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Sophia Jawad is aiming to showcase her fashion prowess and the budding entrepreneurial spirit she inherited from her father with her newly opened boutique.
Located in the Jawad Dome in Barbar, nestled between Galleria Sophia and Tilly’s Café is Tilly’s Closet, Sophia’s cosy boutique which stocks a vast collection of high-end fashion shoes, handbags and accessories from Brazil.
Sophia, 22, nicknamed Tilly, is the youngest of four children and the only daughter of Bahraini businessman Faisal Jawad, chairman of Jawad Business Group, and his wife Judith.
Since a young age she has had a keen eye for fashion and used her skills to design the boutique and handpick the items on display.
Sophia described designing the boutique as difficult at first as she had to put across her vision to the store designers.
She said: “I made a few sketches just to make sure everyone understood what it was that I wanted. It was not exactly the way I envisioned it but it is still just as beautiful to me.
“I got a lot of help from my parents. My father has a lot of business acumen and wisdom when it comes to buying so I was thrilled to get some input from him.”
The decision to open the boutique came from Sophia’s long-standing interest in fashion. After graduating from the University of Arts London, UK, in 2011, Sophia landed an internship for one of the biggest names in fashion, Alexander McQueen.
The internship prepared her for the pressure of running a business in the highly-competitive fashion industry.
“I was an intern for Alexander McQueen in London for four months. Working in a major fashion house, especially in London, was definitely not a walk in the park,” she said.
“I worked with the designers and created samples for them, dyed fabrics and sewed. It was not easy.”
The walk-in-closet designed store is colourful and bright and stocks a range of different shoes and handbags, as well as a generous amount of accessories such as belts and small bags, at prices ranging from BD26-100.
Most of the items sold in Tilly’s Closet are from the brand Schutz as well as a few from Ana Capri and Lillies Collection, which are usually only available in Brazil or in multi-brand stores around the world. The boutique is the first store to sell these brands in the GCC.
Originally, Schutz shoes were boots for men, but after women discovered their sturdiness and fashionable aesthetic, Schutz shoes expanded to include high quality women’s footwear that balances fashion trends with innovative design, the company says.
Sophia says the items in store suit everyone’s taste and pocket, with innovative styles, colours and shapes on offer.
Jawad Business Group’s expansion into the fashion industry began in 1987 with the arrival of BHS. Its range of clothing, shoes, lingerie, homeware, bodycare, cosmetics and accessories brought renowned names from across the globe to Bahrain.
Jawad’s fashion division has more than 330 outlets in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Tilly’s Closet is open from 10am-9pm everyday. For more information, call 17008471.
