About Us
Svaha Origins
In 2015, Jaya Iyer found herself in a predicament. You see, Jaya’s daughter was 
certifiably space-obsessed. She has wanted to be an astronaut since she could say the word. Jaya is an apparel industry professional & wanted to encourage her daughter’s passion in the best way she knew how – with clothes! When Jaya went shopping, she was shocked to find that there wasn’t a single girl’s astronaut shirt, or for that matter,any science or technology-themed clothes for girls!
She realized there was a missed market for kids who like things that aren’t “gender traditional”. So, she decided to use her industry expertise to team up and create a line of products aimed at changing the landscape of the children’s apparel industry. Svaha developed its first line of products and received funding by launching a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over $30K!
The success of the company showed Jaya that other parents must be just fed up as she was with the increasingly gender-stereotypical children’s apparel industry. Once Svaha grew in popularity, Jaya started getting flooded with requests from women who wanted Svaha to use their unique design style to produce clothes for adults.She decided that women should not have to choose between loving Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Math (STEAM) and being feminine. From this, STEAM Angels: Smart Dresses for Smart Women was born! This line of stylish, high-quality dresses features STEAM-themes and proves that brainy is beautiful. She turned to Kickstarter yet again, and this time, she raised over $57K to produce their exclusive line of women's apparel!
Svaha's Mission
Why do major retailers provide less options in the children's apparel aisle than they did in the 1950's? Why can't you find girl's clothing with astronauts or math equations? Why don't boy's clothes have cats or butterflies on them? Why aren't there any feminine women's clothes that feature science or technology themes?
At Svaha, we want to change that! We are starting a revolution aimed at shattering gender stereotypes!
We have created a unique line of apparel to deliver this mission! We want to show everyone that these crazy gender stereotypes are completely outdated. We want to teach kids that it’s okay to like anything they want. We want to prove that STEAM concepts are amazingly cool and completely accessible to everyone! We want to unapologetically celebrate femininity and the awesomeness of women in STEAM! Our brand and product line confront gender stereotypes and empower people to embrace their passions. Our apparel features bright, bold designs with STEAM-themes, sports-themes, and non-traditional colors. Plus, our products are made from super-soft cotton that feels as good as it looks!
What does Svaha mean?
Svaha has many different meaning in different languages. One of the meanings is "well said". We believe that it is what our brand stands for. Since we want to make a difference in the apparel industry and believe that clothing should not define what a girl or a boy loves or wants to grow up to be, "well said" is a stamp of approval for our mission.
Our goal is to transform the apparel industry by removing the gendered equation from clothes and letting people dress with no constraints!
Who is Svaha?
Jaya Iyer | Founder
Jaya Iyer is originally from India, however she was inspired to live the American Dream. She moved to the US from India carrying nothing but a backpack of her belongings along with a mountain of ambition. She worked hard to obtain a Ph.D. in Fashion Merchandising from Iowa State University. She has taught Fashion buying and wrote a textbook on Fashion in Emerging Markets which is widely used in universities. She also worked in apparel manufacturing and exporting. She is the former apparel buyer for the cult-favorite store, ThinkGeek. Thanks to inspiration from her daughter, Jaya founded Svaha and became determined to change the landscape of apparel. Jaya is the proud mother of 2 young children and enjoys nurturing her children’s interests through fashion, adventures, science, and social responsibility. She is a world traveler and an artist.