Yana Barankin loves fashion. She sees it as a form of self-expression and story-telling, and it’s this love that pushed her to start her own clothing company, TAMGA Designs.
The idea for the company started when Yana was working as a development worker in Bangladesh and she saw the working conditions in the factories that produced clothing. She went on a mission to find clothing that was both made responsibly and also from a brand that conscious about their impact on the environment and the people making the clothing.
When she couldn’t find a company that fit her values, as well sold clothes that fit her style, TAMGA Designs was born. “We started the company because we wanted to buy eco-friendly and ethically made clothing, but we were so frustrated by the lack of options,” she says. “We want stylish and responsible fashion to be within reach of every consumer.”
Yana founded the company alongside Eric Dales, who was also working in Bangladesh at the time. The goal of the company was simple: to make sustainable fashion both exciting and accessible without compromising the integrity of their workers.
However, her goal mixed with being a startup brought on some frustrating challenges for Yana. She had high standards for the quality of workmanship and the conditions in which the clothing were being made, so it took almost eight months to find the right supplier. “We got rejected left right and centre, approaching factories and textile mills who just weren’t interested in answering our questions,” Yana says of the process. “It was difficult to keep going at times, but we’ve got a great team and kept each other motivated.”
The logistics behind creating a business also proved a challenge at first. Things such as getting financing to adapting to the fast-paced and ever-changing world of online shopping were hard to balance alongside delivering the best product and experience for their customers.
Through it all, Yana looks to the positive experiences to help her get through those difficult times. “We’re getting better at dealing with the highs and lows, and making sure that we learn something from every experience,” she says.
One of the biggest highs of her TAMGA career sticks in her mind as the Kickstarter campaign they used when they first started selling their designs. This early and meaningful milestone, as Yana describes it, helped raise over $26,000 in pre-sales to help the company move forward and hit larger audiences.
Now, in 2017, while the company has grown bigger, Yana still finds joy in the smaller recognition such as hearing positive feedback and reviews from customers, or seeing people post photos on Instagram of them showing off their newest purchases.
These highs and lows can be frustrating for someone trying to break into the fashion business, but Yana believes that with the right mindset, anyone can succeed if they work with what they have. “Be persistent! Fashion is a fast-changing and cut-throat industry, and not everyone will love your products. Learn from criticism, but don’t let it slow you down.”
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