This week we celebrate 3 Ladies Pirates, a fashion brand that is founded by a team of women from Madagascar. After having featured on our blog in 2020, the 3 Ladies Pirates are back again with exciting news of a new female focused collection called BASIA and a website where you can order their exquisite fashion pieces!

3 Ladies Pirates has become synonymous with not only fashion but its particular focus on empowering women.  Founded in 2013, the business is made up of an all-women team headed by Samira Mihaja Moumini as the “Captain”. Being a holder of a Master’s in Pharmacology, never had Samira imagined she would end up a fashion designer. However as life would have it, what started as a fashion conversation with friends in 2012, led to the formation of a solid fashion business venture that would be established alongside other women in 2013.

Samira went on to establish the 3 Ladies pirates, a fashion brand that sells its products online and is targeted at working women who have no time to move from store to store in order to make purchases. Even more interesting, is the fact that 3 Ladies Pirates brings out a unique side of femininity where women’s tastes transcend beyond the stereotypical image of girls surrounded by Barbie dolls and wearing pink. The 3 Ladies Pirates showcase the strength and femininity to be so much more, expressing it through a tom boysque approach whilst maintaining class and elegance.

Committed to its ethos of promoting the work of women, one of the notable collaborations it has done is with the Malagasy brand Voahary Madagascar in the production of a collection of bags called VIAVY. Each bag in this collection was named after an inspirational female figure in the Malagasy culture, including the founder of Voahary and Samira herself.  7 years into the fashion journey, 3 Ladies Pirates have done it again and have launched a women focused clothing collection named BASIA. BASIA which means star in the Bara language, is a collection that has been thought for those who work a lot, like the team at 3 Ladies Pirates who don't necessarily have the time to run from store to store to find outfits. BASIA is magical, by itself it combines all the basics a woman should have in her wardrobe with a little touch of lambahoany.

For this collection 3 Ladies Pirates focuses on discretion. The print is still used but by small touch because the BASIA woman already shines. No need to add more. The basics revisited by the brand are the Power Suite for women, the pencil skirt, the timeless white shirt, the striped shirt, the straight dress, the slit dresses all this in a whirlwind of colours such as green, mustard yellow, red, royal blue.

Although there will be no fashion show to discover the pieces, because of Covid-19, the brand 3 Ladies Pirates gives appointment to all its V.I.Pirates on its social networks via photos, short movies, and its website from Monday 01 February at 12:30 pm

Major challenges faced by the business because of COVID-19

“The first months we couldn't work. We didn't have enough tissue stock and suppliers were closed. We would send the delivery service to pick up the fabrics from our suppliers every two weeks when our suppliers gave us the green light to go through. And the deliverymen would drop off the fabrics to the sewers who worked from home. Pre-orders continued to be taken during this period and deliveries were made once or twice a week because the delivery services were still working. The objective was to be able to fulfill the orders while ensuring the safety and health of our sewers.” says Samira.

Plans or re-strategizing is in place for you to adapt to the new normal

For the safety of the team, the 3 Ladies Pirates gave them hand wash gels to put at the entrance of their home. The business doesn’t necessarily welcome customers to the workshop. Everything is done by appointment and no one enters the workshop if they are not wearing a mask.

The 3 Ladies Pirates makes sure that they have a large stock of fabrics to be able to produce.

It limits the physical movements, it is rather the deliverymen who take the fabrics back to the seamstresses and all briefings are done via social networks or phone calls.

Order payments are made via mobile banking or bank transfer. All this to avoid contact with physical supports. In order to allow their customers to see their products, 3 Ladies Pirates has launched a website and soon customers will be able to order directly from it. The e-commerce system is also in progress.