Made for us. By us.
Cultural occasion wear is some of the most beautiful clothing in the world. It is also some of the most worn once.
A bridal outfit costs hundreds or thousands of pounds, gets worn for a single day, and then sits in a wardrobe for years. Multiply that across a family, across a community, across a lifetime of weddings and Eids and Diwalis, and it adds up to an enormous amount of value sitting still.
Our communities have always passed clothing on. What has been missing is somewhere built for it. Most trading happens in WhatsApp groups and Facebook comments, with no payment protection and no guarantee anyone will honour the deal.
The mainstream resale platforms are not much better. You cannot search for a Walima outfit. You cannot filter by embroidery colour, or fabric, or the occasion you are actually dressing for. Those categories do not exist because the people who built them were not dressing for these events.
Liyasa was built by someone who was.
Liyasa was founded by a Scottish Pakistani woman, and every category and filter on this platform comes from knowing the difference between a Shaadi, a Walima and a Baraat.
Listing is free. Buyers are protected on every purchase. And every sale keeps a garment in circulation rather than in landfill, which is where these clothes belong.
Loved once, worn again.