Welcome to Zakee Shariff Studio, a creative studio founded in 1998 by artist, designer and transformation coach, Zakee Shariff. The studio is located in the industrial area of Park Royal, London NW10, where I Zakee creates printed textiles, fashion collections, fine art, commercial art, illustrations, and a diverse range of unique products available through her web shop or by commission.
Zakee was born in London to parents of Indian and East African descent and is a first- generation British South Asian female. She was raised by her mother and stepfather, who was from New York, USA. She spent four years of her childhood living by the ocean in Pakistan, where she developed a profound love for nature. The ocean for Zakee has always been her first love.
As a child, she was very shy and didn’t speak much. Zakee mother encouraged her to express herself through drawing, and gave her some paper and pens with the advice, “If you can’t say it, draw it.” From that moment, Zakee knew, as did her mother, that she was destined to draw and use colour for the rest of her life.
Zakee draws upon her ancestry and weaves her spirituality, love of travel, adventure, music, street culture, and the power of healing through beauty into all her work as a creative and transformation coach. Everything she does aims to empower and touch the hearts and emotions of others. Zakee is passionate about connecting her life force with that of others.
Growing up with two brothers in a family immersed in fashion, textile design, business, and manufacturing, Zakee was surrounded by art, colour, and music. Zakee’s mother came to the UK from Africa at the age of 16, and she and her stepfather taught her the freedom of working for herself. Zakee started her first business at age 13, running a stall in Camden Town selling leftover garments from her parent’s manufacturing business. That experience sparked a deeper love for fashion, street culture, and entrepreneurship.
Zakee completed a degree in fine art-based printed textiles, focusing on abstracting design from her painting and drawing. Zakee fell in love with the process of silk screen printing, and you would always find her in the print room. Zakee’s practice and need to coexist between art and design has stayed with her ever since.
In 1998, Zakee launched her own fashion collection, Zakee Shariff Clothing, after a friend encouraged her to start one. It was a huge adventure and an incredible experience, resulting in 14 designer clothing collections, fashion shows, exhibitions, selling to clients across the globe, creative representation in the UK, Japan and the US and collaborations and license projects with a diverse range of clients and individuals.
In 2005, In an attempt to create a better live/work balance, Zakee decided to stop creating clothing collections and explore her artwork, creative collaborations, and design/license projects, while studying to become a life coach, spiritual coach and giving birth to her now 13-year-old daughter, Poppy Love. Who is her greatest creation yet and a soulmate.
Zakee has had the honor of working with a diverse range of clients around the globe for over 25 years. Zakee returned to fashion in 2014, creating made-to-order garments under my brand name, Zakee Shariff, and more recently Supermoon. This approach allows Zakee to maintain a sense of freedom in her life, which is one of her top values and honour her deep love of Mother Earth, by not over producing. The studios aim in all its output is to do so as sustainably as it can, and will minimise impact where it can. Zakee creates her designs for selected stores and directly for her loyal friends and clients, and Zakee loves to work with carefully selected collaborations with various brands and individuals. Zakee is passionate about connection and thrives in collaboration.
As an artist, Zakee has had three solo shows and exhibited her artwork in the UK, Japan, Dubai, France, and Switzerland. She creates linear drawings and abstract artworks using paint, ink, and silkscreen-printing. She channels her art through spiritual connection, aiming to touch hearts and evoke an emotional connection to support a healing. Zakee also delves into relationships and power dynamics, through her figurative painting. Zakee has a natural capacity with both her abstract and figurative work, to take something challenging or difficult and turn it into something beautiful and poetic.
The Zakee Shariff Web Shop features a diverse range of fashion, accessories, interior, and lifestyle limited edition pieces, alongside Zakee’s artworks.
After training as a life coach in 2009, Zakee started my transformation coaching practice, Dream Forward. Zakee has an innate capacity to see and hold a vision of someone’s higher self. Zakee works two mornings a week, from her coaching room at home, one-on-one with a limited number of clients, are 30 – 65, who are creatives and solo-preneurs. Zakee also facilitates small groups focused on seeing, hearing, and empowering women. through many subjects in life that come with being a woman and through creativity. Zakee is in the process of developing a new way of working with clients, where she combines her skills as a coach, healer, and mentor together with painting and drawing, one-on-one and in groups.
Some things you may not know about Zakee. She is a very spiritual being, and feels energy everywhere she goes. Zakee has been a meditator for 18 years. She is trained in Swedish massage, and in Reiki for both in person and remote healing. Zakee is a Seer, a trained channeller and has always had a strong intuitive way of walking through her life. Zakee comes from an ancestral line of healers, mediums & psychics.
The Zakee Shariff Studio is always open to new creative partnerships, if you have an idea for a project or collaboration, please do contact the studio.
Creative clients include : Atlantic Records, Brownswood Recordings, Bugaboo, Channel 4, Colette, Early Majority, Exposure, Frost Body by Sadie Frost, Laurence King, Levis, Liberty, Mattel, Medicom Toy, Nike, Paul Smith, Roxy Heart by Roxy, Saint Laurent, Savannah Miller, Selfridges, Victoria & Albert Museum, X-Girl
To work with 1-2-1 with Zakee as a coach & mentor, or to enquire about group facilitation/workshops, please email. team@dreamforward.co.uk or to find out more, or read testimonials please go to, Dream Forward