March is the month in which we take a moment to appreciate our mothers, but we all know that love comes in many varied and wonderful forms. In this series of posts we meet three stylish influencers from MOJEH Issue 34 to find out more about a relationship they couldn’t be without.
Interview by Natalie Trevis
Maha Abdul Rasheed, creative director of vintage-inspired label Bambah, and her brother Hussein, owner of concept store, The Zoo
I live for relationships. I’m very lucky to be working with my family. It’s really comforting to be able to depend on someone that you know you can trust and someone you can have a laugh with all the time. With Hussein, it’s a little bit more special because we were best friends before we became business partners. We’re just a year apart in age, so we grew up together, went to school together and shared the same friends. Whenever we travelled, we were always the explorers; we’d wander off and hunt for cool collectibles and new designers.
It was very natural for us to join forces and start the business together. I’m a little bit more business-oriented and he’s more design- oriented, but it overlaps. It’s the perfect chemistry. Hussein is more the outgoing kind, for sure. He’s my confidence boost. He’s very spontaneous and lives for the moment. I’m a little bit reserved; I think of the consequences too much. It’s nice because we both rub off on each other. If I were to leave him on a buying trip on his own, we would go broke tomorrow; if I went alone, it would be pointless!
All our moments are special. There’s always a milestone in our lives, because we’re very fast-paced. Some of the most special moments have been opening our boutiques. We do a lot of the work ourselves, from the design and fit-outs to branding and marketing: We’re almost like a two-man show, which is amazing because we love it. When you open your doors for the first time and welcome your first customer, it’s the most sentimental moment, because you just take a step back and think, “wow, we actually did it, we pulled through”. He pushes me to reach my limits and that’s why I value our relationship so much.
