Meet Nadira Khalikova | Founder

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

Hi Nadira, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I originally come from Uzbekistan. When I came to Germany in 2015 as a master’s scholarship recipient, I began to engage with issues such as women’s rights and sustainability. It was also a time when I experienced an identity crisis and wanted nothing to do with my homeland. In 2018, I traveled to my homeland of Uzbekistan for three weeks to visit my family. During this trip, I noticed for the first time how challenging it can be to be an Uzbek woman. I realized how difficult daily life can be for women in my homeland. I had many conversations with my friends and relatives. They were often sad conversations about their daily life, marriage, and in-laws. After returning to Germany, I couldn’t stop thinking about these women from my homeland. I started by writing about it on my blog. relatively quickly, I realized that my writing wasn’t doing much to help women. I wanted to support women directly Without any middleman. That’s how my online shop, MLB, was created – to directly help Uzbek craftswomen and to tell their personal stories through fashion. Through the world of traditional ikat fabrics and Suzani tapestries, I was able to accept my identity.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We work exclusively with women, because the world of textiles in Uzbekistan has always been the domain of women. Fair and transparent payment of our craftswomen is important to us. In addition, we work with traditional Uzbek fabrics, which are woven by hand and dyed using only plant-based agents. These traditional fabrics tell the story of Uzbekistan and its people.

We work with natural fibers and make sure to produce less waste in production. Each piece of material is often used elsewhere and this is how our zero waste parts are created. Our mission is to adapt Uzbek traditional fabrics for the everyday life of modern women (and men) and through this fashion to tell the personal story of each craftswoman. In short, we are committed to transparency, fairness and women’s rights in the fashion industry.

Our biggest challenge was the Corona Pandemic. Since we founded during the Corona, we had many challenges such as a lack of reach, no network events to master. Also, online communication between our team in Germany and Uzbekistan was not easy. We have worked very hard to establish effective and productive communication.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Believing in my idea and having the support of my husband and mother have been very helpful for me. Without these two strong personalities, I probably wouldn’t have dared to realize my idea and help women directly. I would also like to mention craftswomen from our team in Bukhara. They serve me as a great inspiration through their creativity, patience and strength.

Website: www.mylittlebukhara.com/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/my_little_bukhara/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/my-little-bukhara/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mylittlebukhara8690

Image Credits
Christian Mueller Nadira Khalikova