One on One: Maham Amjad

Maham Amjad spills the beans on her journey in the fashion industry

Maham Amjad who currently resides in UAE spills the beans on her journey in the fashion industry. She talks to us about the challenges she faced and the changes she’d like to see in the industry. Read on to find out all about her journey.



Tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a very simple person at heart, little things make me happy. Family comes first for me. I’m somebody who has her roots intact and I’m very proud of the upbringing I have gotten. It has helped me differentiate between right and wrong.

At the age of 26 you have numerous projects under your belt. How did you manage to get where you are in such a short span?

I started working when I was 18, the day I realised I wanted to be independent is the day after which I never looked back. After every milestone I achieved, I was competing with my own self to do bigger and better next time. The sky has been the limit ever since. I believe it’s very important to have the urge to learn and grow when you set a goal for yourself, that urge is something that has helped me accomplish what I have today.



What are some of the major challenges you faced and how did you overcome them?

The biggest challenge for me was to break the norms that our society had set. I come from a family where the idea of women working is not appreciated, on top of that I choose to work in the fashion industry, with time everything fell in place but it wasn’t easy. Apart from that another challenge that I faced was that I was pulled down by people around me a lot, people don’t like seeing anyone succeed, this I learned at a very young age but having said that I have always believed that you can only create hurdles for others, you can’t stop their success with it.

Who is your biggest inspiration and why?

My father has been my biggest inspiration, I am yet to come across a harder working person than him. He was self-made and so am I. He won 18 gold medals in his 21-year career. Sometimes when I watch my videos of presenting to a crowd, I see that I’m a reflection of his and that makes me very happy.  The quality that I like the most of his is that he was a great human being, his success and the power that he had never got to his head, he was a very down to earth person, always there for anyone and everyone and that’s the kind of person I want to be.



How are you coping with staying at home?

I love it! I’m a homebody, I really enjoy being at home especially when I have my loved ones around me. A good book, a good season and cooking when I’m in the mood keeps me busy and content. This is a tough time for all but either we can complain about it or use this time for self-reflecting. If I walk out of quarantine being the same person I walked in being, I wasted time.

How important do you think Social Distancing is?

It is very important. The word is dealing with a pandemic, until the time we don’t have a vaccine for the virus, social distancing should become the new normal. Nobody knows who might be infected and by being in physical conatact with people you are not just risking your life but also your family’s. I wouldn’t want to be a carrier of something like this so if staying away from people can help me in saving lives, I will.

What advice would you give to people starting their journey in this industry?

Dream. If you won’t have a dream, you won’t have a path to succeed. I’m a dreamer, my dreams developed the urge to learn and grow in me, my dreams made me ambitious. The best advice I can give to anyone regarding their career is to follow their heart, if your work doesn’t make you feel good, that’s not the work for you.



What changes would you like to see in our industry and why?

I would really like for the fashion shows to be cut down to just two shows a year like they were before, that way designers had more time to bring out their creativity on the ramp. Now, fashion shows are more about the red carpets than the actual show.

Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

I have been asked this questions many times and I have had different answers each time not because of change of heart but because my life is very unpredictable. I like to live in the moment and cease the day rather than planning ahead of time. I don’t want to restrict my career by having an image of the upcoming years. Why fit in a glass slipper when you can break the glass ceiling? The sky is the limit and I like to surprise myself!