Kami.: Finding Growth and Success on Tokopedia
In Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, women are redefining Muslim fashion. As they search for modest, elegant, and comfortable clothing, the creative minds behind the Muslim fashion industry are showing more passion, creativity, and authenticity than ever before.
Let’s hear from Istafiana Candarini, the owner of Kami., a modest urban Muslim wear founded in Indonesia, on how the brand appeals to women across the country!
Can you share the story behind Kami.?
In 2009, Kami. started out as an idea between myself and two of my friends, who all shared a passion for fashion. We started by selling scarves and accessories, which ultimately enabled us to produce apparel, actively joining bazaars and leveraging social media as one of our sales channels.
When we started, having limited business capital and getting rejected by several textile companies were definitely a challenge. However, we started small by producing accessories and took every rejection as motivation to work even harder to find a partner who could accommodate our needs.
Officially, Kami. was founded in 2011 to provide Muslim women with cotton-based headscarves that were popular among the hijab-wearing community. Now, we produce our entire collection in two factories in Bandung, West Java, with around 50 people working for the brand — most of whom are women.
What would you say is unique about Kami.?
Back in 2009, we were one of the first businesses to tap into the modest fashion industry and create hijabs for women. At that time, the market was not really aware of the appropriate fabrics or materials to use for hijabs. After many factory visits and an endless search for quality materials, I would say that the quality we now offer at Kami. is uncomparable.
At Kami., we also always do our best to tell the story behind every product — one that people can relate to. Through our story, we want to share our experience building Kami. and ultimately finding our passion.
Why did you join Tokopedia and how has it supported your business growth?
We joined Tokopedia in 2018 because we recognized Tokopedia’s commitment to helping local business owners succeed and grow their businesses, and we wanted to be part of that. Tokopedia’s e-commerce platform is also easy to use and offers us a lot of support in reaching our online audiences. So far, being on Tokopedia has given our customers a very smooth shopping experience.
Now, Kami. is a regular participant in Tokopedia campaigns such as Modest on Trend, Ramadan In Style, and Muslim Fash Forward to help our customers find products that they love.
Moving forward, we hope to be able to use more of Tokopedia’s marketing tools and services, including the Tokopedia Affiliate program.
Why did you decide to join Tokopedia Fashion Week?
In August, Tokopedia invited me to join an ongoing collaboration between the team, illustrator Dinda Puspitasari, and several local fashion brands. The idea was to create an exclusive collection to be launched during Tokopedia Fashion Week 2022. Seeing the opportunity this would bring to local fashion brands like Kami. and knowing that many other talented businesses — such as Nadjani, Amazara, and Clouwny — had agreed to participate, I was very honored to be part of the team.
How was the collaboration with Dinda in preparation for Tokopedia Fashion Week?
Collaborating with Dinda was such a great pleasure. We named our collection Eloma, themed women’s empowerment and representing women’s beauty through floral patterns. We chose four different types of flowers, each with its own meaning– the mimosa to represent self-respect, roses to signify passion, carnations toillustrate love and sincerity, and lilies to narrate a mother’s love.
We wanted our collection to highlight the theme, as well as Kami.’s unique pattern and color palettes, while showcasing Dinda’s beautiful drawing skills. We believe this collection really showed the presence of Kami. and Dinda.
Do you have any tips for small business owners out there?
Whatever business idea you have, take the first step, and try. You’ll never know what you are capable of until you start. Get to know your target audience as this will help you refine your products to fit their needs.
For Kami., our target audience is Indonesian women who wear hijabs, who want to look modern, and who wear items that are fashionable. Once we understand these women well, we were able to offer them products that suited their needs.
Explore Kami.’s latest products on Tokopedia here.
