Business

B.U. alum’s e-commerce company Kynah grows into first storefront

Aisha Rawji started the site (with a name that means “female leader”), to “redefine the way women customize, shop, and wear Indian attire.”

By Katie Lovett

June 12, 2022

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The first time Aisha Rawji visited Boston, she knew it was the city she had to live in.

As a high school student living in California, Rawji wanted to attend college “as far as possible” from home and Boston had always appealed to her. During a visit, she fell in love with the city and the Boston University campus.

Rawji graduated from B.U. in 2014 with a degree in business and moved to New York to work for an advertising company.

While she loved her job, she said, she realized something was missing. So Rawji enrolled in a fashion entrepreneurship course, which opened her eyes to the workings of the fashion industry.

That set her on a path that led to her start Kynah, her e-commerce company in 2017. Now she’s onto another first: a brick-and-mortar store in Los Angeles.

The child of two entrepreneurs, Rawji always knew she wanted to start her own company. (Her mother also owned an Indian clothing store in Los Angeles in the 1990s.)

According to her website, Rawji launched Kynah (which means “female leader”) with a goal to “redefine the way women customize, shop, and wear Indian attire.”

The company specializes in both bridal wear and also the outfits that guests wear to a wedding.

The company is designed for a new generation of “modern South Asian-American women.”

While there are areas of the country that have Indian clothing stores, Rawji’s shift to an e-commerce store has expanded the number of brands shoppers have access to, and made the shopping experience more convenient.

“We’re one of the first e-commerce stores (of its kind) in the United States,” she said.

With offices in India and Los Angeles, where she resides, Rawji divides her time between the two locations. She works with about 25 designers.

Late last year, Rawji opened a Kynah pop-up shop in L.A. for what she expected to be a month. The response was so positive it’s turned into Kynah’s first permanent storefront. The official opening is set for June 15.

Customers come from around the country, she said. “It’s still a quicker trip than going to India,” she said.

As she looks to the future, Rawji envisions opening more stores in New York, Canada, and the U.K. She also expects to expand the non-bridal clothing offerings.

“The options are endless,” Rawji said.

While Rawji doesn’t have much free time to visit Boston these days, she has been back a few times since she graduated.

“It’s so different than when I was there,” she said. “There’s so many new restaurants.”

She has fond memories of shopping along Newbury Street and visiting Boston Common.

“The whole city is your campus,” she said. “I never got bored.”