Walking the extra mile

Clothing brand Ego’s frontman discusses Pakistan’s growing retail market and his latest endeavours.

KARACHI:

At his office located off Zamzama, on C-Street, the founder of retail giant Ego has a cluster of enterprises keeping him occupied. Adil Mosajee’s ‘Ego’ entered the fashion commerce in December 2006, paving way for other endeavours. With an eatery outlet called East End in place since February 2014, Concept X — an interiors store that recently had a soft launch, Adil also offers his mentoring services at Nest I/O.

With 26 Ego retail stores to his credit, Adil has added three more at the global level. Defining how he views the growing retail scene, he tells The Express Tribune, “Pakistan’s retail industry is growing and changing.” He adds, “The retail scene in Lahore is to change shortly with five new malls springing up soon. Our expansion design lies more on increasing the size of the store, increasing the sales, increasing by square feet and then increasing the number of stores.”



Talking about the future of prêt, he says, “Transition is happening. I see from tailoring to tailored outfits, a lot will change in the next five years. Prêt is picking up. More brands are coming up. Price wars between brands are trending.” Excitedly, he says, “Weaker brands will die off in the long run. Overtime, it will only be the design and philosophy that will stand out. We will try to stand out. We will be price conscious.”

With a bunch things currently operating, he is open to other business ventures. “Other things will open. As for now, I’m exploring the unknown. I struggle managing four enterprises,” he says. Crediting his team, he concludes, “My team facilitates me. They make it easier for me to jump into new things all the time.”

As to why don’t we see his presence at consecutive Fashion Week happenings in Pakistan, he says, “Fashion Weeks require time, attention, money; we however, source ourselves better into marketing which works better for us.” He elucidates, “I am not pleased with the idea of making women walk the ramp.”



Discussing the concept behind Ego, his first-ever venture, Adil asserts, “There was hardly a brand culture in Pakistan. Grandmothers and granddaughters would wear the same lawn with different necklines — that was fashion then.” He adds, “We found a niche when we started Ego. The small brand started in December 2006 and it has come a long way since then.” Having never thought of it to grow at the scale it did, Adil reveals the brand’s original mantra, saying, “Initially, when we started off Ego, my mantra was and till date is, ‘If you are making something that the daughter will love and the mother will hate, you are on the right track!’.” The small scale brand was crafted for a niche market and meant for the free-spirited Pakistani woman.

Elaborating further, Adil reveals, “When we first started off, I could think of just two brands that were in direct competition with us — Generations and Unbeatable. However, over the course of the first five years, our business doubled.” Within a five-year period, consumers began investing in the brand at a larger scale. “We came in direct competition with alKaram, Gul Ahmed, Khaadi and Nishat; though all these four brands had a textile backbone, which we didn’t have but we were incidentally competing against them,” says Adil. Adding to the story, he says, “It was very challenging for us. With time, our target market expanded into a bigger clientele that had a broader taste base.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2015.

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