Ann and Dash at AD Dreamer, their Volkswagen mini shop
Every girl wants a dream closet– if the attempt fails for now, wait for this one to pull at your door.
A Volkswagen mini van pulls quietly at the side of the bustling street. A side of the car is flipped upward, revealing a rack of dresses, jeans, t-shirts, skirts, with belts and bracelets neatly arranging underneath it. This is AD Dreamer, Ann and Dash’s mobile closet shop . They drive it to the night market daily and sometimes to their clients’ offices and homes if they have received orders from them online.
“People are hesitant to shop online because they can’t really see and touch the items,” says Dash, the co-owner of the van shop, “so, we drive around for them to look at our clothes. Once they know the quality is fine, they won’t hesitate anymore next time.”
Dash, 29, and his girlfriend Ann, 24, are fashion lovers who have marched into the clothing business without any formal training. They were just exhausted office workers who needed to get some air. Dash had worked at Nokia and duty-free shops at the airport, but didn’t like how his time was compressed in an enclosed working environment. He wanted to meet more people and have a more flexible schedule. Ann was an accountant, but didn’t like the monotonous life in the office either. She didn’t like to repeat doing one thing without change, and wanted a work environment that’s more diverse, communicative, and more creative.
Need to fit? There's a pull-out dress mirror tucked behind the rack!
The couple took their own savings, and together with some help with from their families, have started their own business. Through their combined skills– Ann’s acute fashion taste and Dash’s creative marketing strategies– they import clothes from Korea and sell them through the Internet and in their mobile shop. Dash had designed the van’s entire interior himself. In addition to racks and drawers, there’s also a pullout mirror and a display window at the back of the van that lights up like a Broadway magic show.
Fab finds abound in this mobile closet!
Dash is much happier now he gets to meet people from all over the world everyday as they drive around streets. He also gets to manage his own schedule as well. Meanwhile, Anne has been honing her designing skills, hoping to produce their own clothing line in the future. They would like to own a real shop, where the mini van would be parked in front of the door as a witness to their success.
Photos by Ivy Hsu