Independent Fashion Brand Llani Shares What it’s Like to Run a Successful Business
In this episode I’m speaking with Alana Oates, the creator and founder of LIani, which began as a globally inspired shoe collection and has recently expanded into accessories, consisting of handbags, jewelry and face masks.
Alana and I had a fantastic conversation where we discussed:
- the importance of infusing your values into your fashion brand and the way you operate your business
- what it’s like to work with artisans and craftspeople to create your fashion collections
- why and how to build relationships with your factory and production partners
- how overnight success is not a real thing in business
ABOUT THE BRAND + DESIGNER
The Llani brand, which was founded 4 years ago, is the result of a partnership between a seasoned shoe designer, Alana, and a coterie of immensely talented artisans & craftspeople who Alana met while working in India.
Alana has worked as a shoe designer for the last 10 years and before launching Llani, she designed shoes for large retailers like Anthropologie and Gap Inc.
Now, through Llani, she’s on a mission to build a quality slow fashion brand that partners with female run and family owned factories. She travels to India as often as she can to work with her team there and sources high quality genuine materials that then get embellished by hand by these talented artisans.