Morvarid: An Iranian designer with a passion for fashion
Rarely do talent and altruism go hand in hand. MORV is a brand that personifies both, Morvarid Sahafi began designing her own clothes at 10 years old by reconstructing hand me downs from her elder sister. Her peripatetic childhood led her from Iran to Sweden with many capitals in between; after a fashion degree in Paris and a Middle Eastern Arts degree in London, Morv’s fairy godmother gave her a small sum to start her own business. Morv travelled to her dreamland, India, to source a couturier, she claims to have found the best pattern cutter in the world and persuaded him to set up a factory for her in Delhi. Together they found seamstresses of exquisite calibre and produced fashions for “the girl who dares”, silk and leather lingerie inspired dresses and separatesembroidered or inset with lace panels “for women who like to feel free, sexy and independent”. These alluring garments became the rage with London it-girls, model Tigerlily Taylor and Game of Thrones star Rose Leslie, and with designer muses Daphne Guinness and Debonair Von Bismarck.
Morv’s philosophy is admirable; it is all about empowering women. Her lace is made by women who have been rescued from hellish lives, her textile prints that are still in development for the 2018 season feature suffragettes faces against a cosmic background, 5% of her profits go to theGulabi Gang- a women’s activist group in pink sarees who fight against gender violence, caste oppression and corruption; lately she is researching swopping her real leatherwear to muskin, a substitute leather made from mushroom fibre.MORV do not have an agent or press office, all the PR is done on Instagram by Morv herself, she has a passion for fashion, transparency in clothing/ life/ accounts and consciousness (environmental and dharmic). It is no wonder that her concept attracted Marty Wikstrom, former CEO of Richemont Fashion, to be her mentor and investors Guy Weston and Will Hobhouse.
Morv effervesces with ideas, her small team work almost around the clock with her adorable six month old baby dancing in the baby bouncer to the hip hop sound of “Jump Around” by the artist “House of Pain” in the centre of the studio table. The latest idea is a collection of cute satin “Kitty” pyjamas and onesies that have gone viral in Selfridges,the hoodie- cum-eye mask is embroidered with funny feline eyelashes. MORV have just won an award from the ChinaBritain Business Council “Mission to Shanghai” project, who are sponsoring her Managing Director on a mission to find pyjama manufacturers and retail outlets in China. These colourful pyjamas are so desirable that the management team hope the profits will sustain the growth of future fashion collections and bespoke wedding dresses.
Morv effervesces with ideas, her small team work almost around the clock with her adorable six month old baby dancing in the baby bouncer to the hip hop sound of “Jump Around” by the artist “House of Pain” in the centre of the studio table.