Aaina Boutique

If you are walking through the Main Market in Sector 17, you might miss us if you don't look down. Aaina Boutique is located at Shop No 36 in the basement. It’s a cozy little space filled with different kinds of fabrics, threads, and half-finished garments hanging on the racks. We spend most of our time measuring people, cutting cloth, and sitting at the sewing machines. The basement stays a bit cooler than the street level, which is a relief during the hot months. The market outside is always loud and full of shoppers, but down here it’s mostly just the sound of the machines and the radio playing in the corner. We get all sorts of customers coming in, some wanting a simple fix for their clothes and others looking for something new to be made from scratch. Our workspace is usually a bit cluttered with scraps of material and chalk markers, but we know where everything is. We don't have a big fancy window display like the shops upstairs, so we rely on the people who already know we are here. It’s a small family-run type of place where we just focus on the craft. Sometimes we stay late to finish a dress for a wedding or a special event. It’s hard work on the eyes and the back, but seeing a finished piece of clothing makes it worth the effort. We’ve been in this basement for years now.