anisa makhoul.

"Anisa Makhoul has been designing her clothing line, Makool for the past 10 years. Originally born out of her love for printing, and desire to create simple basic styles to print on, Makool has grown into a strong independent clothing label producing two to three collections a year...Designing for Makool, and traveling the globe to find new designers takes up much of Anisa's time, in spite of it she's currently working on opening her first brick and mortar boutique in her home city of Portland, Oregon."

When talking to Anisa, she had such a casual, laid back demeanor, it felt like I was catching up with an old friend. I was so delighted when Anisa agreed to do an interview with me, so without further ado, here it is:

Me: When did you start Makool Loves You?

Anisa: 2001

Me: And where did you get the idea for the name?

Anisa: It's the phonetical spelling of my last name.

Me: Do you hand sew all of the clothing that is sold?

Anisa: No, not all of it-I work with local sewers.

Me: When you were little, did you ever envision yourself owning a store/designing clothing?

Anisa: Hmm, I guess I thought I'd be a designer of some sort, not really a shop owner.

*Photos of inside the store via Design Sponge.*

Me: Who is behind all the beautiful photo shoots?

Anisa: I do most of the photography myself, I'm glad you like it.

Me: What do you like and dislike about your location: Portland, Oregon?

Anisa: I love Portland, it's really great here, the only thing I don't like about it is it's not Amsterdam.

Me: Is your family supportive of your being an independent designer and store owner?

Anisa: Yes, I come from a family of entrepreneurs.

Me: What do the rest of your family do?

Anisa: My mom's an herbalist, my brother owns a cupcake bakery, among tons of other things, my family has way too many businesses.

Me: Would you ever open up another store location?

Anisa: I don't think so, it's a ton of work.

Me: Well...if you were to open up another store location, where would it be and why?

Anisa: I guess Europe, maybe Amsterdam, although I do seem to sell to Australia a lot.

Me: Do you have a personal blog, other than Makool Loves You?

Anisa: Nope, MLY is my only blog, but my twitter page blurs the lines of personal and business.

Me: Well...thank you Anisa for doing an interview for the ol' blog!

Anisa: Thanks Micaela! It was my pleasure.

To see more of Makool Loves You and Anisa, you can visit her:

Blog

Twitter

Website

All photos, unless otherwise mentioned are from Anisa's blog.