Connecting People, Planet and Purpose through Sustainable Luxury.
How It Was Born
My name is Kuran and I’m going to tell you about my story from the beginning. VIISCEN is my baby and we started this journey in 2019 but mentally we started it way back in 2016 when I was on a 2-year football scholarship in the Midlands, a way away from West London. In my 1 bed flat I sat at my desk thinking about what life after football would look like and what I wanted to say about my life after it is too late to do anything about it (deep I know).
Without knowing how to make a garment or even a website, just my love for creating, designing and putting good into the world. I look back to where this love came from and I always think back to when I was a kid at my nans in West London, looking up at her whilst I played on the floor with my siblings as she knitted away all day and night. Hand knitting blankets, scarfs and cardigans to the highest quality, I was amazed that she did this with her tiny hands and it has stuck with me to this day. She would make knitted pieces for other family members or friends, always giving but also putting love and care into it as if she were to wear it herself and that inspired me as a young boy, but now it inspires and motivates me to put the same positive energy, love and care into making pieces of my own.
The Idea Behind It
I was always in love with luxury garments and design since a young age but being a young man who wasn’t getting paid from football at the time, I couldn’t always afford high quality clothing with those luxury feels we all love. I wanted to make my own pieces that deliver this quality and more, at an affordable price so young people my age could enjoy the luxury and design of high-end pieces but also be able to obtain it. This drove me to create.
The Now
After launching the brand in 2019 in Dubai, UAE. We now start a new chapter and return home to West London. A new life and purpose but our essence remains the same. It is time to be a doer and not an observer, in the world we currently live in it is important to have a purpose beyond selling nice clothes. Stepping forwards into sustainable luxury and breathing our core values of connecting people, planet and purpose.
Taking Action
We want to lead by example, and we are not yet perfect, but we will strive to be. Merging cutting edge design with ethics and sustainability, doing this in 4 key areas to ensure the business has a positive impact on the planet and the people who make the product: Textiles, Production, Education and Transparency.
In textiles we will use recycled fibers made with waste material, plant-based fibers with low environmental impact, animal-based fibers made in a sustainable way.
In production, a low carbon footprint like we previously had in Dubai, using domestic production wherever possible is very important to us, if we produce overseas, we will make sure our production houses are carefully selected to ensure fair wages and working conditions. Making sure our supply chain and communities surrounding it experience a positive impact from working with us.
In education, encouraging customers to reevaluate the relationship they have with their clothing by teaching the best ways to wash and care for each garment. This combined with multi season wardrobes, styling tutorials and quality in production and design will ensure longevity in all of our pieces.
Transparency. As a brand we want to be real with you from the very start. Showing you behind the scenes in production, in house designing, packaging, labelling… everything. The peoples brand. Realness and authenticity.
My Promise
My promise from this day is for each piece to have at least one or more positive elements embedded into it. Whether that is a sustainable fabric we have used, or an exclusive collection dedicated towards a charity or the message and meaning behind that piece. Positivity is my promise - Kuran Athwal.