My name is Abdylgazieva Kanyshai, I live in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and I produce dresses and headgears with traditional Kyrgyz patterns. Sewing the Kyrgyz national headgear, the so called Kalpako, used to be just a hobby of mine. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union my husband and I tried to start our own family business. In the beginning it was very difficult for us to purchase raw materials for our products due to financial straits. We had to take a partial pre-payment from our clients in order to purchase textile fabrics. After a while, in addition to the Kalpaks, I offered women’s clothing with national ornaments. As our sales increased, we hired a small staff of specialists.
In 2014 I decided to take a loan for the purchase of sewing equipment, which would help us to speed up the embroidery process. Not far from my house was one of the branches of the Kompanion Bank (a Kyrgyz microfinance institution), where I applied for advice. After consulting with my husband, we issued a loan and ordered a sewing equipment. Time proved that this was the right decision.The equipment can reproduce an ornament of any complexity in a short time. By now, the production process is fully established and we are thinking about purchasing new additional equipment. In addition to automated production, we have a staff of 50 sewers, 10 embroiderers and several beadwork specialists. We sell our products not only in Kyrgyzstan, but also ship them to neighboring Kazakhstan. Our products are in great demand.
My dream is to expand production, sew more products and dress women in beautiful stylish dresses with Kyrgyz patterns also in other countries.