Exclusively for short women 5’3 and under, smol is a fabulous sleep and loungewear brand that is built from the ground up that combines precision fit and heavenly fabric your skin will thank you for. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Founder Sabeen Abbasi to hear all about her brand, background, and more.
Thank you for joining us. Please tell us about yourself and background.
I’ve spent the last almost 10 years in brand management within the CPG industry. I’m lucky to have represented some of the most recognizable brands in the grocery store which has fueled my passion for building brands and creating connection via storytelling! With smol, I was eager to show the world this brand universe I was building in my head for so many years. However, launching a fashion brand is vastly different from consumer goods as you can imagine. The professional rigor required from my corporate job set me up to understand how to learn about and navigate the extremely complex world of the fashion industry. It’s been such a rewarding and insightful journey. Aside from that, I’m a Taurus, Chicago area native, romantasy lover, daily Wordler, Jonas Brothers obsessed and habitual bedtime tea drinker
What was the motivation to start your own brand?
It was equal parts frustration and passion. I’m 4’11 and I’ve struggled with ill-fitting clothes my entire life. Sleeves are always too long, my pants always need to be hemmed, shoulders never sit where they’re supposed to. And like most petites, I just settled for clothes that were “good enough.” As for the petite experience in sleepwear? Ignored completely!
Back in 2020, there were quite a few lux lounge businesses that had launched, especially with the increase in work from home culture. Naturally I had tried quite a few brands, and they were all super cute. But the other thing they had in common was that I was consistently compromising on fit and often at a premium price. For once, I just wanted a high quality, trendy pajama set that fit me the way it was supposed to and brought me the confidence of how it feels when something works for your body the way it’s meant to. No one had ever built sleepwear specifically for us from the ground up. So, I decided to take on the challenge.
What is the significance of the brand’s name?
The name smol is a nod to our community aka the petite women this brand was built for. But it’s also a reclamation. “smol” has always been used affectionately to describe something small but mighty, and that’s exactly who our customer is. She’s been overlooked by the fashion industry for years, but she’s powerful, she’s vocal, and she knows what she wants. The name is also intentionally lowercase. It feels intimate, a little playful, and very much part of the brand world we’ve built. smol isn’t just a size, but rather, the universe built at our eye level.
Working in the clothing industry for so many years is there any advice you could tell our readers what they should know before purchasing an item?
The most important thing I’ve learned both professionally and personally is to understand how something is made, not just how it looks in a photo. Ask about the fabric composition, where it’s manufactured, and whether the sizing is truly designed for your body or just scaled down from a standard size. That last point is especially close to my heart. So much of what’s marketed as “petite” is simply a smaller version of something built for a standard frame. When you’re investing in something you’re going to wear every day, whether that’s what you sleep in or what you lounge around in at home, the fit and the fabric matter enormously. The “smol” things matter.
Do you have future plans to expand smol?
Absolutely. Sleep and lounge are our foundation, but the smol world is bigger than that. We have plans to expand into additional lounge and lifestyle categories. Longer term, I’d love for smol to be the brand petite women reach for across their entire day from the moment they wake up to the moment they fall asleep. We’re also exploring retail partnerships and pop-up experiences to bring smol to life beyond the screen. The community we’re building is incredibly passionate and I want to meet them where they are.
Anything else we should know?
Just that this brand was truly built with love for a community that has been overlooked for far too long. Every decision we make at smol, from the fabric we source to the proportions we engineer to the dreamscapes we design, is made with our customer at the center. She’s petite, she’s mighty, and she deserves clothes that were actually made for her. We’re just getting started, and I’m so grateful for anyone who has found smol and felt seen by it. I’m so glad you’re here.
Discover the world of smol and visit https://wearsmol.com/
