Making women feel beautiful again.
Every Wednesday, I will share a resident of the South Bay contributing to making our community a better place.
Today’s WCW title belongs to entrepreneur Mari who began designing clothing with stretchy material in hopes of helping women feel more comfortable in their skin.
Mari, 28, grew up in Southern California. In 2012, Mari began creating dresses after feeling frustrated with the limited amount of styles for her comfort. “I grew tired of shopping at the mall, trying to fit my body type in a Forever 21 dress, so I literally told myself, today, I’m going to make a dress with no pattern, all free hand, and I did,” she says.
Early on, her father and mother inspired her to begin creating dresses. “Every time we had a social gathering, which was almost every Friday and Saturday, my Mother would pick out the fabric and design the outfit, while my Father would make the outfit. It was like having my own personal designer, i am grateful for my parents. they have inspired me to express myself how i wanted to be portrayed which she says is unheard of in the Afghan community.
Initially, Mari only created custom orders, however, is currently transitioning into costume designs for the film industry and stage performance costume.
Mari feels most relaxed when she is able to create pieces and finds that she is in her element then. “It’s my meditation time, a time to recollect my thoughts and keep my mind focus. It’s very therapeutic for me,” she says. Mari’s dress designs are inspired by Bollywood. “I love everything about it, especially Hindi films, colors, colors, colors!”
One of Mari’s greatest passions and ways of paying it forward to the community is as a humanist. She says, “I am prolife. If you are hungry, I will offer you food. If you are thirsty, I will offer you water. I believe every living thing/being on this earth deserves privilege and equality, after all we are all visitors. So who are we as human being to ignore the suffering of others?”
Outside of offering a lending hand to those in need, Mari is very vocal on her social media accounts supporting the latest movement,“Black lives matter.” She became very passionate about the cause after her husband, Daylyt was harassed by the police several times. She says, “Remind you, we don’t drink, we don’t smoke, he is not on parole, he is not a criminal. But even if I’m driving, as soon as they see him, we get pulled over and they take him out of the car, out of camera view, call for backup , and an hour later, let us go. After they don’t have any reason in the first place to pull us over.”
She feels it is important that society educates and acknowledges the fact that racism exists and we it’s practiced daily within the police force and justice system.
When Mari is not creating and designing dresses for her clients, she enjoys living a simple life as a vegan, seamstress, and photographer. She also assists her husband, Daylyt and is a full-time mother to her son, Sunlyt whom she also homeschools.
She enjoys hiking outdoors, swimming, belly dancing, going to the beach, making music, singing, battle rapping, and reading.
Mari has found some ways to a successful life. She says that first, a happy home begins with a happy woman in the household, whether it is the mother, wife, or girlfriend. She also believes in adding color in one’s wardrobe affects their mood tremendously. “The average person’s go to color is black. I think we should break out of that corporate America look and incorporate vibrant colors in our wardrobes once in a while,” she says.
She hopes that others will think outside of the box and speak into existence. She simply says, “YES, you can do whatever you put your mind to!”
Thank you, Mari for a being a wonderful member of the South Bay and offering women an alternative way to feel sexy and advocating human-rights for all.
To contact Mari for custom pieces, please visit her website at i2ahadi.com or visit her instagram page at @MARI2AHADI
“After all, fashion expresses a person’s personality without having to speak! Thanks, mom & dad.”
-Mari