"I used to be so driven by the idea of passion, but I think trust and respect can take you further."
Every Stitch is a new interview series asking fashion’s new creative class how they manage their closets, lives, and careers.
Yasmin Bahrami is the founder of Moonkissed Collective — the brand behind everyone's favorite Little Women top and these ridiculously comfortable shorts (guilty as charged). I first met Yasmin when we worked together on the launch of DRESS AN IT GIRL!, accompanied by one of my favorite HS interviews, and it's been a joy to watch her scale Moonkissed to new heights.
Here’s how Yasmin picks up every stitch.
The self-appointed work uniform:
[None], except that I made a vow that I can no longer work in what I slept in the night before. Things have been better since.
The journey to becoming a founder:
I got a lot of mail sent back for filling out some forms wrong. I also thought I was going to jail about three times for, again, misreading something a form said. I had to ask my friends for favors, which I hate to do — but I also found out I have some great friends. There were lots of papers and printing labels on the floor and also an air of excitement that I was doing something that was my very own instead of doing other people’s things for all my working life. I had a really vague vision but it was bright enough for me to see it through.
The morning ritual:
Since I couldn’t get out of the habit of going on TikTok the first thing when I woke up, I made a collection called “Everyday,” where I save videos that say something positive or that I would like to be reminded of so I am not at the mercy of my For You Page. It still gives me that scroll that wakes me up but I don’t have to anticipate coming across something horrible that will put me under an existential spell the rest of the day. Then I get myself up to go on a walk and run an errand if there is one. I have to be real before I sit behind the computer for hours on end.
The typical Moonkissed day:
Unglamorous, I have to say. I use Google Calendar as my guidance and I try to avoid emails until I’ve had something to eat. Sometimes it’s only emails and phone calls and taxes — and other times it’s really nice and I’ll get to make something, like a social media post or a new design, for example. I’ll say that those stream-of-consciousness days where I’m only obliged to creativity make the 1 + 1 = 2 days seem like a fair part of the puzzle. Most days I know what my accountant ate for lunch but sometimes I get to have a good idea and share it all within the same few hours.
The personal style of it all:
If style is “...not about what you wear, but how you live,” like that saying goes, I’d say my inclination toward nostalgia and sentiment — and the way those feel like inherently feminine things — results in what you see from Moonkissed. I myself may come off harsh and fail to wear colors but Moonkissed, in a way, is what I’d be wearing if I were naked.
The moment she knew she made it:
If you know anyone who feels like they made it, please let me know. I’d like to take them out to lunch.
The boundary-setting practice:
I’ve gotten better at this. I think the more you know yourself, the easier it is to set boundaries. The hard part about boundaries is when you can’t tell if you’re saying “no” because you’re a horrible self-indulgent person or if something just genuinely isn’t in your capacity or value system. The more you know yourself, the easier it is to identify the latter.
The advice she'd give burgeoning creatives:
I’ll pass down advice I got from Diane von Fürstenberg’s memoir, where a friend of hers told her: “Trust your own talent. Learn to respect it.” I liked this because it said nothing about passion or love. Those things dwindle and some days you can declare they died. But trust and respect are more of a stagnant line that just needs your own commitment to cater to. I used to be so driven by the idea of passion, but I think trust and respect can take you further — a love for what you do forms from that base. 🌀