From Miss India To Motherhood

Moving from Mummy time to 'Me' time

Thank you SUMMER

December 4, 2022 By: Mehroocomment

Well, you only need the light when it’s burning low

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go​…​

 

​And the ‘her’ in this case is SUMMER – my clothing brand​ that I had lovingly started almost 10 years ago.

As I’m listening to ‘Let Her Go’ on Spotify, ​lovingly ​folding up the ​last of the ​clothes​ hanging on the racks​, ​as my final SUMMER sales – the Closing Down Sale​ comes to an end, the weight of cotton and viscose in my hands forces me to sit down and go down memory lane.

​I must have been 22 ​when I started wearing these light and fun cotton clothes. Manufactured in my to-be family’s factory, I think they played a major role in choosing the ‘right’ boy when ​it came to marriage! 

When the move to Hong Kong happened a decade later my mum-in-law helped me start my own business with these clothes​, ​helping me create my own identity along with raising my children in a foreign country.

SUMMER – the name came so naturally to me. I did​n’​t have to do a Google search or a competitive analysis to see how it would work. It felt good to me,​ sounded​ right to me and SUMMER​ (in caps)​ it was! Next came the byline underneath the logo – ​‘​Affordable Style with a smile​’​ ​- ​exactly what I was selling! Th​e ​first SUMMER ​logo ​was created ​in MS PowerPoint ​with a smiling sun in the background. I ​chose ​a bright yellow ​as my brand colour to add liveliness ​and brightness, my true feelings at that time. Touches of pink ​to the font ​​added a feminine touch. I played along with the font​ type​ to see what felt best so yes a lot of feelings and emotions involved in the making of my brand.

Simple, everyday styles that offered love and comfort to the ​woman wearing them. ​My potential customer was a busy mom who had no time for frivolous fashion​, w​ho wanted to look good, respectable, presentable any time of the day. From ​the morning rush​ with kids being​ drop​ped​-off to school, to attending parent coffee mornings to the quick lunch with her hubby while kids were still at school! The dress that she wore had to be comfortable​,​ cool​, stylish​ and offered her enough flexibility to dress it up or down depending on her next appointment! ​I also added a kids range to the collection as mums always felt better shopping for their kids while shopping for themselves (less guilt that way!) .

​All I had to do was think like a mom​, not too difficult,​ to build on the style collection, and ​in the first few years the ​business did roaringly well just by selling from home and word-of-mouth publicity!

Over the ​years as my children grew up and I found more time to myself, I expanded ​the business. Brought more stock​, ​participated in outside fairs​, did consignment sales, ​collaborations​ making SUMMER available in more places. With good business came good friends as there were many other mompreneurs like myself trying to balance work and home running their small businesses and we needed a hand to hold as we went along with it. 

The website on Shopify came​ much later​. A project in itself as I spent a whole summer building the website from scratch.​ ​We also did our first professional photos​hoot in M​u​mbai with my dearest family supporting ​me. I roped in my ​sister, sis​-​in​-​law, nieces, friends​ and my ​own ​sons​ ​to model for my clothing. ​A complete riot at the photo shoot and a family affair to remember! 

​I know the main purpose of doing a business is to make money. But SUMMER has given me so much more than that. It has given me friends, freedom, love, affection, a beautiful blank canvas to draw on, a dream, a memory, an important learning, something to call my own, something that I will always cherish in my heart.

Thank you SUMMER. Maybe I don’t have to let you go after all, for you will always be a part of me, as I explore other possibilities, paint other dreams… 

​

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