KARACHI: At the PFDC (Pakistan Fashion Design Council) Sunsilk’s fashion week, Republic’s Mediterranean Affair collection stood out for its immaculate presentation of the slick, sophisticated modern man. There was classic cool with a delicious palette of salmon pinks, dusty oranges and cobalt blues along with the archetypal white for the dandy hiding in all men. Safe to say the retail brand Republic made its mark showing that it was fashion savvy as well as wearable. The Express Tribune spoke to Omar Farooq, the creative director on what led him to create republic for men.
Where did the idea of Republic come from?
The idea came when I moved back to Pakistan from Dubai in 2007. I felt that in Pakistan, you either find very expensive clothes for men or clothes of poor quality; there was no grey area in between these two extremes. I wanted to start a luxury brand sans luxury prices. I wanted to create a label for men who love fashion and want to wear something extraordinary. For putting this vision into reality, I needed the best possible setup in terms of a factory, Italian quality suiting fabrics, cutting and pattern masters who would understand my sense of style and passion.
What are the challenges of doing fashion savvy menswear in Pakistan?
Menswear is challenging and difficult since most men don’t care about high fashion. Women are more susceptible to fashion and trends and will carry a look if other women are doing so.
Men carry their personality through their clothing. The price has to be just right. Although 99.9 per cent marketing efforts do work, you can’t force a man to follow a trend just because someone else is doing so.
What are your brand’s strengths?
Our strength is catering to customers’ needs in the best possible way. Our brand follows fashion trends with a collective emphasis on quality fabric, stitching and affordability. If you combine these three essentials, you get the perfect package for the consumer. Luxury brands abroad manage to get the first two correct but have suffered with the crucial aspect of pricing which makes their products difficult to sell.
How was the experience of debuting at fashion week (PFDC)?
It was amazing. I had the best time ever. I was thinking of doing a solo show prior to the fashion week but then decided to capitalise on the fashion week instead. It gave me direct access to foreign buyers.
What did you learn from the fashion week experience?
The most important lesson I learnt was how to put a collection together for the ramp. It’s also crucial that a collection should always be wearable. Runway gimmicks can last only till the fashion week and cannot be sustained economically in the longer run in terms of sales.
How receptive are Pakistani men towards campaigning?
I have been very fond of doing regular campaigns and have discovered that men do respond well but you need to be very careful about what you want to portray. The Republic man has always been a strong well-dressed, well-groomed man since I believe that a well-dressed man is a leader in his own way.
What is your direction for this year for the brand?
We have several goals to achieve this year such as establishing an outlet in Islamabad. I truly believe that Islamabadis are the true connoisseurs of style. With the diplomatic community based there, the brand will do well. We will be showcasing our Winter 2011 collection at the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week in March. Winter-wear is a lot of fun since it allows far more experimentation with lots of layering.
Then we will be showing at the Pitte Uomo fair in Florence which will help us garner international exposure.
What’s in store at the moment?
We are doing a special cricket tee-shirts line for the World Cup. They will be inspired by cricketing legends and will be done in an artistic way. Priced at Rs999, these will be a definite hit with our clients. Last summer our sandals and shirts did exceptionally well since men who wear corporate suits prefer to wear shirts instead. Also recently there seems to be a trend that men have started to favour shirts over tee-shirts.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 20th, 2011.
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