Meet Esmahan Abdallah | Jewelry and Textiles designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Esmahan Abdallah and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Esmahan, what do you attribute your success to?
Passion and dedication!! If you ask any entrepreneur why they have started a business, 90% of the times it goes back to their passion. Starting a business is alot of work and alot of the times you feel like giving up. But when you do something that you love and passionate about, you are most likely to stick to it and succeed.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Buno Design was actually co founded by me and my sisters in UK back in 2014. We started as a sustainable and modest evening wear. Our brand was born out of necessity due to the lack of brands catering for Muslim women who wanted to dress modestly yet modern.

After diving deeper in the sustainable fashion world, we discovered there was a need for sustainable jewelry .

We learned that most people knew how recycle their garments but didn’t know what to do with their jewelry.

In 2018 ,I started Buno Design Jewelry, where I design and make sustainable jewelry from recycled, vintage and old broken jewelry materials.

I am a textiles designer by profession, I specialized woven textiles at university. Jewelry designing is a self-taught skill that I enjoy the most .

One of the most important lessons I learned from running small business, is that you always have to keep learning and pivoting . Every mistake is a lesson yet to be learned . Our brand represents many strong BIPOC women in the creative industry . It inspires young people from immigrant families that they are able to achieve their dreams with hard work and determination.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well living in Alberta , we are blessed with the mountains and stunning lakes . I actually had my best friend visiting me from the UK 3 years ago and we took a girls trip to Calgary, then to Banff, Lake Louis, Lake Milwaukee….etc . It was a short trip but if I have to do it again , I would take her to Jasper and Canmore. I love eating at small owned restaurants and shop at local handle shops.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My late father who we lost to cancer in 2018. He was our greatest inspiration for starting a business . As a father of 3 daughters , he was always teased for not having a son who would carry his name . Our father raised us with so much pride and always encouraged us to pursue our dreams. He made us believe in ourselves and taught as that women are far stronger than men and we can do what ever we put our mind into it. We named our business after our grandfather’s name to carry his legacy and proof everyone that girls can carry their family legacy too.

Website: Www.buno-design.com

Instagram: @buno_design