Socially-conscious fashion brand mixes contemporary style with traditional, locally sourced fabrics
Frankitas clutches come in a diverse range of designs and colours.
Unique designs, bright colours and quality textiles made using time honoured traditions. These are just some of the reasons why we think you should head down to Tangs Plaza this weekend to check out the launch of Frankitas.
The woman behind the brand
The Mama Sabeena exudes sophistication and is one of Frankitas’ best selling designs.
Founded by Francisca Turner Shaik less than two years ago, Frankitas has already enjoyed tremendous success. The brand name combines ‘Franki’, short for Francisca, and ‘tas’ the word for bag in Indonesian, but there is much more to the story than that.
After spending 10 years in the publishing world writing for The New York Times, The Economist, and USA Today, Franki plucked up the courage to start her own fashion brand.
Inspired by the people of her home village in Indonesia, Franki grew up seeing poverty all around her. Since then, she has always wanted to provide a working community within her village for the unemployed.
Today, Franki supports skilled artisans from Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Africa and Central Asia by buying fabrics at fair trade prices and working with groups of women to help handcraft her bags.
Keeping tradition alive
The Lannie Clutch is made using eco-friendly Ikat that is hand woven and made with either organic cotton or pure silk.
Ikat is one of the main fabrics Frankitas uses, along with other textile motifs like Batik, Songket, Tenun Rangrang. Each piece is a work of art, with some of these fabrics taking up to a month to create.
Frankitas hopes to keep the weaving heritage alive as these artisans have for hundreds of years. Their skill and hard work are a huge source of motivation to the brand and is what will drive Frankitas forward in the future.
By Nicole-Marie Ng
Frankitas is available exclusively at Tangs Plaza, Level 4 House of Tangs. Prices start from $190.
ADVERTISEMENTS