Barjis Chohan

Award-winning entrepreneur and founder Barjis’ decided to break the mould from what would’ve been the typical immigrant story; her parents pushing for a career in medicine, with a cultural and traditional Muslim upbringing.

Forging a career in the elitist Fashion industry due to her curiosity and ambitious mind, Barjis decided not to go to medical school and instead enrolled at London College of Fashion, interning at one of the most eclectic and adventurous fashion designers - Vivienne Westwood.

Every few months, whilst breastfeeding, she took her family to the Middle East to secure work for her business and posted hand written poems to oil companies at the age of 17 to invest in her business. At the peak of her career, Barjis decided to stop holding fashion shows due to her believing that it ‘didn’t feel right’ to objectify young women.

If you want a trail blazer, game changer, rule breaker and someone who brings passion and inspiration to the stage then Barjis is the one. Barjis is the individual that we all want to be but are not brave enough to be. She lights the stage with her stories, failures and challenges to help us to dream big. Captivating the audience to reset their lives, take risks, dream bigger and come out motivated to conquer the world.

The BARJIS luxury fashion label brings together Eastern modesty with Western prints, creating a brand that was an unanimous success. She and her label have been celebrated on London Fashion Week catwalks and in countless columns in the UK and International Press.

Some of Barjis’ awards include the Mail on Sunday Designer in International Trade; Entrepreneur of the Year in London and 1strunner-up as Female Owned Business of the Year. The Guardian described her as a prodigy of Vivienne Westwood, she was also featured in a documentary by the London Film Academy who labelled her as a social revolutionist, with her story featuring as the centrepiece for many international documentaries.

Barjis is an experienced and highly-regarded keynote speaker with over 12 years of experience and is able to speak on a multitude of topics including, the importance of staying true to a brand's ethos, using creativity as a feul for growth, cultural diversity and inclusion in the workplace, gender equality and empowerment as well as fashion and sustainability.