A long-time cosplayer and costume-maker who has attended almost every comic and anime convention in the kingdom was as excited as ever to take part in Bahrain Comic Con yesterday.
Artist Farah “Fofie” Sarhan has a passion for cosplay – an activity and performance art in which participants who are fans of comic books, films and video games dress up as their favourite characters.
After attending all ‘geek-culture’ events donning intricate, self-made costumes, the 30-year-old Bahraini decided to monetise her work.
“My first time as a vendor was in 2013,” Ms Sarhan told the GDN. “I started a business tailoring custom cosplay outfits.”
Despite her best efforts, Ms Sarhan only sold two costumes in the 2013 event. However, she refused to give up and strived to promote her costume and props business.
“I continued until 2017, but by then customers had learned to order costumes online or make their own cosplay outfits,” she said, adding that she had to stop selling because of the lack of demand.
However, she has returned in full force this year after the Covid-19 pandemic pushed her to start another anime and comic-related enterprise.
The now-Dubai-based artisan started a store called Pootis, named after her cat, dedicated to offering geek-oriented paraphernalia. From hand-made tufted rugs to decorated travel mugs and hand-painted jean jackets, Ms Sarhan’s products are much sought after and she has now branched out to the UAE and Kuwait.
“I was inspired by rug-making TikTok videos while social distancing at home,” she said, adding that she bought a tufting gun and different colours of yarn before getting to work.
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