We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Misha Vaidya a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Misha, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Success is one of those very personal constructs. What defines success for one person doesn’t necessarily stand true for another. Having said that, for me, I define success by my ability to remain consistent and balanced.

Consistency – In the way we present ourselves to customers, our messaging, our aesthetic, our digital experience and above all in our product. We pride ourselves on creating intentionally, and are committed to values of longevity, quality and considered design.

Balance – Being able to ride the wave, while also being able to sit by the shore. Success is too often viewed as ‘the accomplishment of an aim or purpose,’ keeping that and balance in mind has allowed me to view success as a multi-faceted concept, one which looks a little like this: A promise to be kind to myself; to work hard, but to give my brain the rest it needs. To overcome challenges, but to focus on the wins. To be generous with my time, but know when to say no. To strive for accomplishments, but to thoroughly enjoy the journey.

Misha, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Let’s see….

I grew up watching my Mum (and co-owner), climbing an otherwise male-dominated corporate ladder, in both medicine and business. I watched her power dress, choose colors that were deemed as strong, and shy away from fabrics that could be interpreted as feminine, pretty, or ‘weak.’ She mixed and matched, making certain unconventional pieces look conventional, smart, and interesting. Being a woman, absolutely made her stand out, but so did her love of fashion. I may not have enjoyed the fact she needed to do these things, (or her use of shoulder pads), but I was in awe of her elevated looks, the power that those outfits created, and her unique ability to make every ensemble her own. It was these moments, these memories and the respect I have for strong women that propelled me into a world of fashion, design, and creativity.

Misha Vaidya is a ready-to-wear women’s fashion brand dedicated to creating quality pieces for the modern woman. Established by my Mum and I, our mission is to create pieces rooted in purposeful, ethical, and intentional design, never at the expense of our planet or people, always with the sole intent of empowering. We believe in conscious consumption, respectful, professional relationships, sustainable design, manufacturing, and up-front retail experiences.

Inspired by the details and intricacies of culture, people and the earth’s natural beauty, the Misha Vaidya philosophy is that everything is connected, and that our actions directly impact ourselves, others, and generations to come. We strive to create garments in equal parts beautiful and sustainable. Our contemporary collections include a mixture of elevated basics, separates, dresses, jackets, t-shirts and accessories.

I love what I do and I’m proud to still be doing it, despite hiccups, difficulties and global pandemics. The most beautiful part of this business (other than seeing women wearing our pieces) has been the incredible people we’ve had the pleasure of working with, creative geniuses. Being able to bounce ideas back and forth, share goals, and spark new light into this entrepreneurial sphere has allowed me to remain excited and inspired. I wholeheartedly believe that while clothes won’t change the world, the women wearing them absolutely can!

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

We do indeed! We started off making everything in house, and by ‘in house,’ I really mean IN HOUSE – our living room became our workshop – picture piles of fabric on the coffee table, a sewing machine on the dining table, drawings, mood boards and threads everywhere… As you can probably imagine, this wasn’t sustainable for too long and we had to start looking for the right partners. By no means was this an easy task, especially given all the criteria we’d identified as important to our business and in line with our philosophies. It involved recommendations, test runs, trials, errors and many long, long nights.

With that being said, we knew manufacturing needed to be a cornerstone of our business and we were committed to finding the right people – which thankfully, paid off. Producing responsibly is hugely important to us. We operate ethically and look to work with local suppliers and manufacturers, reducing transportation emissions and our carbon footprint. 100% of our suppliers and manufacturers are fair-trade certified and are committed to a high degree of ethical conduct and environmental responsibility. Most of our manufacturers are small, enabling us to really get to know those making our garments. We have opted to work with female artisans and women-owned companies all possessing exceptional craftsmanship. We are women, creating for women – therefore, through offering female employment, we aim to further empower women professionally and economically.

I’m pleased to share that the living room has been returned to its original state and only becomes a creative workshop once in a blue moon!

Have you ever had to pivot?

I have a sneaky feeling that many of us will think back to the same time. Covid-19. It’s safe to say that most businesses globally, regardless of their industry likely had to pivot in some way during the pandemic.

How did we pivot? Well, in a very short span of time we went from concentrating on stock, events and initiatives to simply staying healthy. All of the physical boutiques we were stocked in closed their doors, all of our manufacturers stopped manufacturing, all of our events had to be put on hold and honestly, all of our social/sales initiatives seemed out of touch and irrelevant. Naturally, our focus changed.

First things first, faced with both a pandemic and worldwide recession, we felt the most appropriate brand response was a human one. We weren’t afraid to be vulnerable, and we allowed empathy and an elevated consciousness set the tone of our messaging. We shifted our marketing strategy from trying to promote our pieces to building strong connections with our customers, and friends. Our focus wasn’t to sell, but to use the time to strengthen ties, and build trust, and relationships. As a brand, we’ve always felt it was important to maintain transparency, and evolve with our customers. But this crisis forced us to practice more empathy, elevate our mindfulness and constantly check that our messaging was in line with any possible sensitivities.

Secondly, as I mentioned, all our physical stockists closed their doors for at that time, ‘the foreseeable future.’ This forced us to look not at our products, but at the sphere surrounding them. We needed to innovate our processes, and our sales channels. We had plans in the pipeline to expand our sales outlets to online platforms, but honestly it was Covid that sped that process up. We didn’t want to run in an entirely new direction, we wanted to build upon everything we’d created and stay true to the philosophies we felt embodied our brand. We were able to partner with Wolf & Badger at the start of Covid, a certified B Corp and home to an array of ethical, independent brands and forward-thinking conscious consumers. Not only did this partnership allow us to innovate, but it allowed us the opportunity to be part of a community with very similar ethics and goals.

The pivots we made in 2020, and during Covid-19 are ones that we have stuck with and that we’re glad we made. Often a crisis forces you to create, innovate and evolve.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mishavaidya.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MISHAVAIDYA/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ByMisha/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mishavaidya/

Image Credits
Photographer: Vlad Lafontant Models: Ada Czekolada, Alexis Marie Balliro