She was only twenty years old when she first set foot in New York City, with a dream in one hand and the support of her older sister in the other.
Lirika Matoshi started her brand in 2016 by selling hand-made chokers on Etsy. As her business grew, she began to expand her products to hand-embellished fish-net tights, socks, and eventually dresses- all without any professional fashion experience.
Matoshi’s brand revolves around dramatic silhouettes made from colorful tulle and unreal patterns and prints. Her most popular confection, the Strawberry Midi Dress, practically took over the internet this past summer. The dress features hundreds of glittery strawberries, hand-stitched onto layers of baby pink tulle.
The Strawberry Midi Dress first gained its popularity during the COVID-19 quarantine, nearly a year after it was designed. The garment was first seen on celebrities such as Tess Holiday and Marzia Kjellberg before it blew up on all platforms. Cottage-core lovers, anime fans, and fashion fanatics alike were seen posting, drawing, and wearing the dress- so much so that a black version was created by Matoshi.
The social media blow up caused sales to skyrocket, quite the opposite of what Matoshi thought would happen during the shutdown. Now in September, the brand boasts nearly 900K on Instagram. As the brand’s social media presence increased, other styles gained equal popularity. Now, more celebrities such as BLACKPINK’s Jennie, North Kardashian West, and Joey King have been seen wearing Matoshi in music videos, night outs, and promotional events.
All of Matoshi’s products are made sustainably. Her team is made of 100% women based out of New York City and her home country Kosovo. She quotes on their Instagram” All of our workers are paid a fair living wage, not just minimum. It’s really important to us that we employ women to help us handcraft our pieces rather than make them with machines. We do this on purpose to give more work to women in Kosovo, because a lot of them aren’t able to find jobs where they can utilize their skills in Kosovo. We offer them flexible benefits such as being allowed to work from home with no deadlines. These women have become such an integral part of the brand!”
This practice -valuing the work of others- is constantly overlooked by fast fashion companies and even big name designer brands. For an indie brand to take this approach is not only refreshing, but also optimistic in the hope that these practices continue.
At just twenty-four years old, Lirika Matoshi has been able to accomplish what many aspiring designers never do in their lifetime. She has built a strong reputation around her brand and solidified it with her practices. Matoshi’s Strawberry Midi Dress was the touch of fairytale that we needed in a time of sadness. When those at home would try on the dress, no matter where they were, they were able to escape reality and enter a world of their own.