December 02, 2020
Designer Spotlight: Deeba
This week we chat to Gabriella, founder and director of luxury silk label Deeba.
The Indian meaning of Deeba when used as a name is ‘silk’, which relates to Deeba's core, luxury pure silk collection. Their pieces are designed to be versatile, glamorous leisure wear. They look fabulous both dressed up with heels for Thursday Negronis and dressed down with cashmere socks by the fire. This is a founding principle of a brand created for women, by women - timeless and sustainably designed pieces that work for any occasion.
Before Deeba what did you do?
I was working as a home wear buyer in London for Ralph Lauren, before making a bold decision to move to India in 2018. I knew that I wanted to start a fashion brand and I felt drawn to India. But back then, I didn’t have a plan beyond that!
What is the inspiration behind Deeba?
India! The idea came to me when I eventually moved to Jaipur inspired by the mesmerizingly vibrant colours and beautiful architecture. I soon did a course in digital design before beginning to experiment with creating my own prints. This was fused with my love for pyjamas and loungewear – I wanted to create gorgeous pieces that could be worn either in or out and captured the playful essence of India.
We think a lot of people have different takes on what is ‘sustainable’ - how would you define it?
I think having a sustainable business means that you have considered the socio-economic and environmental aspects that your business needs to run. The whole lifecycle of the product from the design to raw material, to the production- who’s making it? Then not only how you deliver it to the client, but also - can it be recycled? Is it biodegradable? These are questions that matter.
How much do you consider the sustainability of a product whilst designing it?
A lot of thought and education goes into each collection I design. It’s of course an iterative process of ‘test and learn’ but I try to break each step down and then use the most sustainable alternative I can find. I always try to be as transparent as possible to my clients. For example, polybags used by garments manufacturers play a huge part in plastic pollution - I have sourced some that dissolve in hot water from 66°c instead of using normal plastic ones that can’t biodegrade. Deeba has small production runs to minimise left over stock, and use all off cuts to make accessories. We ship in compostable shipping bags. We digitally print our fabrics which uses less water and chemicals than screen printing.
We are also excited to be bringing out a new “ECO by Deeba” range. This is the vegan alternative to silk made from a blend of cupro and ecovero. Cupro is a sustainable fabric which is produced from a by-product of the cotton process. To minimise waste, it is produced in a closed-loop process. EcoVero is made up of fibres produced using pulp from renewable farmed trees. These two fabrics blended together make the most gorgeous material and I’m very excited to launch this range before the end of the year.
Can you tell us a little about the 1% for the planet project you have joined and why?
It’s was always very important for me to give something back when I was first coming up with the Deeba concept. My initial plan was to donate to a specific wildlife charity linked to the theme of each collection - (my first collection was Tigers and we donated to Ranthambore Tiger Reserve) but I think over time this would have become very confusing to my customers. So we have joined 1% for the Planet, where we have committed to giving 1% of our annual sales to the conservation of the planet. Each collection we can choose from a broad selection of non-profit partners that we would like to contribute to that aligns with our values and collection theme. I think its a great partnership and look forward to the business growing and being a part of such an amazing organisation.
The Corona virus has highlighted our need to change the way we do business is this something you have found with Deeba and have you consequently had to change anything?
When the first lockdown happened I had only been trading for less than 6 months, but it really just catalysed plans that I had for that year anyway. I wanted focus more on digital marketing and advertising, which I had not spent enough time on before. I had plans to do pop ups but instead it made me pivot and focus on marketing direct to consumer, educating myself on the way on the power of storytelling, social media and online platforms.
Top 5 lockdown activities?
- The first lockdown I did 20 minutes of yoga every morning which I think was amazing for my mental health.
- To kick off ‘Lockdown 2’ in the UK I have downloaded an app called ‘Waking Up’ with Sam Harris which is a daily meditation guide. I have never been able to get into meditation but I think its a good time to start!
- Long walks – plus running around all the parks – I’ve been exploring!
- I used to love cooking but become a little lazy so making an effort to get back into it.
- Can drinking red wine be an activity?!
As this year (finally) is drawing to a close what is next year going to bring for you and your company?
Next year I am really excited about expanding my new ECO by Deeba range. I want to add some more styles to the collection and also possibly some home wear. It’s such a beautiful fabric and can be used in so many different ways - I can’t wait to explore its potential and I’ve not seen anything comparable at that price point, quality or with ‘Deeba’ style prints.