VELA's founders on design, sizing, and the pressure to restock

A scarf brand can receive two requests that are difficult to satisfy together. Customers want favorite designs back quickly, and they want the next batch to feel like the one they already love. VELA's published founder interviews make that tension visible. They provide an unusually concrete way to examine how a Muslim American fashion business describes design, production, and its relationship with buyers.

The company's story dates VELA to 2009 and identifies sisters Marwa Atik and Tasneem Atik Sabri as its co-founders. It describes design work in Southern California and production relationships in India. These are company statements about its own history and process. They establish the founders' account without independently certifying every claim about the supply chain. Story and process

Marwa Atik discusses her experience as a Muslim woman in a Marie Claire interview.

The product begins with choices

VELA's public materials discuss color, fabric, print, and size as distinct design decisions. That is a useful way to read a product that might otherwise look simple in a photograph. A scarf has dimensions, an edge finish, a level of transparency, and a particular way of falling when worn. Each choice can affect whether it suits a customer's routine.

In a September 2022 sizing interview, Marwa described a school visit where sixth- through eighth-grade girls decorated standard-size scarves. She recalled that the fabric was too large for them. That experience led to a mini size, with her niece Zahra helping test it. The interview presents a founder's recollection of a design decision; it does not establish current measurements or stock. For shoppers, the practical response is to compare actual measurements with a scarf they already use. A familiar object on a table is often a better reference than the impression created by a model photograph. Sizing interview

A public discussion of quality

In an August 2024 Q&A, the founders addressed concerns about production speed, softness, price, and variation between batches. They said rapid scaling had affected quality and described slowing production to restore their intended standards. That admission is part of a dated company statement. It should be read with its date attached and checked against current product information when making a purchase. Founders' Q&A

The discussion matters to entrepreneurs because a restock is an operational promise. A product can carry the same name while a customer notices a difference in color or feel. A business needs a way to compare samples, record acceptable variation, and explain changes. Those practical questions extend beyond scarves to printed stationery, ceramics, printed textiles, and other repeat purchases.

Textiles as a cultural reference

VELA's account of its Baladi capsule discusses an interest in Syrian textiles and the founders' desire to share that heritage. A collection story can help buyers understand why a pattern appears and which tradition the designers are referencing. It also gives a publication something more specific to examine than a broad claim of cultural inspiration. Baladi capsule

When studying a culturally referenced product, ask where the design explanation comes from and how the maker presents the source. A brief caption might identify a textile tradition, while a longer article can discuss the design process. Keep the distinction between the historical reference and the contemporary product visible. The latter is a new object made within a commercial collection.

What a small fashion business can take from the record

One useful exercise is to list the qualities a repeat customer expects to remain stable. For a textile, that may include size, softness, opacity, color family, and care instructions. Then identify how the business will check each quality before sending an order. Record the specification alongside the product photographs.

Another exercise concerns communication. If a batch changes, explain what changed in the place where customers choose the item. A buried social post may never reach someone ordering from a search result. The current listing and customer-service response should agree.

Explore with the right questions

A buyer can read VELA's founder material to understand the brand's perspective, then turn to an individual listing for present-day dimensions, fabric, availability, and shipping details. A maker can study the same record as a series of decisions about scale and customer expectations.

The sisters' published story is valuable because it includes the less glamorous work around a desired product. Design is followed by sampling, production, comparison, restocking, and explanation. Those stages shape what the customer finally receives, and they deserve a place in a serious account of Muslim American entrepreneurship.

For a first purchase, choose one item whose specifications fit an existing need and keep the order details. For a business study, compare the dated interviews rather than assuming they all describe the same moment. Both approaches reward attention to the actual object and the evidence available about it.

A place in American design

VELA belongs in a history of American design because it treats wearers as people with particular aesthetic and practical preferences. The contribution is a set of choices about a familiar object, together with a public account of the work needed to produce it. This is not a claim that every Muslim woman wants the same style or that the brand represents all approaches to dress.

Compare the sisters’ work with Syed Rahman’s wall art: both begin with a use that a designer understands personally, then face the task of explaining dimensions, materials, and finish to other people. See the arts and design collection for the wider setting.

The customer-interview guide develops this practical question: what can observing someone use a sample reveal that a general request for feedback might miss?

Sources & further reading 5 sources

1. VELA story and process
2. VELA founders Q&A
3. VELA sizing interview
4. VELA Baladi capsule
5. Marie Claire: interview with Marwa Atik