Hailing from Harlem, New York, Tamia and Tiara Dillard, twin sisters and sophomores at the University at Albany are ready to take the fashion world by storm.
From a young age, the two realized their passion for fashion.
“When we were in elementary school, we knew that we wanted to be fashion designers, and when we were in middle school, we started to take it seriously by sketching out designs, and teaching ourselves how to hand-sew. By high school, we got our first sewing machine,” said Tamia.
From there, the two worked hard to create and develop an idea for their brand- known today as shopvem.com.
Tiara describes shopvem as a brand that is effortlessly timeless, as both sisters believe their pieces come with longevity both wear and style wise. The duo does not follow trends in the fashion world, rather, they set them.
The name of the company stems from home, with the ‘v,’ in vem standing for the letter v in their mothers maiden name, the letter e for Tamia’s first initial in her middle name, and the letter m for Tiara’s first initial of her middle name.
“Managing your business and school can be challenging. Since we make all of the clothes ourselves, some pieces take within four to eight hours so we always have to plan,” said Tiara.
With their primary audience being college-aged family and friends, Tiara and Tamia hope to expand their audience to reach more potential customers, and are very keen on their brand having good customer service.
In the future, Tiara and Tamia have aspirations of making shopvem a household name, and with every piece created, they are working tirelessly to get there.
I sat down with the two for more details. Make sure to check out the full interview here, and be sure to shopvem!