• Sarah Illyas of House of Janaan on Pakistani fashion in the Lankan market

In the ever-evolving landscape of fashion, being an entrepreneur by necessity means being a visionary too. December saw the entrance of such a visionary with the opening of the clothing label House of Janaan. Led by Sarah Illyas, House of Janaan showcases the beauty of Pakistani craft and textiles blended with Sarah’s singular taste to create a range of Pakistani-inspired traditional and fusion clothing. 

Sarah has developed a reputation as a trailblazer in the fashion industry, with over a decade of multifaceted experience encompassing fashion, buying merchandising, cross-country market launches, and strategic leadership for one of South East Asia’s largest e-commerce platforms.

Additionally, Sarah has also led House of Janaan on a smaller scale for several years, focusing on creating capsule collections with one-off pieces and developing a loyal base of customers in and out of Sri Lanka who appreciate the intricacy of Pakistani craftsmanship. She’s also the founder of Momager, a platform for postpartum healing inspired by the midwife culture of Malaysia. 

A few weeks after House of Janaan’s opening, The Sunday Morning Brunch sat down with Sarah for a chat on the brand, and how Sarah approaches being an entrepreneur across borders (she is based in Malaysia, with a newly-launched retail brand in Sri Lanka, and design workshops in Pakistan). 

The birth of House of Janaan

Sarah’s foray into the professional fashion world began with a pivotal internship at Zalora, South East Asia’s largest e-commerce platform. Now a decade on, Sarah has worked with Zalora in almost all of its various sectors, from fashion to home and living.

“That experience gave me the background and exposure I needed,” she reflected, sharing that, interestingly, despite a decade in fashion and a newly-launched fashion brand, she had been the first of her family to embark on a career in fashion, and had done so rather unexpectedly. At the time, it was about securing a job in another country while dating her now-husband, who worked at KPMG in Malaysia. She stumbled into the industry by luck, unaware of its intricacies and hierarchies, and found herself a home.

The genesis of House of Janaan lies in Sarah’s exposure to the intricate and beautiful world of Pakistani fashion during her frequent visits to Pakistan with her husband, who is Pakistani. Enthralled by the aesthetics, designs, and fashion houses, she realised there was a gap in the Sri Lankan market. Thus, House of Janaan was born, starting with pop-ups and exhibitions that received a remarkable response and ultimately led to this new retail store. 

“Everything in House of Janaan is designed in-house to be exclusive to our brand,” Sarah shared of how she had cultivated the brand’s identity. “From cuts and threadwork to colours and textiles, everything is handpicked from Pakistan. We maintain the exclusivity of our brand by ensuring that our craftsmanship is different from others.”

House of Janaan draws inspiration from the rich heritage of Pakistani craftsmanship, incorporating techniques such as aari work, zardosi work, crystal work, threadwork, and block printing. Sarah noted that even renowned fashion houses like Dior had been influenced by the craftsmanship of the Indian subcontinent.

House of Janaan also introduces a bridal luxe lounge, emphasising intricate workmanship and craftsmanship at a more exclusive price point. Sarah explained: “Our bridal collection will distinguish itself with limited pieces and customisation options, catering to nikahs and weddings. We will soon launch a bridal collection with the same model for brides who want to customise their attire.”

Opening a retail store posed challenges beyond the initial excitement. Reflecting on the process, Sarah said she did not perceive the struggles of opening the store itself to be a challenge, but rather just something that needed to be done. “The real challenge comes after day one of opening a store. Retail is unpredictable; you never know how many visitors you will have,” she shared, adding that House of Janaan would be focusing equally on both retaining existing customers and attracting new ones in order to establish a strong foothold in the retail space.

The location of House of Janaan on Bagatalle Road was also carefully chosen to evoke curiosity and exclusivity. Sarah noted: “We really want to draw in the customer and provide a unique space for activities, events, collaborations, and community building. It’s more about the vibe than a traditional retail space.”

Leading teams across borders

Sarah’s decade-long experience in the industry, particularly with a company managing six markets remotely, has been a guiding light in how she manages her own teams across multiple countries. Being no stranger to the challenges of remote work, even before the crash course that was Covid-19, Sarah’s experience has helped her understand the importance of empowering teams and fostering a progressive way of thinking. 

“As a junior manager, I got the chance to define my leadership skills early on. I had to work hard to be flexible across different markets,” Sarah said, adding: “Before I could influence everyone else, I had to decide what kind of leader I was and what kind of leader I wanted to be.” 

This meant a great deal of self-investment and training, especially in terms of how to relate to people in different markets and cultures than your own and being able to respond to different cultures and different approaches (for example, Sarah shared that business cultures in South East Asia could be more dictatorial than those in South Asia) helped Sarah define herself as a leader, and, when the time came, decide what kind of culture she wanted to build. 

“I believe in hiring individuals who challenge me and bring strengths that complement mine,” Sarah said, speaking of how she approached building teams, adding: “I can’t have someone like me working with me, so I look for people with different profiles and skill sets to mine, who have more strength than I do in what they need to do and who will challenge me and my ideas.”

Sarah also explained that focusing on building a team with different skill sets also led to an innate sense of empowerment and growth across the team because each member knew that they were the best at what they had been asked to do and so they took that chance to thrive. It also allows Sarah as a leader to place responsibility and faith in whoever is on the ground as opposed to trying to manage different countries herself. 

She’s also a firm believer in remote work and hybrid work arrangements, noting that working remotely often increased productivity, though, of course, this did not always apply. Working in retail, merchandising, and manufacturing often requires you to be in the office every day. But, with many other jobs, especially senior leadership and strategy roles, working from home can often prove to be more productive. 

Building a Pakistani-Lankan brand

One of Sri Lankan fashion retail’s most enduring traits is that it leans towards celebrating local design – from heritage crafts like handloom and batik to its emerging designers who blend traditional Sri Lankan textiles and shapes with contemporary fashion trends to create unique points of view.

House of Janaan is something of a departure from the norm because while it is designed entirely in-house by Sarah and her team, it focuses on Pakistani craft, motifs, and textiles as opposed to a connection to Sri Lankan craft and culture. 

Sarah shared that this departure from the Sri Lankan identity was intentional. “There are so many doing it so well. It’s not in my interest to come in and compete and plug myself into something that is already working so well,” she said. 

So, instead of competing, House of Janaan intentionally focuses on bridging a gap in the market by bringing international aesthetics to Sri Lanka. This doesn’t mean the brand is limited to sticking to Pakistan and only Pakistan in terms of where it draws its aesthetic roots from – Sarah shared that she was open to collaborations within the local industry that could build something experimental and out-of-the-box. 

Her current focus though is to establish House of Janaan within the Lankan fashion tapestry, both online and offline. The year 2024 will see House of Janaan launch its website to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience anywhere in the world and Sarah is also working on two new collections for the first half of 2024 – the pre-Eid and Eid 2024 collections, which will feature vibrant jewel tones, intricate designs, and a fusion of traditional and contemporary elements.