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The Life: Tooba Ghafur launched her own clothing line by developing different marketing strategies for different clients.

Tooba Ghafur, the founder of Airayan Fashion, with some of her latest collections at her residence in Dubai.

Tooba Ghafur left a career in finance to found Airayan Fashion, which creates handmade clothes for a couple of boutiques in Dubai and one in Karachi. She talks about building different marketing strategies for different types of customers.

After working for Citibank, Chemical Bank and Merrill Lynch, you helped create the Deutsche Bank Women's Network. What is that?

My last job was at Deutsche Bank in London, where I was a vice president in private wealth management. For women, it's very hard sometimes to have a work-life balance. One initiative was women's training, executive coaching. If you are going to be away for more than six months, you can have a maternity buddy - man or woman - be your eyes and ears. You meet with them informally and keep posted on what's going on in the organisation.

You were on maternity leave from Deutsche when you decided to quit and start Airayan Fashion. Why?

I wanted to spend more time with my children and do something creative, and at the same time see them grow and develop. The word, Airayan, is a combination of my children's names: Aida and Rayan. In Sanskrit it means "spreading". It's a good fit.

But what makes you think you can succeed in an industry where so many have failed?

Fashion was always there in my heart and soul. I used to take time off work to go to London Fashion Week. I originated from Pakistan and grew up in Saudi Arabia, [where] my mother would sew our clothes and take me with her to the souq. I did learn a lot about fabrics. Over the years, I designed my own clothes.

What was your strategy when you launched a couple of years ago?

I thought, I'm going to start very small and use this as an opportunity to meet people in Dubai. For the debut of my first collection I went on my street personally with an invitation and knocked on each door. I only had about 40 to 50 pieces and managed to sell 70 to 80 per cent.

Are there different marketing strategies for different customers?

For the Emiratis, they're not going to be looking at social media or online marketing, so it's word of mouth and having a close relationship with them. I do the long, full-length jalabiyas, which Emiratis love. With the Indians and Iranians who have been living here for a long time, they all have a close network of relatives and friends. I have people out there with my stuff. I didn't say: "Who wants to be my brand ambassador?" I would say: "I could do a couple of pieces for you. Will you promote me in your circle?"

And how do you pitch your line to expats?

I'm an expat myself, so that's the easiest. When I came to Dubai almost two years ago I joined Expat Women. They meet regularly and I initially joined because I had a six-month-old and wanted to meet moms. That was a great launching pad for me. I've got these beach coverups, which expats love, especially on the Palm.