to create a quality product without harming the environment.
Still, he prefers working with dyes that can be sourced from nature.
Not only natural dyes, MiAA also works with natural fabrics like cotton, silk, and endi silk. Mishael refuses to work with manufactured synthetic fabrics like polyester because he promotes "slow fashion, a luxury lifestyle that does not harm the environment."
Unlike machine-made apparel, each handcrafted product is different, no matter how meticulously the process is followed. If you ask an artist to copy her/his artwork, it is never going to be the same as the original one.
"The pink-red silk shari (mentioned earlier) you see on display, was already booked by one of my clients when another client came and insisted that she wanted this one. No matter how much I told her that this one was booked and I could make her another one, she was not ready to listen. Do you know why? Because she knew the second one would not be the same," he continued.
This is the reason Mishael knows that he has a niche customer base, and he wants to create his products for those who understand the art behind them.
The Bague Mishael, and collaboration with French friends
Mishael wears a signet ring on his ring finger on his right hand. The silver band has a silver circle on top with a bronze centre.
Back in 2015, when he was working at Living Blue, he went to a fair in Berlin. There, he met two French women, Aude Durou and Axelle Denis, who are the owners and designers of Ombre Claire, an ethical French jewellery brand. The three struck up a wonderful friendship.
"Our friendship was so special that we seemed to meet at every fair in Europe. In 2020, they called me and asked for my permission to use my name in a design, saying that I am going to be the godfather of their Mishael collection. And the ring you see here is named Bague Mishael, or the Mishael ring," he said.
In 2019, when he started MiAA, Aude Durou and Axelle Denis collaborated with him in designing the swallow indigo jacket which his artisans later crafted.
"It has been one of the best sellers of that collaboration."
Working with architect Marina Tabassum
MiAA has worked with architect Marina Tabassum, who was recently named one of Time's 100 most influential people. She's famed for her work with local communities, especially the Khudi Bari - a concept housing project that's being implemented in Sunamganj Haors and Rohingya refugee camps.
Marina Tabassum Architects wanted MiAA to do kantha work on screen printed fabrics, depicting village landscapes with Khudi Bari, as part of her 'Monographic' exhibition. It's a monographic exhibition that is travelling in Europe. This started in Munich in February 2023 and is now travelling to Lisbon.
"Architect Marina gave us six screen printed fabrics and commissioned us to do the kantha stitching on the edges and some of the selected parts of the artwork. The fabric was polyester, which I don't agree working with. We tried doing the screen printing on silk, but it didn't give us good results. I finally decided to go with polyester as it is a part of art; not something people are going to wear," Mishael said.
Roma Rani and Golapi Begum, two of his artisans, did the kantha work in selective places with white yarns. Marina Tabassum exhibited this kantha work in Lisbon.
"It has been my privilege to know Marina Tabassum and work with her. What I realised after this project is that, if I keep working and collaborating, there will be a time I can reach somewhere with MiAA."
A journalist, an entrepreneur and a drama enthusiast
Trained as a journalist in his early career; also a designer and an art connoisseur, Mishael is enthusiastic about plays and Dhaka's entertainment scene.
He created a social-media based platform called Show Kobe, meaning 'when is the show?', which he envisions as a one-stop platform where the schedules of all the plays, concerts, exhibitions, gallery openings, and seminars will be published and updated.
With the support of iconic theatre director Syed Jamil Ahmed, he initiated this idea to bring people to the theatre. His plan is to let people know about the events, to sell some tickets, and also to organise a few theatre events.
"I want to sell elegance. I remember a French classic I once read that said, people who enjoy the good things in life, appreciate beauty, they go to watch plays wearing indigo scarves around their necks. This stuck with me. It has come full circle now - people will buy my indigo scarves and come to the shows. Because they are the people who have the time, money, interest and exposure to buy the crafts made by our rural artisans," he said.
And that is how the artisans of Bangladesh will flourish, and their crafts will be taken to the world.
