the faces behind the brand

Kishmish was founded by Fatima Aslam and Zareen Abbasi in the spring of 2017 with a simple mission: to preserve the charms of South Asian culture by curating items that speak to people like them, South Asian Americans. Kishmish products are a playful nod to the anecdotal traditions and nuances of the culture they both grew up immersed in, learning from, embracing and loving. What started with a handful of greeting cards has cascaded into an eclectic brand with a diverse collection of wall art, cards, stationary, apparel, and quintessentially fragrant soy wax candles.

This labor or love began with a singular greeting card that came about in the wake of a jarring realization: there were no relatable (or viable) greeting card options for South Asian celebrations in the market. Simply put, there was no Eid card equivalent for the dope Christmas card at Paper Source. For a holiday celebrated twice a year by a faith of over 1 billion this was disenchanting. So this duo set out the following year determined to become the first ever female-owned, South Asian company to stock Ramadan & Eid cards online at PS. Guess what…it worked.

As a small business ourselves, we see immense value investing in brands like us and around us. We have a robust network of US-based, independent vendors we work closely with to source supplies to curate the products endemic to our brand. All our designs are proprietary and digitally created by our team. We use premium cotton wicks in our candles and 100% soy wax derived from American-grown soy beans for an eco-friendly, clean burn. Just as each candle is wicked, poured, and labelled by hand in our homes, each greeting card is meticulously printed, cut, folded, scored, and packaged by hand as well.

ABOUT OUR CANDLES

a glimpse into our process

1

HANDPOURED IN SF

Each of our candles is carefully handpoured by our small team in the San Francisco Bay Area. We produce our candles in small batches to ensure quality and longevity of the scent.

2

MADE IN AMERICA

From our brushed black candle vessels to the wick, to the all-natural soy wax, all elements of our candles are uniquely made (and grown) in America. We believe in supporting small and producing local.

3

PHTHALATE-FREE, NON-TOXIC, VEGAN

We've carefully and meticulously sourced the best ingredients for our candles. That means, opting for fragrance oils that are phthalate-free, non-toxic, cruelty-free, and entirely vegan. We utilize a pure coconut soy wax blend and lead-free cotton wicks.

wholesale at kishmish

kishmish x nordstrom holiday 2021

in collaboration with pop-in@nordstrom, kishmish became the first ever pakistani owned and run brand to be stocked in flagship stores around north america.