Businesses That Started Over Quarantine: Rav Threads

by Annabel Macdonald | October 22, 2023

Rav Threads is an up-and-coming clothing brand founded by recent Chapman graduate, Niki Ravari. Born at the intersection of her love for design and the boredom that accompanied the realities of the pandemic, her brand consists of colorful patchwork tops which are all handmade by Niki herself in her own home.

“One of my favorite things to do is make clothing for myself,” Niki explains, “I got my first sewing machine when I was in sixth grade.” 

“Quarantine has been weirdly great for me,” she says, attributing the creation and success of her business to quarantine boredom. She explains how she was simply creating more items than she could even keep in her closet, which is what prompted her to turn her long-time hobby into a business. 

The Instagram account @RavThreads followed shortly after the quarantine, accompanying her first drop, which “went really well,” she noted, explaining that she sold every single piece except one. This was extremely motivating to keep it going, especially seeing as she “expected them all to sit on the website forever.” 

Since the first drop, Rav Threads naturally grew, as people became drawn towards her unique designs and sustainable practices. “Sustainability is really important to me,” she says, as she references a fashion course during her study abroad in Italy which prompted further research on the harms of the fashion industry, and made her way more conscious of how she was consuming. “When you really see the harms,” she says, “it just hits you.”

This is partially why it has been so satisfying for her to see her brand grow. “It makes me glad to see that people are educating themselves and understanding the importance of sustainable fashion and shopping consciously,” specifically by supporting small businesses. 

In addition to the support from her followers, Niki laments on the satisfaction of having her first influencer post about one of her tops, and the overwhelming influx of followers she gained in response. 

Looking to the future, Niki hopes to “take on a small team in order to produce and sell more pieces,” seeing as she currently drops about nine to fourteen pieces every two weeks. “Although I see some of my styles changing with shifts in trends,” she explains, “I want to keep the patchwork as a baseline for all of my pieces.”