‘We don’t have workers, we have co-workers’

How has Le Reve’s growth been?

Rezaul Hasan: It has been about 30 to 40 per cent, leaving aside the Covid time. It has all been a learning experience, actually.

Le Reve has a good reputation. Anyone joining the company doesn’t leave their job very easily.

Monnujan Nargis: Let me share an incident from Covid times. When the lockdown was on and people began working from home, our co-workers came and said, “Madam, how can we stay at home? We don’t enjoy being stuck at home. We want to come to office.” I felt so proud. While in other offices people wanted to shirk work and stay at home, our co-workers wanted to come to office. There is competition, we compete with each other, but at the end of the day we are friends. We all work in the same office. There is a lot of cooperation and support, but when it come to work, everyone is very professional and makes an effort to be the best. This is a huge achievement for Le Reve. This has an impact on the brand value too.

Where do you see Le Reve in the next 12 years?

Monnujan Nargis: We want Le Reve to be a global brand within the next 12 years. We want to grab the market in competition with brands like H&M and Zara. We want people abroad to strut the high street in Le Reve outfits, to say, I got this from Le Reve. Le Reve clothes will be seen on the streets of New York or Paris. I feel so good when I see people wearing Le Reve in Singapore. The Chinese have a tea party on the day before their wedding where everyone dresses stylishly. Once someone bought all the outfits from Le Reve for their guests to wear at her tea party. I was so proud. That is our vision – to take the Bangladesh brand to the international arena.

Rezaul Hasan: There are other good memories. Let me tell you what happens when you have a proper trend analysis. In other countries, you see more or less the same motif in the print stories of the different seasons. Once madam (Monnujan Nargis) and I were wandering around a high fashion store in New York. We saw the updated prints there and launched that back home within a few days. We had assessed the fashion trend correctly and launched it in time. We managed to offer this to our customers. That feeling was good.

For the time being we want to establish our presence in the SAARC, ASEAN and Gulf countries. In ASEAN we are present in Singapore. We have a Le Reve pop-up store in Isetan Nex Mall. We have from 2020 also begun online sales of our clothing in important ASEAN countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. We have recently arrived at the Middle East too. We have begun selling Le Reve products through e-commerce from last month. In Dubai, Le Reve has its own warehouse so people can buy Le Reve clothes online from anywhere in the UAE.

Many from the readymade garment sector have entered the local market too. Recently you had said you wanted to do the opposite. You want to capitalise on your success in the local market and enter the readymade garment industry. What are your plans?

Rezaul Hasan: No, we aren’t thinking on those lines anymore. We don’t think that would be a correct step at the moment. We have already made our presence known in ASEAN and the Middle East. We are planning to enter the SAARC market now. We are endeavouring to become an international brand ourselves, so other brands aren’t going to come to us. After all, the trends are similar. We will be in the same places as those brands.

How far is Le Reve prepared to meet the emerging global trends of recycling, sustainable fashion, ethical fashion and so on?

Monnujan Nargis: Environment-friendly weaving is necessary for sustainable fashion. That is not very affordable in our country as yet. We are still sourcing, trying to import from China. And after Covid, the world is leaning towards another fashion. That is relaxwear, athleisure, yoga suits and eco-friendly and recycled clothes. Our country is not ready for that yet. The fashion houses will have to work on this. We have that in our minds and will try to start working on this as soon as we can.

How are you preparing your designers, co-workers, sale assistants for the emerging new world?

Monnujan Nargis: We have tried to set up a system over the past 12 years. We believe a company should be centered on the system, not the individual. This system has created our identity. When a new designer enters the house, they can’t just give in their design. They have to go through a training process. They get to understand silhouette, colour palette, design and pattern and then they give us their output. There is continuous modifications. Getting a skilled person is always a great stroke of fortune for us, but as it is, our system has led to production growth and we have 18 stores now. We are happy with our system up till now.

Rezaul Hasan: There is always the option for training. Once we brought in an expert from Sweden for shirt collar designs. The enter design team is in madam’s hands. They all work under her directives.

Give us three points that sets Le Reve apart from others.

Monnujan Nargis: Fusion designs, fabric quality and quality prints. We develop the prints ourselves.

Rezaul Hasan: I want to add two things here. First, if you attend an office meeting in a Le Reve shirt tomorrow, you will never feel you are out of fashion. Le Reve always keeps updated in fashion trends. Secondly, our co-workers’ well-being is always in our minds and so we have meditation for everyone in our head office and all our stores. A salesperson feels good throughout the day if he or she begins the day with meditation. They can deal with customers confidently. These small things set us apart.

You all have introduced a premium line for girls. Any plans for a similar high-end label for men?

Monnujan Nargis: Fabric is the main feature in menswear. You can bring exclusive fabrics like muslin for women, not for men. That is why we are always on the search for the best quality fabric. If we get that, we can then have a premium line for men.

Is Le Reve turning from a fashion brand into a lifestyle brand?

Monnujan Nargis: Yes, we are in the process of making Le Reve into a lifestyle brand. Alongside clothing, we have started selling bed sheets, cushion covers and vases in our stores. And we always maintain international standards and trends in whatever product we bring up. Our lifestyle brand will have the same exclusivity as our fashion brand.

You didn’t lay off any staff even during the pandemic.

Rezaul Hasan: It is not just in Le Reve. The entire group has a huge number of co-workers. Many of them have been with Le Reve from the very beginning. That doesn’t mean we are not performance-oriented. The staff are accountable for their performance because we have to provide service to our consumers. We have a culture where we care for each other. We never say, “I did this.” We say, “we did this.” We do not have workers, we have co-workers. We treat everyone with respect. We meditate all together in all our establishments every morning. We follow certain rules and rituals that bind us all together.

Monnujan Nargis: We have made a special video in Le Reve’s 12 years. In 12 years people develop unique dreams, what to take in responsibilities. Le Reve is 12 years now, and we will continue with our passion, our mission and vision. We will take up certain constructive tasks. In the next 12 years Le Reve will do things for the community.

So does Le Reve do any social work?

Yes, we do. We have a CSR policy. We arrange blood donation camps. We work in collaboration with another organisation for breast cancer. We made Eid clothes for 2500 children of the Quantum School in Lama.

Best wishes for Le Reve and thank you for your time.

Rezaul Hasan and Monnujan Nargis: Thank you too.