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From Renovation Lady to fashion designer, Emirati entrepreneur Asma Darwish says, sometimes you just have to let yourself be miserable
Darwish rediscovered her passion for fashion in a dark period in her life - it's what got her through her turmoil and resulted in the modest fashion brand Elif's UAE
- PUBLISHED: Sun 2 Feb 2025, 4:01 PM UPDATED: Sun 2 Feb 2025, 4:21 PM
There's something about the human condition that sparks in us the desire to rise above the struggle, to capture every moment in all its glory, to take the swings that seem inevitable and yet not let the sparkle leave our eyes.
It is this need for grounding, that passion for thriving not just surviving, that led Emirati entrepreneur Asma Darwish to her newest source of happiness. It was, says the co-founder of fashion brand Elif's UAE, a dark period in her life when she began to look for reasons to smile.
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“I kind of hit rock bottom, emotionally,” she recalls, a sad smile flitting by her face as she refuses to divulge details, “And when I got the idea [for a fashion brand] – it began with a gift.”
While she travelled, a friend of hers gave her a “beautiful light blue jalabiya”, which got her thinking about how her body had changed over the years; it was a bit curvier than it used to be and didn't quite fit her clothes the way it used to. “That was the light bulb moment. I thought, 'Why don't I get into the fashion that I always loved, and why don't I start designing pieces that I struggle with – [things I want but cannot] find the right sizes, the right pieces? It doesn't have to be black or white or dark colours. So what if I put on weight? I can design the outfit it in such a way that covers up all the bumps. At the same time, it can be beautiful, presentable.”
Years earlier, Darwish had known that as someone who had seen entrepreneurship up close (her father and brothers are all successful businessmen), that was the correct path for her, too. At that time, she poured her efforts into the field of interior design. Here, she slowly began to prove herself, project by project through her firm Koncepts Decor, and became so good at refurbishment that she began to be called Renovation Lady. Two decades into the industry, she was comfortable when the dark clouds began appearing in her life and she felt herself slipping into an emotional void.
An attempt at cheering herself up led to travel. “I didn't know where I was going. I just packed my stuff [and went]. I ended up starting to design my own collections. I started designing my own [outfits] and looking for specific fabrics. I didn't know anything about textile. But I've always loved fashion design [and so I wanted to give it a shot]. I set up a workshop and tried to hire a really good team – the women who joined are very talented and beautiful souls, and they support their families. It's a win-win for both of us.” Currently, her brand employs women in Iran and she's looking to also outsource work to India.
Elif's UAE, says its statement, “is a fashion brand crafted by a woman for women, offering a collection that seamlessly blends timeless elegance with modern versatility.”
To Darwish, it's a canvas of creativity and a mode of expression. “When I was younger,” she mulls, “When my friends had events or something, they would always tell me, can you come shopping with us? Can you set this up, or style it for us? And there was a time I was thinking of getting into styling. But I wanted more, and this was a good time to explore that.”
She focused her emotions into weaving a narrative of warmth and fashion through her ensembles. “I lifted myself up and out of depression,” she says.
It helped, she says, that the UAE is so supportive of business ideas. “I have to say, 70- 80 per cent [Elif's UAE was possible because] I got the support from the government. When I started this business, I started as a home-based business, and they waved off a lot of fees and things, and made it very easy for me just to start,” she said.
While being a wallflower won't help you with your business, if you do go out there and ask for help, there's a lot of infrastructure in the UAE to help you find your path, she explains.
“Being an entrepreneur, it's lonely and it's scary. It means getting out of your comfort zone. A lot of people want to start something just because it makes good money. But I would say that's the wrong way to go about it.
“If you really have a talent or skill or a love for something, that's when you put your heart and soul into it, and so it will be successful. I've been through it so much for almost 10 years. So that's why I ran with this idea,” she says.
Today, Darwish's modest fashion brand showcases abayas; cover-ups that can be worn over jeans and a crop top or a T-shirt; bomber jackets, kaftans, and even Tees. “You could wear it with sneakers, you could wear it with flats or sandals, or you could wear it with heels. And it's up to you how you want to style it,” she adds. The Ramadan collection is out now, and, she stresses, “It has no age limitation. “I have pieces that women in their 20s, 30s, 40s can wear. Even my mom bought a piece from here, and she's 70,” she adds.
The company, which has an all-women team, sells its outfits across the GCC, but Darwish is eying other markets such as the UK and Canada as well.
As she established this brand, she admits, she took a step back from her interior design business. But she says, her partners have been helpful along the process. “I think having experienced over 20 years, you learn how to manage [things as well]. I have to make sure that in the evenings, when my husband is home, we have decent few hours together, weekends. Spending time with family… I learned how to manage the time. But there are times it gets out of control. It gets very overwhelming, and at the end of the day I am a human being, I cannot do it all right or perfect,” she says. And that's alright.
For now, she's focused on keeping her head above the water and her eyes on the prize. For her mental health, she goes for walks and listens to music, and connects with friends and family. “But sometimes, you know what, I just have to be miserable,” she says wanly. “It takes half a day, or a day, and I just eventually say, 'You know what? Okay, you've been miserable. Now get back up and just get back to work.' Sometimes you have to feel, if you have that overwhelming [feeling], let it be. It's part of healing as well and eventually, you if you want to, you will bounce out of it.”
Therapy helps too, she smiles.
There is something instinctual about resilience, that need to be okay; to thrive against any odds; to find happiness in every moment. It's being human by design.
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