Zizi Boutique
Keeping Lake Street International
Photography by Bruce Silcox
Balqiis Hersi was born in Somalia. Her mom would travel from Somalia to India for work as a designer. In the eighties, her entire family moved to India to escape the Somali Civil War. Growing up there, Balqiis fell in love with the patterns, colors, and prints used in Indian textiles. This love would stay with her and inspire Zizi Boutique.
When her family moved to Minnesota on asylum visas, they started all over again. Her mother opened a fashion store in Karmel Mall at 2910 Pleasant Ave. Her parents then decided to open a furniture store at 315 W Lake Street.
Balqiis would help her parents at the stores and noticed most of the stores in Karmel Mall did not have modern modest wear that was typically worn by her and her young Muslim peers. So she would try and shop at other women’s fashions stores but found she needed to purchase a lot more pieces of clothing to achieve the modesty she desired.
She began to design clothes for her mom’s store, not just for Muslim women but for anyone. In 2016, parents wanted to close the furniture store at 315 W Lake Street. Balqiis convinced her mom that she could sell modest clothing for the younger demographic while her mom continued to sell more traditional styles in Karmel Mall. By the end of 2016, Zizi Boutique officially opened at 315 W Lake Street. Balqiis has seen her designs worldwide since.
While visiting one of her six sisters in London, she saw someone wearing a blazer that looked familiar. She approached them and asked where they got the blazer. They said they received it from a cousin in Minnesota. Balqiis asked to check the tag of the blazer… sure enough it was her design!
Balqiis learned everything about design from her mother. Of her six sisters, Balqiis is the only one who is following in her mothers fashion footsteps. Everything you see at Zizi Boutique is designed by Balqiis. Since it’s not ready-made, the custom pieces take much more time to produce. Covid-19 has tremendously affected her ability to release collections and keep inventory stocked. She designed and ordered a special collection for Eid al-Fitr that was supposed to arrive well before the holiday. She did not receive it till after the celebrations.
To work around this, Balqiis found other manufacturers but is now paying almost 50% more than her first five years in business.
“I don’t look at the money aspect of it because colors make me happy. Stuff I can create and can see other people wearing it.”
Balqiis Hersi, co-owner of Zizi Boutique
What keeps Balqiis going? Her designs and her customers.
Thinking about all the customers who enjoy her clothing Balqiis tells herself, “Hang in there. Even though sometimes it can be frustrating.” She regularly has customers coming to her Lake Street store from St. Cloud, Rochester, and Willmar. She also gets a lot of customers visiting from other areas with large Somali populations like Ohio, Seattle, and San Diego. Her customers from outside Minneapolis often request her to open stores in these locations. But her local customers and neighbors also beg her to never move!
From when Balqiis first moved to Minnesota in 2001, she says Lake Street has changed a lot, “I see it growing and I feel myself growing with it… I will open new locations but Lake Street is where I get inspired.”
Balqiis takes inspiration from watching her clients come into the store and style clothing. She also takes a lot of inspiration from vintage clothing predating the seventies. One day, Balqiis can see herself opening a high-end vintage store. But for now, she and her husband Mohamud, are focusing on improving Zizi Boutique on Lake Street.
“Lake Street is where I started. Even if I had to move, I will always have a store here. This is where the heart is. This is where I started… I don’t see myself away from Lake Street.”
Balqiis Hersi,
co-owner of Zizi Boutique
(left to right): Mark, manager; Balqiis Hersi, co-owner; Mohamed Mohamed, co-owner