Two innovative women entrepreneurs have set up a knitwear enterprise called ‘Mehrbaf’ to encourage creativity and innovation among female workers as well as to help their families advance economically.
Narges Tayebat and Nahid Jafari, cofounders of Mehrbaf, started their activity in 2012 in the field of producing knitted garments with five female employees; the number has now increased to 18, Honaronline reported.
The apparel includes a wide variety of clothes like manteaus, dresses, skirts, and sweaters, as well as accessories, mostly handbags. “The garments and accessories are either handmade or machine-knitted, a factor that influences the product price,” said Tayebat.
“Our target market is to include customers who earn an average salary in the first place,” she said, adding, however, that there is rising demand from customers for more expensive and sophisticated knitwear.
As a result, Mehrbaf now provides its special customers with a limited number of outfits, which are mostly hand-knitted.
Nevertheless, the founders say they have managed to keep the prices down “so a wide range of customers can afford to buy them.” The machines used in manufacturing the garments are different from those used for mass production in most factories. “We use traditional, ordinary machines which can be adjusted by hand,” Tayebat said.
‘Mehr’ has two meanings in Farsi, affection and the Sun. ‘Baf’ is the root of a verb in Persian which means to knit. Thus, “knitting with love is our stimulant which also inspired us to found our corporation.”
Ornamental Designs
Iranian designs, mostly inspired by kilim rugs and carpets are used as ornamental patterns in the knitwear. “The identification label of garments and accessories often includes information about the origin of the design,” she pointed out. The designs are knitted into the fabric rather than being printed on them.
Pointing to the importance of the Internet in developing their business, the founders said in the first year of their activity, they only managed to offer their work at an exhibition. Later, after establishing their own website, retailers started contacting them from across the country, asking for their products. Lauding the efforts of the designers, Tayebat said they have managed to produce high-quality garments that are welcomed by customers who “want to use outfits, marked by distinction.”
Mehrbaf follows an entrepreneurial spirit with the aim to empower and train women and improve the wellbeing and prosperity of their families through creativity and innovation. It also seeks to keep alive the art of handmade knitwear.
