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I don’t know what it is about twins that make us want to say silly things, and ask them ridiculous questions. We’ve all seen “professional” reporters and journalists do it before, and there’s nothing “cute” about it. During the entire interview with the Sachika Twins, not once did I mention their being twins. It has no bearing on their business after all. I do regret, however, not exploring their sisterhood.
Family is an important thing, and obviously important to To-Tam and To-Nya. They’ve come a long way together; born daughters of Vietnamese parents in Paris, raised in Montreal, to (at last) fulfill their aspirations here in America. There is a bond between them that is unequivocal (they even answered all of my questions as one). Here are two sisters who decided they were going to be successful together, who worked hard at it, and brought all of their dreams to fruition. It's a beautiful, powerful thing to behold.
Why “boutique” rather than “shop” or “store”?
We like boutique because it has a more exclusive connotation. We do not mass produce each design, making them available everywhere. Each piece is produced in limited quantities, therefore, the term boutique is more suitable for our brand.
The two of you are creatively involved in so much, i.e. fashion, music, and real estate. How have you managed to not let one enterprise interfere with the other?
We understand that each entity is separate and treat them as so. However, they are all kind of related in a sense. Our designs are inspired by our personal lives and our music is inspired by our fashions. The music usually comes from the visuals of the fashion. Real estate is a very different type of business so it is very easy not to confuse any of these. The key to managing several businesses is to have a good team. We have a strong team for each entity and we are grateful for them.
Fashion and music are two things I can see working together, both being creative endeavors. What made you want to take on real estate?
Real estate is the seed of all our businesses. Not many people know that we built our fashion company from the funding earned from real estate. At first, we were realtors in New York City. We fell into it accidentally. We were looking for something that would help us earn substantial amounts quickly in order to open our fashion company and real estate seemed like the perfect fit! We always had our eyes on the prize lol. We quickly developed a passion for it as well. Now that our fashion business is up and running & steadily growing, we decided to get our CA Real Estate license and open our company. The main focus of our real estate team is commercial real estate. Most of our customers are friends/family and business relationships we have amassed over the years of doing business.
Putting your name on your brand is tricky; if you’re fortunate and become successful (as you have), great. If it fails, your name fails with it. You must have been super confident that you were going to accomplish everything you set your mind to do.
Many tend to believe that SACHIKA is our actual last name but it is not. The name change was also an accident. During one of our very 1st interviews, the interviewer had called us To-Tam & To-Nya Sachika (we think he just assumed) on numerous occasions. As he repeated those names during the interview, we felt that it sounded great and we should go by those names. We never objected (laughter); we simply embraced it ever since (laughter). Soon after, everyone began to call us the SACHIKA TWINS. The more the brand is repeated, the more it becomes familiar and memorable. SACHIKA is in fact a Japanese name & we are Vietnamese.
Your designs have been sought after by the likes of Lord & Taylor, and Guess? Who else is on that list?
Marciano, Target, Arden B, Charlotte Russe, Strawberries, Macy's, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Ave, etc.
How does that process work? Lots of phone calls, “no’s”, and letdowns?
Lots of work, sleepless nights, resilience, self-belief, confidence and never take no for an answer. No is just a re-redirection.
How many boutiques have you opened since you began?
We have opened 2 of our own stores. 1 in Montreal, Canada (our hometown) and 1 in Los Angeles.
Have you modeled any of your wares, and have done any modeling at all?
Our focus is definitely on business, design, production, and distribution. We have modeled because we love our designs and enjoy very much wearing SACHIKA lol and love to promote it. We have done some modeling in the past but what we enjoy the most is designing.
What’s happening with your music? I believe I heard one track, and I was hooked and searching for more. Please tell me there’s more.
For now, music is more related to our fashion. We usually create the music to go with a runway show, etc. With a little more time at hand (hopefully in the near future), we will perhaps officially release some music.
I think it’s so important now, that we talk about female empowerment, and that there are so many competent women making it happen. This must be a heady experience for you guys, being on top, doing it your way. No?
We truly feel like each person was born with a mission on Earth. One of our missions is to empower women (and young girls), give them more belief and confidence that they can do anything they put their minds into. We feel blessed to be able to do what we love every day and hope to be able to contribute so much more to society!
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