LASM x TDR: Tell audiences a little bit about the Sachika brand. Who is the woman that wears it? Tell us about your boutique and a little bit about you two.
To-Tam & To-Nya Sachika: Sachika [the brand] is a baby, basically it’s a clothing brand for the modern woman. She’s ambitious and just like us, she knows what she wants. She’s fierce. She’s independent. We started the brand about in 2009 in New York City, my sister and I. Actually To-Nya started the brand first. She’s really like the designer. She’s a creative person behind the brand. Our mission is to really empower and uplift women and to give them something – they can really feel amazing. They can feel good inside. It’s about also embracing the curves of the woman.
To-Tam & To-Nya Sachika: Embracing all body types. Absolutely. And a lot of us, I feel like there’s a lot of ambitious women, career oriented, they want to have a love life. They want to be leading a healthy lifestyle. We think about all of that. It isn’t how to be that super conservative, all work clothing. We think about why [can’t women] not go to work and make a statement. Not only that, but you can go to work and wear the same outfit to go out in the evening and so on. It has to be something that complements the lifestyle of the modern woman of today.
LASM x TDR: Your foundational pieces are black, as well as your social media design on Instagram and everything else.
To-Tam & To-Nya Sachika: Our most recent collection is called Black Sheep. And as you can see, we are today wearing black sheep.We wanted to create a collection that would really celebrate people being different. People being daring, people being bold. Breaking barriers. We feel that a lot of the leaders have been in a place where they had to stand by themselves, like they have to be outcast … lot of people that are successful have to try something different. They had to be different. We are celebrating being different.And that’s why we call the collection Black Sheep. We’re actually very known for creating very colorful clothing (if you look at all the past collections). But this one particularly, we wanted to do something different – to really showcase the textures using one color, using different fabrics such as lace.
LASM x TDR: Let’s talk about the Black Sheep. Normally it was a negative stigma that was put to that, but what you beautiful ladies did, you angels, was you brought the beauty to black. So it’s like you’re saying when you got to say Black Sheep, “All I see is beauty.” And then how you guys start saying the textures. So what you’re doing is you’re showing all of the elements of black.
To-Tam & To-Nya Sachika: Right. People say like wearing black is boring or being a black sheep is negative. Instead we think that that in life you have to be bold. You have to dare. Break the rules sometimes. Actually most of the time we’ve been breaking rules. We were always breaker. We we’re always standing out. We were never going, we, like in class also, right! When we’re in school we always had to somehow stand out of course, which was what was going to stand out. Right? But as a kid sometime it could be traumatizing when you’re different. We are Asian. We went to private schools and it was, majority was Caucasian. So they look at us like because we’re Asian and the twins and then, and even being Vietnamese in the Vietnamese culture, they want you to become a doctor, a lawyer. And that was not us. And our parents, like literally we’re forcing us, trying to tell us, you guys are good in school. You need to be a doctor, lawyer. And we had to fight for our dreams. We had to really tell them, “I want to be an artist, I am an artist and I’m going to make it and you’ve got to trust me.” And then now we just want to be advocates for all the Black Sheep.
LASM x TDR: You mentioned Vegan? Your designs and the materials that you’re using, they are earth conscious? Do you really put this into your designs?
To-Tam & To-Nya Sachika: Excellent question! Yes. We want to highlight the fact that everything is made in the United States and that we support sustainable fashion … we don’t use any real fur and we make sure that all of the employees, and all the steps towards making our clothing are in well-rounded environment where people are well treated. It’s very important for us because we understand that not only are we helping the economy of the country, but it’s important that people know where it’s coming from. It’s important to know that you’re authentic old all along the way.
To-Tam & To-Nya Sachika: We’re actually starting a campaign. It’s called, ‘I am a Black Sheep.’ We actually want to call to the audience and ask them like, “Are you Black Sheep?” When you think about it, people are thinking before it’s negative. But now I’m looking…fishing for the Black Sheep. Where are all of our amazing Black Sheep? Tell us your story. Tell us how you overcame your obstacles, and we want to know your story. The struggle is as important as your success. The journey!
