Close friends, businesswomen, and namesakes Alina Kokkonen and Alina Dvoeglazova founded their festive, over-the-top fashion label Abitu after working in the fashion industry for years. “We wanted to create statement feminine pieces with a delicate and fancy design that would be timeless.”
Cover photo: courtesy of Abitu
Abitu
Founded by two friends and colleagues, Abitu responds to a request for something bold and glamorous to wear in the evening. Alina Kokkonen and Alina Dvoeglazova both worked in fashion PR and marketing for years, when they came up with the idea behind Abitu. We had a quick conversation with the two ladies about the start of their brand and exciting plans for the future.
In conversation with the founders
TTM: Alina and Alina, can you tell a bit about how the brand started, after working in the fashion industry for several years?
Alina Kokkonen and Alina Dvoeglazova: “We both had an opportunity of working for international brands in Russia which is an incredible experience and a great responsibility. This gave us an understanding of the industry from the inside. We felt ready to express our own voices, one day we talked about working on the project together. After several brainstorms, we defined the style we want to explore and a marketing strategy. When it comes to starting something, you only need courage. We were convinced that we could be a team and that there’s no time to wait.”
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TTM: What is it like to collaborate as friends?
AK: “We are lucky to have love and support, it’s priceless. Our opinions complement each other, we never argue about the business issues, it may happen only when it’s a really hard day. We are both involved in all aspects of the business, and our friendship gives it an amazing synergy.”
Neo-romanticism
TTM: Abitu’s style would describe itself best as neo-romantic, chic, and bold. How did you come up with the concept? Did you guys feel something was missing within the industry?
AD: “Our daily uniform is quite plain — it’s mostly jeans, shirts, and sweatshirts, sneakers, or heavy boots. We decided that it would be cool to have an evening party top to wear with jeans, but still, there were few offers of this kind. This is how we started with our signature princess top with exaggerated sleeves. We wanted to create statement feminine pieces with a delicate and fancy design that would be timeless.”
“We dream to dress up our favorite pop stars like Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, and Rihanna.”
Alina Kokkonen and Alina Dvoeglazova
TTM: What do you hope to achieve with your label?
AK: “We’d like to continue working on the party look making it more recognizable and versatile. We want to make fashion girls around the world fall in love with #abituworld aesthetics — candy colors, mermaid shimmers, and a fairytale mood. We are sure that Abitu pieces will give them high spirits.”
TTM: Any exciting plans for the (near) future?
AD: “Right now Abitu is presented at Bloomingdale’s the Middle East which is located in Dubai and Kuwait. We would be happy to expand our offline presence around the world, Europe, and the USA, and to join all the major fashion platforms. We dream to dress up our favorite pop stars like Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, and Rihanna.”
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