Designer Spotlight | KNIGHBURY

Why we ♥ KNIGHBURY Accessories

Based out of Orange County, KNIGHBURY was co-founded by mother-daughter duo, Farida and Nargis Mithaiwala. Farida, born and raised in India, used to make clothes at a young age for her family and had always been an admirer of the fashion world. Later in life, after living in the United States, she decided to start a small line of accessories, mixing traditional prints with modern style. A few years later, her daughter, Nargis, graduated with an MFA in Fashion Merchandising and decided to join her. Nargis rebranded the already established company to KNIGHBURY, Farida changed up the prints and fabrications to meet demand, and most recently launched a handbag collection, Inspired by what they love most: to travel.

If you’re looking for the perfect scarf or travel bag you must check out this brand, and of course read on! You will always find one of a kind pieces, and feel as though you are taking a piece of their travels with you.

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How long have you been designing/making accessories and at what point did you decide to make it your career?

My mom, Farida, started making scarves a few years ago under a different name for fun; but it wasn’t until the summer of 2014, after I graduated from Acadamy of Art University with my masters in Fashion Merchandising, that I didn’t decide to join her and create KNIGHBURY. We both had the same ideas and hopes for a real, luxurious, travelesque brand, and that is when we decided to create KNIGHBURY.

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What is the inspiration behind your designs?/What inspired your most recent collection?

Our brand is about travel and keeping life easy. We aim to create stand out pieces that can either pull a whole outfit together, or do all the work without needing any other accessories. Our merchandise is all hand block printed, which is one of the oldest ways of textile printing in India, so it’s no surprise that sometimes our prints can give off an Indian vibe. With that in mind, we work to also modernize our prints so they can mix and match with current fashions in the United States. We are very inspired by nature, adventure and color. I like to think of our brand like this:

If you were traveling to Spain, which scarf would be your “grab-n-go” to complete your whole outfit and keep you bundled in the evening without having to go back to the hotel room? or.. If you were taking a weekend trip to Napa, which exciting, vibrant weekender would you take to carry all your beautiful outfit changes?

As exciting as traveling can be, it can also become hectic, chaotic, and bothersome when you have to carry a jacket all day or 3 different bags because your main bag just isn’t big enough to carry everything. That’s where KNIGHBURY comes in. We want to fix those problems, but we also want to make travel, and everyday adventures in general, lively and beautiful.

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How did you decide on Knighbury as the name of the brand?

My mother is inspired by nature, and I’m inspired by select people’s style. When we were trying to come up with a name for our brand, it had to represent both of us, and it became very tough to come up with something. My mother always loved the name Mulberry, because it was a name of a tree, it sounded European, and it was elegant. We played with a lot of names to create something like Mulberry, but everything we came up with was either already taken, or just too long. We ended up with KNIGHBURY because my biggest fashion inspiration is Keira Knightley. I love her casual sense of style, and she can rock a mean Chanel outfit. She is so effortlessly fashionable, which is what KNIGHBURY is about, and that is where the KNIGH- part of KNIGHBURY came from. It’s a mix of me and my mother, which is exactly what our brand is about.

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How would you describe your personal style?

My personal style changes often. Sometimes I’m all about skinny jeans, an oversize sweater and boots with a huge scarf; and other times, like currently, I’m obsessed with wide legged cropped pants, blousy Spanish tops and oxfords. Whenever I buy something, I always think of where I can wear it. I have never been one to just buy something because it’s pretty, and I’ll find a place to wear it. I always think, “Can I wear this on my next trip?” If I can, I buy it, and that is probably how I design as well. I definitely dress for comfort, but with a European ease.

My Mother’s personal style is described as a blend between a little conservative, modern with a little bit of funk. Many times we will go to party, and she’ll wear a nice black dress, but then put on a huge emerald green necklace to make the outfit standout. She never overdresses, but she knows which is the standout piece in her outfit, and will work to make that pop. She has never been one to follow trends, because she knows they will just end up phasing out, so she focuses on classic elegance.

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Do you have a favorite Knighbury piece?

We recently launched our handbags and I love our Midsummer Satchel. The size, the fact that it’s kind of a like a cross body (which I love), and the print, is just perfect for Summer and Winter. It’s a true transitional piece.

My Mom loves our new Charcoal Bars scarf and our weekenders. Charcoal is always a great color that can be worn with anything, and the weekenders are bigger than the traditional weekender, which makes it the perfect travel bag. You can fit everything in without having to carry anything else, and that makes life so much easier.

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What’s next for Knighbury?

Well, launching handbags was a big step for us, and we are very excited to share it with everyone. We’ll be at LA Market in June with Representing Showroom, Dallas Market with The Scott Blair Group, and then we will be at San Mateo Market the same month. We want to continue with scarves and handbags, but we have also been very passionate about clothes and are already in the process of designing dresses and other clothing. We are aiming to have our first samples ready just in time for the Project show in Vegas this August.

All Photos provided by KNIGHBURY

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Day dreaming about the upcoming weekend – Yay for short work weeks. #summerready #knighbury #palmdesert

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