Former beauty queen now businesswoman

0

KOTA KINABALU: Back in the 1990s, the name Rahima Orchient brought pride to Sabah after winning the coveted Miss Malaysia title in 1994.

She was also one of the few Malaysian beauties to be placed in the semi-finals of Miss World 1994.

Today, Rahima, who is still a very beautiful woman, is a businesswoman and has recently created her own line of Muslimah wear. She calls her fashion line “Orchient”.

“I design everything myself – the headwear is Arabic inspired, with ornaments from the Mediterranean, for example, while inspiration for the Muslimah robes is from the Balkan countries,” she said.

She also seeks out the ornaments she uses to further add beauty and uniqueness to her designs from other countries.

“I got the pearls for some of the headwear from the Philippines,” she said.

Being new in the field, Rahima uses the social media as well as her website, www.orchient.com to promote her unique designs.

She also attends trade events and expositions organised by agencies under the government to help budding and aspiring entrepreneurs such as herself.

“At trade events, I can sometime make between RM100 and RM200 per day,” she said.

She hoped to eventually promote her designs to more people but mentioned that she had yet to set up a physical shop.

“It is something that I hope to do in the near future, perhaps at Imago or Suria or Centre Point,” she said.

However, she has established a booth at Wisma Muis in anticipation of the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration.

“It is open from noon to 4pm,” she said.

The response so far has been encouraging, said the former beauty queen.