Ema Savahl Couture has emerged as one of the leading fashion houses under the creative force and guidance of Ema Koja. Her design approach was shaped by her upbringing in Albania, where she developed an eye for patterns, precision, and vibrant designs. Despite facing trials and tribulations that could have deterred her love for entrepreneurship, freedom, and creating custom pieces, Koja did not succumb to self-defeat. Instead, she focused on her internal healing, leading to undeniable breakthroughs in her personal and professional endeavors.
Today, her fashions have become a celebrity staple, with stars like Sofia Vergara, Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez, and Paris Hilton wearing her unique styles. Stepping into this next chapter, the fashion architect has her business sights set on “creating the NEW YOU, with every collection” by helping “women vibrate into a higher level of confidence, self-love, and ownership of their own creations.”
In our exclusive interview, Ema discusses her personal transformation, advice for up-and-coming designers, a costly career mistake that could have derailed her journey, and much more.
NEW YOU: Your first creation was a butterfly top you created in the 90s, which launched your business. In a previous interview, you stated that, at the time, it was also your personal transformation. Can you tell us who Ema was during that transformation versus the Ema we know today?
Ema Savahl: I haven’t grown much since that day. I’m one of those people that stays childish forever. That’s why my nature hasn’t changed. I’m very curious. I always like trying new things and making a thousand mistakes, which doesn’t bother me. I’m still a trial-and-error kind of person. But what has changed is the calmness with which I handle things because I know that everything will be amazing. When I was younger, there was always that fear of whether or not I would make it. I had to prove myself, but now I don’t. We evolve and get new programming, but we are always the same people at the core.
NY: How did you get to this overview and outlook on your life, creating harmony and knowing that things will work out?
ES: That’s a beautiful question. When you’re an athlete, every weekend, you have a game, and that’s a game of life: you win or you lose. There are no gray areas: you succeed, or you don’t. Sports give you a sense of comparing yourself with no lies. So that’s number one. I cannot lie to myself; I learned that from sports. If I didn’t work out hard, it shows. If I’m not fast enough, it shows.
I’m very honest with what I’m really good at and what I’m not good at. When I’m not good at it, I use other people and don’t try to do their job; instead, I empower them. That’s the harmony I’ve achieved in my life, which is working well with others because we are like an organism. Ema Savahl is myself and everybody else. When I work with them, I’m just one with my people. There is no boss there. They look at their job as a hobby more than their job.
Also, I’ve never compromised anything in my life. If I don’t love it, I don’t do it, and it doesn’t matter how much money I can get out of it. When you compromise, you don’t just betray yourself once you betray your whole life. I grew up in a family of athletes, and we always worked hard, but we did what we loved, and this brand was created out of pure love and passion.
NY: You mentioned empowering your team members, so what advice would you give young designers?
ES: Number one, to make sure that they really love what they’re getting into because there’s nothing tougher than fashion. When I design, I always design in such a way that is not easy to copy either. I always say you must have passion because you’ll need all the patience in the world for this business.
Number two, you have to work well with other people to bring something inside your mind into this material world. It’s very hard to do it by yourself. You need many talented people to do it, and you need to be able to understand each other very well and allow everyone to express themselves because if you keep barking orders, the garment doesn’t have the magic inside. These garments are amulets. The garment has to reflect the love, passion, and desire to create something extraordinary when the person wears it.
NY: What advice do you have for women struggling to find confidence and self-love?
ES: It’s a story that we’re telling ourselves. The story that you’re telling yourself will show you right away what you’re experiencing. Everything you’re experiencing is an internal story that stops you from achieving it. If you can pinpoint the story and change it, it will be really easy. You create five phrases that override those you had before, and your life will change completely. Everybody has to be able to be truthful. To be honest with themselves and admit I’m not getting what I want from life. That honesty within will allow you to ask, “What is stopping me from doing this?”
NY: Can you talk about a specific mistake you made in your career or business, what you learned from it, or how you turned it into an opportunity?
ES: I often had incredible opportunities, but I limited myself—the fear of being extraordinary and much bigger than I could handle. I sabotaged myself because I didn’t think I was worthy of it. I thought others put me on a pedestal where I didn’t deserve it. Now, I’ll always ask myself if I’m making this decision out of love or fear. And if I’m making it in fear, I’m not doing it.
NY: Success is such a broad term; it means something different to everyone. How do you define success?
ES: Because I’m an athlete at my core, success is topping the person I was before. I cannot compete with others because I move at a different level. So I compare myself, like I compare how I interact with people. I compare it to the amount of love that I carry in my heart for everybody and everything, and I’ve never judged myself. It’s like, I am who I am; take me or leave me.
I’ve achieved it over the years, and it’s very empowering for me. Not only do I do it, but I also beam it out. I have people who always tell me that whenever I’m around you, I feel like I love myself. It’s because I’m unapologetically myself. I’m not trying to be anything else. Because I’ve achieved this over these many years, I have a huge amount of extra energy that other people don’t because they’re so busy, holding a facade, a mask for others to see them differently. The amount of effort and energy that it takes leaves them behind.
Cover Photo Credit: Fadil Berisha Photography
