Angel Sujau is a not a new name in the fashion industry of Maldives. With her own line of beachwear and boutique running; she is also an illustrator and a writer. VIBE is proud to present one of our very own writers as the fashion designer of this issue.
Exposed to art at a very young age, Angel tells us her story. With a massive dream of becoming a fashion designer since the beginning, she found tons of inspirations on a daily basis. Mostly from her dads studio back in the days. That is where she found the love for art. She got inspired by all sorts of crazy pieces of art she kept seeing.
‘My dad’s an artist. Basically, I grew up in his studio. He would collect magazines. Tons of them! He would show them to me and I was finding keen interest on it back then too. That’s how it all started.’
After her A’levels, she pursued on aspiring her dreams of becoming a fashion designer by completing her higher studies in India. She is multi-talented and very motivated. Angel has been keeping her own fashion blog and actively working with magazines as well as other news agencies. Her illustrations are seen on storybooks and her fashion columns along with style videos are now well known by a lot among us.
‘I’ve always wanted to become a fashion designer. And that has been like that since a kid. My first design was for TMA while I was studying in CHSE. I designed their uniforms. During this time, I was also doing illustrations for storybooks. But after school, I went abroad for my studies in fashion design. It was a diploma course in India. Upon completion of my course, I got back to Male’ and started working as a freelance designer. That’s when I started with my own blog. I started documenting my own designs and I’ve been keeping my blog since 2009. Got fond of writing in time and eventually started working with LeCute, VIBE and later joined Haveeru as a fashion columnist.’
As the fashion columnist at Haveeru, Angel started with style videos. People appreciated her great sense of style and articles. Angel was doing a lot of interviews and other write ups for VIBE over the last issues as well. She has been proving anything is possible if you find yourself committed towards it. In addition to this, some of her illustrations have been published on storybooks for kids too.
‘I’ve been wanting to do my fashion illustration exhibition. It’s still not there but soon though. I mean, I have made a couple of paintings already! It’ll come out soon. Oh, and I love writing!’
Angel describes opening up her own boutique as one of the biggest achievements till today. She explains further on how the Famushu brand came to life.
‘Setting up the boutique has been one of the biggest milestones yet. But I strive to make it somewhere globally someday soon too. I believe this is a start for me. I really wish to make something unique and environmentally ethical in the near future. I’d like to make use of natural resources and come up with something. That’s what I’m determined to work on in the upcoming days. The whole Famushu brand is a family thing. Dad helps me with the artworks and printing. Although I take more responsibility with all the work, my mom helps me out with the tailoring too. And then there’s my brother, who has always been such a huge support to me when it comes to decision making in business terms. So this is more of a family thing where we’re all helping each other out. I’ve always wanted to open my own boutique and I’m so glad this happened! Currently we’re supplying beach wear to resorts. We’ll soon be introducing swim wears into the market as well. It’s not imported goods here. 80 – 90% of the items here are all designed by us. I really wish to expand this to jewelries, accessories and shoes too. If you want a fashion brand of our own, you need to stand out. That’s how it works everywhere. Getting there might not be an easy road but you can if you’re really willing to try. Most of the designs available here are all inspired by traditional items and from the culture of Maldives. It’s simple and wearable for everyone.’
The fashion scene is the Maldives is quite an interesting topic to talk about. A fashion designers views and inputs to this could be rather crucial. Angel encourages everyone with the enthusiasm for fashion to go on board with it but she also highlights the importance of getting proper education.
‘There’s actually no fashion industry in Maldives but we have plenty of people who’ve studied fashion designing along with kids who seem very much interested. People are more conscious about it compared to earlier days. This tells us enough that people are interested in fashion and they talk about it. However, I feel we lack an institution here. There are plenty of tailors around and they’re super talented too. But, I think they need a direction in order to go forward artistically and design wise. We can provide small courses and help with the basics along with the know-how and background knowledge; but a proper institution where everything needed is taught and offered will play a vital role in the development of flourishing a young, enthusiastic bunch of fashion designers. This will bring about a good change and actually create the fashion industry which we all would like to have and see here in the Maldives. Fashion itself is an art. It’s just a wearable art making it different.’
You can see her pieces on social media and that’s where most of her marketing is done till today. It was a pleasure working with Angel and our best wishes are always with her. We look forward for a day her brand gets an international recognition.
