What Merno does

Merno Design Studio (استودیو طراحی لباس مرنو) is a privately held Iranian fashion brand founded in late 2020 (Aban 1399 in the Persian calendar) and headquartered in Isfahan. The company designs, manufactures, and sells handcrafted clothing — including blouses, shirts, pants, vests, coats, scarves, ties, pocket squares, and belts — distinguished by traditional Iranian needlework techniques such as needlepoint (سوزن‌دوزی), goldwork embroidery (گلدوزی), and Balochi needlework, frequently embellished with handcrafted copper, brass, and natural gemstones such as lazurite and zunyite. Each garment requires hours to days of design research and most decoration is performed by hand by an in-house team of artisans, with no industrial-scale manufacturing disclosed.

The business model is direct-to-consumer omnichannel: products are sold through Merno's own e-commerce website (mernoworld.com, available in Persian and English) and through a physical studio/showroom at the Kowsar Trade Center in Isfahan. Pricing is unit-based in Iranian Toman (with USD on the English site), ranging from approximately 470,000 toman for an entry-level blouse to 8,700,000 toman for a premium hand-embroidered vest, on a pay-as-you-go basis. Customer acquisition is driven by organic social media (Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Twitter/X, YouTube, Telegram), email newsletters, content marketing via the Merno blog, and a four-tier loyalty club ('Bashgah Moshtarian') that ranges from Bronze (4% discount) to Merno (12% discount). The primary customer segment is fashion-conscious women seeking artisanal clothing, with a secondary segment of men purchasing formal and semi-formal wear.

Merno positions the brand around sustainability, ethical production, and the preservation of traditional Iranian craft, supported by free shipping across Iran, free repair and one free dry cleaning per garment within a year of purchase, free product exchange within a week, and a distinctive free redesign service. With 11-50 employees, no disclosed funding rounds, no institutional investors, no M&A activity, and no partnerships disclosed, Merno operates as a founder-led, single-jurisdiction artisanal fashion studio whose growth is constrained by hand-labor production capacity and Iranian-domestic demand.

Name

Merno

Legal name

Merno Design Studio (استودیو طراحی لباس مرنو)

Website

https://mernoworld.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Merno is an Iranian privately held fashion design studio founded in 2020 in Isfahan that designs, manufactures, and sells handcrafted clothing featuring traditional Iranian needlework, embroidery, and metal embellishments to domestic consumers via DTC e-commerce and a physical showroom.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Artisanal Handcrafted Fashion

NAICS

Apparel Manufacturing (315), Clothing and Clothing Accessories Retailers (458110), Sewing, Needlework, and Piece Goods Retailers (459130)

SIC

Apparel & Other Finishd Prods Of Fabrics & Similar Matl (2300), Retail-Apparel & Accessory Stores (5600), Women's, Misses', And Juniors Outerwear (2330)

akta.pro primary industry

Needlepoint & Embroidery Shops (CRALADAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Scarves/Shawls/Winter Neckwear Manufacturing (IMAOAFAD)

Keywords

• Artisanal apparel
• Handcrafted clothing
• Embroidered garments
• Fashion design studio
• Traditional needlework

Headquarters

HQ city

Isfahan

HQ country

Iran

HQ region

Middle East

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Direct Product Sales (E-commerce): Merno generates revenue through direct online sales of handcrafted clothing and accessories via its e-commerce website (mernoworld.com). Products include blouses, shirts, pants, coats, vests, scarves, ties, pocket squares, and belts, priced in Iranian Toman (تومان). The company also sells through its English-language site with prices in USD.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Merno designs and manufactures handcrafted clothing and accessories — including blouses, shirts, pants, manto, vests, coats, scarves, ties, pocket squares, and belts — decorated with traditional Iranian needlework, goldwork embroidery, Balochi needlework, and handcrafted metal and gemstone embellishments. The company sells these garments directly to consumers through its own e-commerce website (mernoworld.com) and a physical studio/showroom in Isfahan, with free shipping across Iran and complimentary after-sales services (repairs, dry cleaning, redesign).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Blouses and tops (بلوز و تاپ) Handcrafted women’s blouses and tops featuring traditional Iranian embroidery and embellishments, designed for everyday and semi-formal wear.
• Shirts (پیراهن) Handcrafted shirts including fully hand-embroidered and hand-woven needlework styles for women and men.
• Pants and shorts (شلوار و شلوارک) Handcrafted pants and shorts designed for everyday and formal wear, including styles that complement Merno’s embroidered tops and suits.
• Manto (مانتو) Traditional Iranian women’s outerwear (manto) produced by Merno with the brand’s handcrafted detailing.
• Vests (جلیقه) Handcrafted vests featuring needlework and metal embellishments, including a flagship hand-embroidered needlework vest.
• Coats (پالتو) Handcrafted coats for colder weather, priced up to 4,500,000 toman, in Merno’s autumn/winter collections.
• Scarves and shawls (شال و روسری) Handcrafted scarves and shawls decorated with traditional Iranian needlework, including winter and velvet styles.
• Ties and pocket squares (کراوات و دستمال جیب) Handcrafted men’s ties and pocket squares decorated with hand embroidery and handwork detailing.
• Belts (کمربند) Handcrafted belts, including needlework-embroidered styles, offered as accessories to Merno’s main apparel lines.
• Seasonal collections (Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter) Twice-yearly seasonal fashion collections featuring hand-embroidered and handcrafted garments produced by Merno.

Quantifiable outcome

• Free shipping across all of Iran (no minimum purchase required)
• +4 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Bibi Russell: Bangladeshi handloom fashion brand promoting traditional heritage crafts through modern apparel. Comparable to Merno in using handcraft heritage as both product and brand story, with a small-team artisanal model.
• Payal Khandwala: Indian contemporary fashion label known for handcrafted textiles, prints, and embellished garments. Similar to Merno in DTC artisan apparel with hand-embellished details at premium price points.
• Anita Dongre: Indian luxury fashion house built around hand embroidery and traditional Indian crafts, with a DTC + flagship retail model. Highly comparable to Merno in heritage-craft DNA, premium artisan positioning, and direct-to-consumer distribution.
• Kotn: Egyptian-origin sustainable fashion brand producing handcrafted cotton garments with direct-to-consumer focus. Comparable to Merno in sustainability positioning, DTC-first distribution, and heritage-craft narrative.
• Sabyasachi: Indian couture label renowned for intricate hand embroidery and traditional craft techniques sold through flagship stores and e-commerce. Comparable to Merno in artisan-led luxury, embroidery-centric design language, and reliance on heritage craft talent.
• Manish Malhotra: Indian couture and diffusion label featuring heavy hand embellishment and embroidery across apparel and accessories. Comparable to Merno in craftsmanship intensity and the use of artisan talent to drive premium pricing.
• Raw Mango: Indian heritage textiles and handcrafted clothing brand emphasizing traditional Indian craft and slow fashion. Closely comparable to Merno in craft-led storytelling, premium positioning, and DTC-led distribution.
• Pero: Indian handcrafted clothing brand working with traditional craft techniques and artisan communities. Comparable to Merno in mission-driven artisanal positioning, small-batch production, and sustainability narrative.

Broad incumbents

• Dice Kayek: Turkish luxury fashion house with strong craftsmanship and embroidery heritage serving regional and global luxury markets. Broader and more internationally established than Merno but shares West Asian craft heritage and premium positioning.
• Good Earth: Indian lifestyle and apparel brand curating handcrafted, craft-led products across categories. Comparable to Merno in heritage-craft sourcing and artisanal storytelling, though broader in lifestyle scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/mernoworld
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/mernoworld
• Facebookfacebook.com/mernoworld
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mernoworld
• Instagraminstagram.com/mernoworld
• Pinterestpinterest.com/mernoworld

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Merno