Halifax-area store offers ready-to-wear, custom South East Asian fashions

A designing woman Crystal Garrett meets a newcomer to Nova Scotia who's an entrepreneur and clothing designer.

A clothing store in the Halifax area is serving as the region's destination for South East Asian fashions.

The name of the store, Khush Mizaj, means "light-hearted, happy feelings."

"The brand, why it's named Khush Mizaj, is that you should be happy and confident about yourself when you wear clothing and such," said Sudha Arjun, with Khush Mizaj Clothing & Accessories. "So, that's how we came up with the name."

According to Arjun, when the brand was started, there was no South East Asian clothing that did custom clothing in Nova Scotia or Atlantic Canada as a whole.

"When we moved here right after COVID, it was our festival time and I'm a big shopaholic," said Arjun. "So, I told my husband I need to buy some traditional clothes because… for our Festival of Lights, we always buy new clothes."

That's when Arjun and her family realized the lack of South East Asian fashion stores in the region.

"We came up with this idea that this is something that we love, it's our family business as well and even though it's South East Asian-originated clothing, the fabrics and the embroideries are from that region," said Arjun.

"But the main purpose behind the brand is any culture, any background, promoting diversity, culture, inclusion and you would see that from our promotions as well."

Not only does Arjun and her team create everything themselves, but many also say their prices are much more reasonable than those importing fashions from other places.

"Because it's our family business, we can offer this clothing at a very reasonable price, so we don't want people to travel far and spend more," she said.

"We want to be able to promote that, bring more tourism and culture to Nova Scotia and get other businesses and people here to come and see us. They can support local and come get this locally."

The store has ready-to-wear options available, along with the option to go custom. Arjun says you won't have a hard time finding your theme, as the store offers all the colours you can think of.

More fashions and options at Khush Mizaj, which is located in Middle Sackville, N.S., can be seen here.

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