Our Co-Founder, My Dad & the Business Brain Behind Aarabhi London

If you've been following us for a while, you'll have heard me mention my dad Siva plenty of times. He's the co-founder of Aarabhi London, the person who keeps the business side of things running and one of the main reasons this brand exists at all. Today I'm handing over to him so you can finally get to know the man behind the scenes. Over to you, Siva...

First things first, what does your role at Aarabhi London actually look like day to day?

Aarabhi London isn't actually my only commitment. I have a full-time job alongside this, so my involvement tends to happen in the evenings and at weekends, or whenever a significant decision needs to be made.

My focus is firmly on the numbers, making sure the business makes sense financially, that we're pricing correctly, that the margins work etc. The things that keep a brand alive behind the scenes that customers rarely see!

What's been interesting is watching my role naturally evolve over the years. When we started, Aarabhi needed a lot more input from me across all areas of the business. She has grown as both a designer and a business owner and as her confidence and experience have grown, my involvement has gradually scaled back. She needs me less than she used to!

What's it actually like working with your daughter every day?

It's been an interesting journey. We get along in some aspects and really don't in others but that's the truth of any close working relationship, let alone one between a father and daughter.

We are very similar in many ways. We both have positive outlooks on life, we both care deeply about doing things properly, and we both want the same thing for this brand ultimately. That shared drive is what keeps us moving forward even when we disagree.

We do disagree... quite often! I come from a traditional business background where decisions are driven by numbers and commercial logic. Aarabhi's instincts are often more creative and intuitive and sometimes that creates friction. More often than not, the best decisions we make are somewhere in the middle of those two perspectives. I've learned to trust her instincts more than I expected to and I think she'd say the same about my judgement.

Why does the brand's ethos, small batches and consciously handmade matter to you personally?

This is an interesting one because I'll be completely honest, it didn't matter to me at all in the beginning. My background is in businesses that operate in entirely the opposite way. Volume, scale and efficiency. The idea of deliberately making fewer pieces or choosing more expensive organic fabrics when cheaper alternatives exist, none of that made obvious business sense to me initially.

Over time I've come to understand it differently. Customers don't just buy from us because they like the clothes. They buy from us because they believe in how those clothes are made. That belief is incredibly hard to build and incredibly easy to lose. The moment we compromise on those values for short term commercial gain, we lose the thing that makes us different.

What's your favourite piece we've ever made and why?

The block print collection we've just launched is probably the most significant for me personally. It was a collection I was not keen on going ahead with but as soon as I saw the samples, I was really pleased and excited. I immediately told Aarabhi we need to go ahead with it.

Where do you see Aarabhi London in five years?

I don't want us to scale in a way that compromises the quality, the craft or the values because the moment we do that, we become just another fashion brand and there are plenty of those!

What I want in five years is for Aarabhi London to be a name that women genuinely seek out because someone they trust told them about us... a brand built on reputation. I also want us to have a physical presence and I believe there is something very powerful about customers being able to experience the brand in person, to touch the fabrics and understand the quality. That's something I'd love to see us build toward.

Siva, Co-Founder, Aarabhi London

Thank you Siva, we'll let you get back to the spreadsheets now! 😄 If you have any questions for our co-founder, drop them in the comments below and we might just do this again! 🤍

If you'd like to hear more from Siva, make sure to listen to our podcast episode of the Everyday Hustle where we go even deeper into the story behind Aarabhi London and what it's really like to build a brand as a father and daughter.