abitu

Alina Kokkonen and Alina Dvoeglazova: “We’re lucky to have each other’s support”

Close friends, businesswomen, and namesakes Alina Kokkonen and Alina Dvoeglazova founded their festive, over-the-top fashion label Abitu after working in the fashion industry for years. “We wanted to create statement feminine pieces with a delicate and fancy design that would be timeless.”
Cover photo: courtesy of Abitu

Abitu

Founded by two friends and colleagues, Abitu responds to a request for something bold and glamorous to wear in the evening. Alina Kokkonen and Alina Dvoeglazova worked in fashion PR and marketing for years when they came up with the idea behind Abitu. We had a quick conversation with the two ladies about the start of their brand and exciting plans for the future.

In conversation with Abitu’s founders

TT: Alina and Alina, can you tell me how the brand started after working in the fashion industry for several years?

Alina Kokkonen and Alina Dvoeglazova: “We both had an opportunity to work for international brands in Russia, which is an incredible experience and a great responsibility. This gave us an understanding of the industry from the inside. We felt ready to express our own voices, and one day, we talked about working on the project together. After several brainstorms, we defined the style we wanted to explore and a marketing strategy. When it comes to starting something, you only need courage. We were convinced that we could be a team and that there’s no time to wait.”

TT: What is it like to collaborate as friends?

AK: “We are lucky to have love and support; it’s priceless. Our opinions complement each other, we never argue about business issues; it may happen only when it’s a really hard day. We are both involved in all aspects of the business, and our friendship gives it an amazing synergy.”

Neo-romanticism

TT: Abitu’s style would describe itself best as neo-romantic, chic, and bold. How did you come up with the concept? Did you guys feel something was missing within the industry?

AD: “Our daily uniform is quite plain — it’s mostly jeans, shirts, sweatshirts, sneakers, or heavy boots. We decided it would be cool to wear an evening party top with jeans, but still, there were few offers of this kind. This is how we started with our signature princess top with exaggerated sleeves. We wanted to create statement feminine pieces with a delicate, fancy, timeless design.”

TT: What do you hope to achieve with your label?

AK: “We’d like to continue working on the party look, making it more recognizable and versatile. We want to make fashion girls worldwide fall in love with #abituworld aesthetics — candy colors, mermaid shimmers, and a fairytale mood. We are sure that Abitu pieces will give them high spirits.”

TT: Any exciting plans for the (near) future?

AD: “Right now, Abitu is presented at Bloomingdale’s the Middle East, which is located in Dubai and Kuwait. We would be happy to expand our offline presence worldwide, Europe, and the USA and join all the major fashion platforms. We dream of dressing up our favorite pop stars like Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, and Rihanna.”