Emirati entrepreneur Illham Rabi works her magic on stunning décor

It’s the desire to tell a story, beautifully, that encouraged Illham Mahmood Rabi to design art.
 
“Having a background in the arts, you want to tell a story to the world through the eyes of your creation, your ideas and how you want the arts to progress further,” she says.
 
Now, her brand – Chosen by Fluke – lets her do just that. Give design to her story.

 
Illham is happy she can put her interest in art, her bachelors degree in fine arts, and her years of working in design firms, to good use. It started with cake designing, but gradually evolved into her brand of home art décor.
 
“The thought of seeing an idea, which at first is just on pen and paper appear as an object is just fascinating to me.”
 
Chosen by Fluke is custom-made, and reflects the personality of its customer. It’s unique. “With our designs, we carefully want to redefine art decor and the materials needed to create each piece. Giving our customers ''One'' of a kind object that is made solely for them.”
 
She adds, “We try to incorporate art from every era into our designs, we try to mix and match old with the new and elegance with glam and a big drop of the main potion which is beauty, and beauty for us today is the country we are living in. The UAE can inspire one in way they never thought was possible.”
 
The brand took years of planning, and was launched a month and a half ago. Ever since, there’s been a good buzz about it.
 
Looking back at its beginning, Illham recalls, “My brother Mohammed, just like me, graduated with an arts degree from San Francisco, California. We always discussed over the years that we will start a business together. When he returned, we started planning how we wanted to put it all together. We took our time observing the market all over the GCC and combined our ideas together and little by little the brand formed itself.”

 
Illham says it’s her family that keeps her inspired. “My father and mother constantly advise us to disregard all the negativity one hears in terms of progressing a business, and to stay focused.
 
“I have to give a shout-out to all the other talented ladies who are working hard to build an empire for themselves, which is their craft, their talent and their drive to want to succeed. By wishing well for others, we hope they do the same for us, in return.”
 
In the few weeks since work has begun, she’s unable to choose a favourite design. “A lot of thought goes into all our designs, so every one of them holds a special place in our hearts because the struggle it took to complete each piece required a lot of patience and hard work. That being said, each piece was made with love, creativity and admiration from everything and everyone that surrounds us.”
 
Her day routinely starts with working on “how to progress the business further. Check the progress on their latest collections, and try and build a fan base on social media, which is very important for any business today”.
 
Illam is determined to take it one day at a time. “We try our best to work harder each day than the day before and try to come up with designs that are completely different from our previous ones. Five years from now, we hope to have a fully grown business and we hope to see many others succeed in their business as well.”

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