Meet Malcolm Dakar

Today we’d like to introduce you to Malcolm Dakar. 

Malcolm, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
So I made my first piece in 2016 I believe. I started sewing essentially looking for a reason to get up in the morning, something to look forward to every day. I’ve always been a creative kid, strayed away from it as I got older but I think I was always supposed to do this. Both my parents were creative in their own ways & I think I really took a lot from that. I immediately fell in love with creating my own garments & learning more & more each day. My aunt, Patricia Jones was an amazing seamstress & had her own business, Leather Stitches, for 20+ years, she’s been a huge inspiration as well as a source of information I always go back to. I didn’t initially start selling things when I first got started because I really wanted to make sure my garments held up to my standards & I felt comfortable releasing things into the world. I think 2018 was when I really started to think more as a business & started to put things out. Throughout its been a journey in which I’ve developed confidence in myself & starting a business has taught me a lot about myself & my resilience. There’s a lot of ups & downs but if you truly want to do something you’ve got to weather the storm & always see it through. I think that’s why I’m where I’m at now, I truthfully gave up a lot but I always went back to it, fell but always got back up. So, I’m excited to see where things go from here because I really feel like I’m just getting started but I’ve built a great foundation to stand on.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Absolutely not haha, I find for me it’s hard to sell things. I’ve never been that person, also I consider myself an introvert so putting myself & my garments out in the world has been a struggle. I do however believe I got the hard part down, which is actually creating a really good product. Now it’s about stepping out of my comfort zone to let people know what I do. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I do every part of the process, so the pattern making, sewing, digitizing, embroidery & anything else the garment calls for. I honestly don’t believe I specialize in anything yet since everything still feels relatively new to me. I’ve gotten more comfortable with a lot of things but over all still feel like a novice. I do think I’m becoming known for my appliqué work, people seem to like that the most & it’s something that’s started to separate me from others. I’m honestly proud of everything I do, it’s such a good feeling to get anything done, but there were some collared shirts with an appliqué design on the back I did a couple years ago honoring my grandmother that may be my most proudest achievement. What sets me apart I think is that I do everything myself & I’m always trying to be as original as possible.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I try not to pay attention to trends; I honestly don’t think I can keep up with most things so I just do what I want & go at my own pace. One change I have seen is people wanting to support the actual person making things as opposed to the company itself like people want to know you’re solid before investing in you which I like because I think you should totally know who you’re buying from. Other than that, I just groove to my own tune. 

Contact Info:

• Email: malcolmdakarr@gmail.com
• Website: www.malcolmdakar.com
• Instagram: Malcolmdakar
• Twitter: Malcolmdakar

Image Credits
DittoHouse
Kyle Kresge
Niz
Antonio de Jesus
Kyle Kresge