"TikTok has completely changed our lives, and if it weren't for it, we probably wouldn't have started our tie-dye headscarf business." Sana and Will say.
Just five months after the creation of their brand Lala Hijabs, their tie-dyed headscarves became a global sensation, and in just one year the couple's account @salehfamily gained more than 900,000 followers on TikTok, and now Lala Hijabs' tie-dyed headscarves have become a global brand.
The Saleh family's "colorful" entrepreneurial path
Time travels back to 2020.
While swiping TikTok, Sana noticed groups of people tie-dyeing their clothes at home, which inspired her to buy a tie-dye kit from a store and tie-dye her headscarf.
Because she found it interesting, Sana started wearing her tie-dyed headscarf on TikTok and to her surprise, countless people asked Sana for a link to buy it. Realizing that there was a huge demand for these innovative headscarves, Sana then shared the idea with her husband, Will Saleh, who had lost his job as an aeronautical engineer due to the epidemic, and decided to start a tie-dye headscarf business.
In August 2020, with no experience in tie-dye, business or fashion, the couple began experimenting with hijab colors, techniques and designs, and that's when the brand Lala Hijabs was launched. The name of the brand was inspired by their eldest daughter. Initially the couple could not agree on the name of the brand, but eventually the idea proposed by their daughter was approved, and the colors of the logo were a combination of different shades of pink, yellow and blue-purple, representing the creativity of the brand.
The couple also has a clear division of labor, with Will doing all the designing and Sana choosing and mixing the colors, and the two collaborating to hand-dye each hijab to ensure that each item is carefully crafted.
Sana says Lala Hijabs' commitment to a tie-dye approach to creating modern, fresh hijabs now has customers in almost every corner of the world, thanks to TikTok. "It gives us the courage to be as creative as we want to be and create designs and colors that don't exist in the hijab market."
TikTok became Lala Hijabs' little fan-favorite
For many small businesses, social media is the easiest and most direct way to expand their audience and attract new customers, and among these, TikTok, with over one billion daily visitors, is fast becoming a favorite. In fact, Lala Hijabs' rapid initial growth and expansion was largely due to TikTok going viral.
"In our first year of business, we didn't pay for individual ads, all the traffic was natural, and Lala Hijabs made more than half of its sales from the app," Sana says. Sana says.
"Whenever we have a new product launch or a product to showcase, we showcase it on TikTok first and pay attention to user feedback on the product. And TikTok is helping us increase our attention and visibility."
Currently, the TikTok account @lalahijabs mainly posts tutorials on hijab use, hijab matching, and new product promotion, and now has over 142,800 followers and 4.3 million likes since its launch.
For example, this video demonstrating how to wear a hijab with a Barbie doll has attracted 1.5 million views.
Sana also shares behind-the-scenes content from the brand with its users.
In addition to the brand's account, the Saleh family shares comedy and family-related content on their TikTok account @salehfamily, educating users about Muslim culture and what it means to wear the hijab through entertainment, among other things. The family-friendly atmosphere and funny persona have helped them amass 1.8 million followers and 54.1 million likes, with many videos receiving over a million views.
In August 2020, Lala Hijabs launched its first collection of pastel hijabs and sold out of 100 hijabs within 24 hours.
Will said, "People love variety, and the current hijabs on the market are basically nude, brown and black, and our goal was to make the hijab as unique and beautiful as the person wearing it, so we considered color theory when designing the first collection, using different colors to create a positive feeling."
Not surprisingly, the idea drew a lot of praise from users in the comment section.
In addition, Lala Hijabs' first collection of pastel hijabs was based on charity, with a portion of every hijab sold going to a water well project through Islamic Relief Canada, which initially won Lala Hijabs a lot of goodwill.
Since then, Sana and Will have been releasing new collections every few months that are in line with trends. For example, a month after the first collection was released, Lala Hijabs launched a birthday sprinkles collection on Sana's birthday, incorporating all the colors.
By now, Lala Hijabs has launched more than a dozen product lines.
These include a tie-dye collection, chiffon collection, silk collection, and children's collection, as well as items such as turban magnets and hair ties.
On the Lala Hijabs website, products range in price from $7-$25, with $70 shipping in North America and the UK, and $100 worldwide.
While the unique designs have always been the biggest draw for Lala Hijabs headscarves, the creative and fun patterns and colors, as well as the handmade craftsmanship, are not the only ways in which Lala Hijabs stand out. In addition to these factors, Sana and Will have sustainability at the forefront of their minds and claim that Lala Hijabs is one of the first hijab companies to use sustainable packaging, a decision they made before the business began.
Lala Hijabs says the hijabs are made with non-toxic, eco-friendly dyes and shipped wrapped in eco-friendly thin paper.
Sana says, "Everything we use is biodegradable, and even though it costs more to do so, it reduces the environmental impact." In addition, Wil believes that this is one of the key reasons why customers love their brand.
Currently, the brand #lalahijabs has amassed 5.3 million views on TikTok.
Today, the number of Muslim fashion lovers on TikTok is growing, and the hijab, the iconic fashion item, has over 20 billion views on TikTok, even the #hijabtutorial, a tutorial on wearing the hijab, has 5 billion views.
The growing demand for hijabs among Muslim women has also led to a boom in businesses like Lala Hijabs. From 2020 to the present, the young couple has brought beautiful, colorful and vibrant fashion hijabs to the world through their eco-friendly tie-dye hijab company, Lala hijab, and there are many more sellers like Sana and Will who are committed to creating unique hijab designs for the market and are always on track to do so.
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