Harllow: Disrupting the Bangladesh fashion market with new-age streetwear

 

Focusing majorly on the niche segment of urban street fashion, Harlow offers T-shirts, joggers, track pants, hoodies and shirts as well as accessories such as fanny packs and street wear-inspired bags, for both men and women. 

The experience of growing up is an entire journey in itself. More often than not, our interests as a child translate into strengths as we grow up and enter the real world.

Realizing that designing serves as the biggest canvas for his artistic ideas and nature, Co-founder of Bangladesh-based street-wear inspired fashion label Harlow, Habib Ullah Miazi began working and improving on his technical skills early on in the spectrum. “As a child, I always found myself gravitating back towards creative work – something about it always engaged me. Sketches, music, photography – all kinds of creative work have for long been my field of interest. I am not a professional in any way, but I did learn simply because I enjoyed learning,” Habib told Apparel Resources in an exclusive interview.

The onset

No two people or ideas are the same and to find the perfect yin to your yang, especially when it comes to building a business, is the biggest asset anyone can ask for.

Habib’s Partner and Co-founder of Harllow, Zidan has been inclined towards fashion since his early days, but all the different sectors of education pressurised him to work on something he didn’t enjoy. Both Habib and Zidan had a hard time dealing with their education system, which in turn, led them to attempt a change in the alleged definition of failure and bring something different to the table, hence birthing Harllow.

“Ever since I can recall, I’ve wanted to start a company of my own. Zidan was working on a clothing company himself, where I wanted to help and invest. After looking into it, I felt that there were a lot of things that needed to be worked on and improved. That is when I offered to co-found his initiative and we’ve been a team ever since,” Habib said, adding, “Putting our strengths together has really helped Harllow grow and evolve and become the brand that it is known as today.”

Product assortment & pricing

Focusing majorly on the niche segment of urban street fashion, Harllow’s starting price for retail varies between Taka 380 and Taka 1,899. Product categories such as T-shirts, joggers, track pants, hoodies and shirts as well as accessories such as fanny packs and streetwear-inspired bags, both for men and women, make up Harllow’s assortment.

The label has recently also ventured into ethnicwear, with an introduction of fuss-free punjabis/kurtas that feature quirky prints and minimal embroidery.

Brand USP & materials

“We enjoy experimenting with our pieces. We try different artistry within our products, starting from every little detail. This allows us to expand our horizons, and of course, enjoy what we do. That’s the beauty of it, you don’t have limitations when creativity comes in,” Habib corroborated.

Harllow strives to stay fresh and updated with on-trend pieces that feature details such as reflective patches, neon stripes, combination fabrics, and contrast pockets.

Materials such as mixed cotton, chinigura cotton, oxford, canvas and reflective patches made using radium fabric form the crux of the label’s athleisure-inspired collections.

“We ensure we provide fashion in a budget for everyone to groove in. Harllow invites and welcomes an audience from all age groups to come and witness quality-based clothing,” Habib commented, adding, “Despite the fact that both Zidan and I represent the youth, and to a certain extent, the same is communicated in the aesthetics of Harllow, we make sure that our products are unisex and anyone who 

Manufacturing & sourcing

A fairly new label on the design horizon of Bangladesh’s budding fashion community, Harllow credits creativity and quality as its main strengths. Everything from photoshoots, graphic designs, and advertising is done in-house in order to optimise costs and to ensure that the personal touch is carried out in the label’s formative years.

The same adage is carried out in terms of manufacturing – starting from production to printing and completing a piece – all of Harllow’s clothing and accessories are done in-house.

“We believe we have the most control over our products that way. Being a company as personal as ours, it’s very important to keep the benchmark to ourselves.” Habib explained.

In order to keep stock in check and reduce wastage, Harllow does not believe in overproducing, and in fact, follows the rule of producing less to ensure sell-outs and then re-stocking depending upon the consumer demand.

Furthermore, Harllow’s in-house manufacturing setup supports the label in this quest, allowing them to closely monitor their merchandise and quickly stock products based on market demand.

Bangladesh, as a country, is among the richest of all when it comes to garment manufacturing and fabrics. The country is known for always having the best of quality and unimaginable range of options to work with, which work in the favour of home-grown fashion labels such as Harllow.

“We love exploring and trying out different forms of fabrics and required materials. Anything that helps us portray our imagination as perfectly possible, we go with it.” Habib explained, adding. “The reason why we have access over all the possible varieties of raw materials is because we love wandering and scouting for the best materials all over the country.” Bangladesh has so much to offer, and Harllow believes to showcase the beauty of it through its designs as much possible.

“The thing about fashion and creativity itself that captivates us the most is that everyone has a different eye for it. There are no rules, no boundaries to follow. People simply find the route to showcase themselves through their views. It’s so amazing when you think about it.”

Best-selling pieces & future expansion plans

For a fashion label that is still taking its baby steps, the level of response and support showered upon them by the audience has been nothing short of overwhelming. Most products launched online by the label have been sell-out success within the first few weeks of them being released.

“Our audience have really stuck with us throughout this entire journey and we honestly couldn’t have been more grateful. The response has been so warm! We really feel welcomed and celebrated by everyone. All our products and collections have been very well received, and if I am to point out one which stood out the most, it would have to be our flash joggers range which boasts of reflective patches,” Habib elucidated.

Harllow is an exclusive online based clothing brand, which is currently available for purchase on the brand’s official Instagram platform – @harllowbd as well as across most online sources. The brand is also in the process of readying its very own exclusive e-commerce website in order to create a more tailored experience for its clients.

Speaking on further expansion plans, Habib revealed, “It has been our lifelong dream to represent our country and our work all over the world. We wish to make our country portrayed for all of its beauty. Working with international brands and connecting through our ideas would be such a blessing.”