A stitch in time
Hansanie. Pic by Ranjith Perera
For Hansanie Meemanage, the trickiest part of setting up her online store was convincing her mum to come onboard. The Ami Collection’s designs are originally hand-drawn and stitched by her mother so of course, complicity was essential. For Indrani Perera buying your clothes on the internet seemed a very strange thing to be doing but her daughter proved to be very persuasive. “She came around eventually,” smiles Hansanie.
Today the Ami Collection is going strong. Although it’s been just over a year since they started operations, their page on Facebook has over 30 000 likes. Hansanie believes that this has less to do with aggressive online marketing and more to do with consistently delivering high-quality garments to their customers. “Perfection is something that both my mother and I strive for with each piece,” she stresses.
While most other online stores have made their market in ready-made garments bulk-bought from overseas, the Ami Collection finds its niche market in original designs and an uncompromising commitment to quality. Hansanie- a business graduate currently employed in the IT sector-created her business with the click of a button on Facebook in November 2013. “I’ve grown up around clothes and sewing,” she says of finding the inspiration for her start-up. “So I know how things work behind the scenes.”
Her mother is the creative force behind the business. Indrani is an accomplished seamstress and Hansanie would frequently be complimented on her clothes at work. In 2013, with encouragement from her friends and extended family, she broached the idea for the Ami Collection with her mother and once she came onboard launched the page on Facebook. “At first we only had a handful of orders,” she remembers. “It was only after a while that more orders started coming in from strangers who took a chance on us.” Each order was given full attention, and gradually their client base grew through word of mouth. About five months later, Ami Collection started advertising and saw this base expanding significantly.
Customers make orders through the Facebook page, and can specify their size and colour requirements with the order. Since Ami Collection only offers dresses (for now), they are usually happy to tailor the designs according to the customers’ waist, bust and length requirements and if they feel it is suitable to do so will make minor design adjustments as required. “My mum and sisters follow a very scientific method when it comes to tailoring,” Hansanie shares. “So our work is quite precise and detailed.”
Since they have no plans to target the mass market, Ami Collection will continue its operations online. Hansanie believes that an online shop should remain so, and holds on to a firm conviction that stocks should be kept as much to a minimum as possible. “Because we tailor to requirement more often than not we don’t really need to keep clothes in stock,” she explains.
Their target market is those looking for affordable quality, she notes, and a quick visit to the page reveals that their dresses fall below the Rs. 2000 price range. Of course, courier service will sometimes add a few extra rupees to your charge but it seems a reasonable price to pay for a well-made dress. They offer island wide delivery, and the cash payment option is available for Colombo. “As an entrepreneur satisfaction is incredibly important,” she tells us. “Of course on and off we get a few complaints, which we immediately address, but mostly the response has been very positive.”
Find Ami Collection on Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/TheAmiCollection