Retail

Holiday gift idea: Vancouver-designed scarves made from recycled water bottles

Salma Kashani's e-commerce brand, Bânu Magnifique, spotlights creatives and mental health advocacy

By Alyssa Hirose /
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Bânu Magnifique

Salma Kashani’s e-commerce brand, Bânu Magnifique, spotlights creatives and mental health advocacy

When Salma Kashani first started her e-commerce business in 2020, she splashed her colourful prints onto T-shirts, skirts, shawls and matching sets. But the Vancouverite soon realized that vibrant clothing isn’t for everyone—and if you want to spice up a boring wardrobe, accessories are your best bet. 

2Bânu Magnifique’s Harmony scarf by Lay Hoon.

So she focused her brand, Bânu Magnifique, on scarves. “People might not be comfortable to wearing something super bright as a skirt, but you can wear black or neutral clothes and add that pop of colour,” she explains, adding that scarves are ideal for selling online—there’s no sizing to worry about. Kashani launched Bânu Magnifique in 2020, shortly after being laid off from her job as a tech product manager (thanks, COVID!), with the aim of merging her passions for fashion and art. 

3Bânu Magnifique’s Wild Woman scarf by Nikoo Nikpeikaran.

Kashani herself is an abstract painter, and her brand showcases both her work and the work of other local artists on scarves made from recycled water bottles (and they’re printed and sewn in Vancouver). Each one comes with a story—the Magic scarf, for example, tells Kashani’s own story of her brother giving her a “magic” pen so she’d stop making mistakes on spelling tests. “People carry those stories with them, and it helps to spread the word about the artists,” says Kashani. Other artists featured on Bânu Magnifique’s scarves are Arty Guava, Erin Shakespear, Kimia Nassehi, Nikoo Nikpeikaran, Nima Nasiri and Sophie Davari. 

4Bânu Magnifique’s Persian Garden scarf by Nima Nasiri.

In addition to uplifting diverse artists, Kashani says that supporting mental health initiatives is important to her brand: right now, a percentage of proceeds from all scarves goes to anxiety Canada.  

“I like spreading positivity through colours and patterns,” says Kashani. “You can carry this art piece with you—it’s not just hanging on your wall.”