AN enterprising single mum from Southsea, a resort in the UK’s Portsmouth area, has launched her spring/summer collection with the ASOS fashion retailer.
Adel Kaseke, 36, who lives with her son Jamal, 10, and five-year-old daughter, Nandi, has recently been awarded a start-up loan by Transmit Start-Ups to help develop her business, called Curvyswan.
She will now set up her own website.
“This funding has been invaluable to me as it has given me the opportunity to have a great website which is going to be the perfect marketplace for my clothes,” said Adel.
“It has also enabled me to revamp my stock of fabrics and take full advantage of the Love Southsea market where people can buy my clothes directly.”
Melanie Shee, business advisor and mentor at Transmit Start-Ups, said: “Adel’s passion for her business is second to none.
“She makes sure her clothes are beautifully designed and produced to a high standard and all done by her personally. She is definitely a perfect example of a Curvy Swan.”
Originally from Zimbabwe, Adel came to the UK in 2001 and created Curvyswan when she broke her ankle in 2010 and was confined to a wheelchair.
She says she had always loved sewing and dressmaking after helping her mother make clothes while still at school and saw a niche market for curvaceous women who wanted fashionable clothes in sizes up to 24.
With time on her hands she set about launching her business initially just designing the clothes.
Her clothes are available on the ASOS website as well as the Love Southsea market stall and now on her new website www.curvyswan.co.uk.
Adel’s determination to succeed has also led her to promote her business by creating a potentially record-breaking corset which is currently being assessed to see if it has broken the Guinness World Record for being the largest ever.
The corset is 10m in circumference and 4m high.Advertisement