My business: Anastasia Barysheva about her brand MEOW’ONE, star friends and world plans

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About the beginning of the journey:

I am not one of those who sewed dresses for dolls, was the best student in a technology lesson at school, or leafed through fashion magazines, dreaming of one day creating a brand, becoming a designer. Probably at the age of 14, I saw in VK groups that people were selling clothes that were not in stores – they were different, interesting, inaccessible. Then the first thought appeared that I would also like to sell clothes (then I could only sell, I could not even imagine creating).

I did not understand then how it was possible to work with this, where to order clothes from and, in principle, how to build processes, so the cherished dream was pushed back for many more years. But not forgotten. Therefore, as soon as I graduated from the university and received a diploma in economics, I realized that something needs to be changed in this life. While studying at the university, I worked three jobs, as a waiter and at night I sold roses in nightclubs. A request to the universe was sent – and almost immediately, after graduating, I was fired from all three jobs, and I had no option to go back.

I found the first suppliers in China, invested part of the money in goods, after 1-1.5 years I opened the first store, then two more, things were going uphill, but this did not bring me cherished joy. I wanted more uniqueness, more manifestation. I understood that the scale I want can only be achieved through a product of our own production and the formation of a brand, as a brand, and not just a showroom with no name clothes.

So, in 2019, the first product under the MEOW’ONE brand appeared. It was difficult because the brand was in a completely different segment, with completely different customers – in fact, we started the business again from scratch. In 2020, we completely switched to a product of our own production and officially, so to speak, MEOW’ONE was born.

About earnings:

For the very first steps, there were about 100,000 rubles, in general, for life, a smaller part of which went to the product. Now we have grown up a lot, I can’t say the exact figure, but the plan of 100 million a year has long been passed.

About the difficulties:

The most difficult thing, by far, was to gather a new audience, since we already had a lot of expenses (staff, rent, etc.), and the audience from the showroom was from a different segment. We needed to do it as quickly as possible in order to stay afloat, not to mention earn money. Plus, the bulk of the production of a new product fell during the quarantine period, the first month it was not at all clear how to work with suppliers and contractors, how to work with a team, how to deliver. And, of course, I think, like many others, it is the search for the right raw materials. We try to make our product of high quality so that it delivers as much joy to customers as possible. In general, I think that this question, both at the beginning of the journey and now, is quite complicated.

About iconic things:

Jumpsuits from the Urban collection. This is one of our first products, artists immediately noticed it: among the first buyers were Yolka, Marie Kraymbreri, they immediately styled the hosts on RU.TV and Black Star artists.

About staff and production:

Absolutely all things are made in Russia: this is Moscow, and the region, and the regions. We cooperate with several large outsourced productions. We use different fabrics, from 100% cotton, which is used for a huge number of products, incredibly pleasant to the body viscose, to the amazing quality of supplex, by the way, Russian-made. We are constantly expanding our collections and looking for new fabrics so that we can recreate the design of the products we are planning in the best possible way. At the moment, the team has 20 people in the state, as well as about 10 outsourced. Sometimes we involve specialists in various fields to solve specific project problems.

About Star Friends of the Brand:

Honestly, it seems to me that so many amazing people have already tried our product that I can’t remember them all. But, at a minimum, these are the leading TV channels RU.TV, STS, Anet Say, Nazima, Yolka, Marie Crybreri, Hannah, Asti, Soso Pavliashvili, Natasha Koroleva, TRUWER, as well as bloggers Nadine Serovski, Oksana Samoilova, Gohar Avetisyan, Lyubov Lyubyatkina , Lerchik and others.

About inspiration:

I am very inspired by street fashion, I am close to hip-hop culture and I like street fashion influencers. I am for freedom of expression, which is reflected in our product and in its presentation. In general, I am for allowing myself to be anyone, so I myself can dress in completely different ways. If I had the opportunity to create all the products that I like in the brand, this would be a very unusual set. Therefore, now both in the brand and in life, I still prefer street fashion.

Of the star inspirations, this is definitely Travis Scott, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, the unrivaled designer Virgil Abloh and singer Dua Lipa.

About plans:

The plans for 2022 were to expand the geography, enter international marketplaces, but so far this strategy has been changed to develop online and offline in Russia. I think that next year we will definitely move on to scaling in the world, I can’t name the countries yet, but at least we will consolidate our presence in the online space, despite the fact that our brand has already managed to please its owners in more than 20 countries around the world , we haven’t dealt with this issue yet.

If we look into the longer term, then this is definitely the expansion of the geography of presence in those countries where there is already a demand for the product, as well as the release of premium collections in strengthening the brand’s position at the global level.