Fashion: The evolution of Sheep

The ready-to-wear clothing brand has managed to earn a place in hearts of women with its simple, wearable collection.

KARACHI:

Ready-to-wear clothing brand Sheep has managed to earn a place in the hearts of women across the country with its simple and wearable collection.

As a result, it wasn’t a surprise when The Express Tribune visited their outlet at the Dolmen City Mall to find merely two racks containing articles of clothing from their fall collection — the rest were either old items on sale or a few new items for their upcoming Eid collection.

“I can’t show you our entire fall collection,” said Ayesha Jafar, Brand Communication Specialist at Sheep. “Because most of the items are actually sold out.” She then described what the fall collection encompassed — the colour scheme in focus was brown, green and orange; the stitched outfits were primarily light weight lawn with colour-blocking; plain and dark under-toned shirts with bright hues were also seen amongst the remaining stock.

Jafar then elaborated on how the brand came into existence: “The idea came long before the shop itself. Alia Jafar, who runs this store, is actually my sister-in-law. She was expecting a child back in 2009 and couldn’t find any suitable clothes to wear. This was the year she actually came up with the idea of opening a store.” The brand was launched in the first quarter of 2010. “People thought it was either a store for woolen and knitted material or for children’s wear — no one thought it was actually for ladies.”

Commenting on their target market, she said: “Initially, Sheep only focused on one line. With time we have diversified and evolved as a brand as we cater to more women with our four varying lines.” The brand is meant for all women, from petite ones to those who require extra large sizes. “A lot of time and tears went into branding Sheep back in 2009,” she added. “Today we have evolved and so has our logo.”

When asked what Sheep’s design philosophy is, Jafar responded: “It’s not complicated — basically we want women to have plenty of options to choose from.” She then added that they are well aware of the misery tailors put women through these days and thus simply want to facilitate them. “We know tailors don’t stitch clothes on time and bring customers to tears — we want women to have more options to choose from,” she said. “And that’s exactly what we are offering.”

“We have cash on delivery services as well,” she added, in context of Facebook picking up as an effective tool of promotion. “People love to place orders via website.” Although the brand has only been able to create a nationwide presence up till now, Jafar intends on growing its awareness further across the globe. “10 years down the road we see ourselves in a global scenario with a presence in all key cities from Dubai to New York to London — it would be fantastic.”

In regard to being nominated for Best High Street Brand at the Lux Style Awards 2012, she said: “It’s an amazing feeling to find out that you are nominated and being noticed for your work.” Being in the industry for barely two and a half years, she added, “Right now we are young and experimental so we certainly have a long way to go — however only time will really tell.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2012.

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