We recently connected with SAVAR Founders, Melissa Kemp and Sundus Shaheryar and have shared our conversation below.
Thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?
Excited to be here! The equestrian apparel industry isn’t trend based but instead, rooted in tradition and function. Overtime, however, the riding uniforms available in the market had become increasingly predictable. We believe there is a huge opportunity in the current equestrian apparel market to re-interpret the traditional styles for a modern-day consumer and that’s where SAVAR comes in!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
SAVAR is a luxury equestrian apparel brand. The collection is designed by Sundus, our creative director and fashion designer who drew inspiration from historical English riding habits particularly from Victorian and Edwardian eras, as well as jodhpurs from her South-Asian heritage. SAVAR seeks to preserve traditional equestrian heritage while meeting modern day demands of sport and rider. Every garment is crafted with natural sustainable fabrics sourced from the finest mills in the U.K. and Italy, and despite being produced locally in NYC’s historic garment district, we are able to offer our customers accessible prices.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Breaking from tradition, or reinterpreting traditional attire can be controversial and while some people love it, others may prefer to remain conservative. We have seen this first hand. There is nothing wrong with either view but when we decide to change things people are passionate about, we have to be willing to accept criticism or even embrace it as we strive to grow as a company. We are excited to bring a fresh look to traditional hunt attire while still respecting many of the important traditional design details. We hope our line is something that riders can feel stylish in, enough to wear out of the saddle.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Yes of course, we met through the Manhattan Riding Club (of which Melissa is a founder). On a ride together we got to talking about equestrian clothing and the spark of SAVAR was born. The idea was to offer equestrians living in the city, like many in the club, a chic yet practical riding uniform.
Contact Info:
- Website: savarnewyork.com
- Instagram: @savarnewyork
- Facebook: facebook.com/savarnewyork