Silmat Chisti of Nobo Dhaka, knows her way around the traditional weaves of Bangladesh. Jamdani, Silk, Tangail — you name it. She can continue a well-informed conversation for hours. After launching Nobo Dhaka in 2019 along with her friend, Mitia Saleh, the entrepreneur worked hard to source, produce and promote anything and everything that was a part of the heritage of Bangladesh. At least that was the primary thought behind initiating the brand.

Part of the reason why she aims to make Nobo, an authentic traditional brand is to revive and restore the heritages of Bangladesh, ones that we are almost on the verge of losing.

"Me and Mitia began Nobo with a shared passion to hold onto our heritages and promote everything in a local aesthetic. We launched Nobo with printed fabrics, highlighting the motifs of thirteen local and homegrown flowers including Nayantara, Shimul, Krishnachura, Rangan, etc. With this line, we wanted to re-connect with our roots and go back to the olden days of Dhaka when these flowers used to adorn our homes. Nowadays, we rarely get to see these beautiful, local flowers, anywhere at all. Even if there are green areas in many homes, they are usually crowded with fancy flowers like roses, gerbera, etc. The traditional flowers are almost dying.

"Interestingly, this concept of ours was well received by the crowd. But then, as luck would have it, COVID-19 happened immediately after, and we had to move online with our ideas and Nobo," said Chisti.