Kaiane Designs

THE KAIANE STORY

The simple creativity of the brand captured our attention, always introduced as a story reviving traditional wear in a colorful, stylish and modern way, even each piece is named giving it an identity.

The Designer Kayane Maherjian is the creative mind behind the brand born in Armenia, working now in Saudi Arabia based in Tabuk, her family lived in Beirut in 1978 where she studied engineering and discovered her love of fashion while looking for her wedding dress, she credits her mother for this passion who studied fashion design in Armenia . She grew up in the atmosphere of elegance at a very young age.

As an engineer she is initiated to structure, discipline, creativity, visualizing then materializing visions and concepts into new creations helping her using the same process in fashion.

The cuts, the prints, the fabric, the entire design is made for all women. You can style it for any occasion or event and for all body types.

It is a well thought of design made with passion, let’s share with you the Story of Kaiane Designs.

The Concept for Kaiane Designs was born in Riyadh in 2018, at a time of remarkable change; when all things of women, related to women, and about women were being placed under the limelight.

By 2020, when we launched our brand amidst the COVID pandemic, all bets were off the table, and as Margaret Drabble once said, “When nothing is sure, everything is possible.” And so, it was…

Kaiane Designs is an artistic reflection of 2-years period; an attempt at redefining anything and everything about traditional wear from a fresh feminine perspective.

We look at traditional clothing through the eyes of the modern woman, as we create our take on age-old cardigans, kaftans, kimonos, and traditional abayas.

Just like the Middle East crosses East and West, Kaiane Designs is a melting point of the old and the new, where tradition greets modernism, and timeless vintage embraces urbanism.

Our designs are made to the empowered and confident woman, for those who express their style through timeless, unique colorful pieces and subtle, classic patterns.

Our first collection is a tribute to women whose life experience has granted them inner wealth, timeless elegance, grace, and a true connection to heritage.

“Fashion is a language. Some know it, some learn it, some never will – like an instinct.” – Edith Head

Q1 – How you chose to become an artist?

I have always had the artistic streak in me, used to paint and write poems since my teen years.

As I grew older I found out that art can’t just be limited to a painting or poem etc.

Art in its true sense is everywhere. It was in how I dressed, how I spoke and how I carried myself.

Q2 – Your Role models (any field)?

In the creative fields I love Bjork and Alexandre Macqueen for their eccentric genius in art form and creativity without boundaries.

Q3- What are the important turning points in your life?

Going to India in 2000 for a yoga retreat; leaving Beirut for good in 2005 and moving to Saudi Arabia in 2015.

Q4 – What are your favorites?

Taste : a good watermelon

Scent : jasmine

Feel : silk fabric

Scene: Lotus and Lily ponds

Sound: cello

Q5 – What is your current state of mind?

Super creative and curious.

Q6 – What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Starting up Kaiane Designs from scratch in Riyadh during the pandemic.

Q7 – What is your most marked characteristic?

Balance and humor.

Q8- What is your favorite occupation?

Creative Design as well as engineering of any kind.

I thrive on construction and being part of projects that build communities in remote areas.

Q9 – What do you most value in your friends?

Authenticity of character and courage.

Q10 – Who are your heroes in real life?

The little people in the construction industry – those who leave their homes and come and build cities. They sacrifice so much for their families. I think that’s very heroic.

Q11 – What is your ultimate dislike?

Willful ignorance in this day and age.

Q12 – What do you wish for all the time?

Some me-time for longer yoga and meditate session. I seem to always rush my morning routines to be somewhere urgent.

Q13 – What do you expect from the future?

The best of outcomes and important lessons.

Q14 – What is your favorite daily wear attire?

Pair of dark blue jeans, white shirt and white designer sneakers.

Q15 – What things in life are still mysteries to you?

Me, and I don’t mean that in a narcissistic way. I mean it from the perspective of “the me” as a “human body/mind” operating system interfacing with the world around me.

How does that happen?

How is it that I am able to make choices?

Based on what? And why?

That sort of things just keeps me up at nights.

Q16 – What was the last gift you gave someone?

A Starbucks mug to my husband for his promotion to a new role. New role, new mug.

Q17 – What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?

It’s usually the silliest things that make me laugh, and it’s hard to retell a silly thing, but in the moment it would be very funny for me.

Q18 – What is your biggest fear?

It’s a tough question. Over the years I taught myself to pay attention to my fears and intuitively understand where these fears are coming from. “…. Fear is more like a language to me these days, a dialogue that if I paid attention to, Then maybe I can manage the outcome better.” I prefer to maintain my options to deal with challenges as opposed to being almost crippled by the feeling of being afraid. You know what I mean?

Q19 – What would be your super power?

Super Power? Helping to stabilize things around me. Normalize off the charts emotions.

For example, it’s like this line I read in a book and it’s stuck with me. It said something within the lines of a wolf walks the valleys same as its walks the mountains.

Meaning that it’s normal to feel high one day and low another, it’s a curve – sometimes its up and another time it’s down.

Q20 – What would be a good theme song for your life?

Has to be something within the lines of being able to connect random dots and make sense of it all.

Q21 – What would you name your boat if you had one?

Frehley (my cat’s name)

Q22 – What is the best/worst purchase you’ve ever made?

Ah, best purchase is my BOSE headphones; worst ones are always those fad and non-classic pieces that I randomly buy sometimes and end up not wearing at all. Like a pair of Sergio Rossi platform sandals I bought once, all colorful and shiny, still sitting there decorating my closet.

Q23 – What inspires you?

Being part of people’s lives and making a difference is at the top of my list. That’s why I love construction jobs so much, because you get to be part of building a community and that’s very inspiring.

Q24 – What is your advice for your younger self?

Don’t worry at all, things work out just fine.

Q25- Define Art?

A medium of communication that connects you to the feeling that we generally call beautiful or expressive.

Q26 – You pick Freedom or Security?

Without doubt, freedom.

Q27 – What will be your advice for a fulfilled, significant and happy life?

Paying attention to what’s being offered in the immediate moment and not drifting off into illusions. Sometimes what we are looking for is in front of our eyes in a format different than what we expect and so we end up missing out on fulfilling our wishes.