Dubai: The Arabian Luxury group (TALG) aims is to sponsor and foster all Emirati and Arab talents who specialise in the luxury business. Carter and White is the first 100 per cent owned brand by TALG, a local luxury textile brand specialising in making the finest men, women, kids wear in addition to exquisite linens for yachts and private jets from 100 per cent Egyptian and Giza cotton with outlets at Dubai, Abu Dhabi, London, and New York.
The startup ecosystem has been heaving under the weight of a global pandemic. “Global economies have been hit hard with the slow down happening due to COVID-19. However, fashion will start to gradually regain its luster, especially in the Arab market. TALG’s role comes to give support to the startup scene in terms of supply chain, marketing, and operations. We are expecting to see a solid uptick in sales next year with the help of our plan to foster our brands,” says Marwan Bin Yousef Al Serkal, TALG’s Emirati founder. TALG is also working with the following brands:
2X_Designs, a modern clothing brand for the conservative Arab women:
Maitha Bint Sulaiman was eager to start her own fashion brand when she faced difficulty in finding conservative yet fashionable and modern clothes in the market. Supported by her husband, the 22-year old Emirati launched 2X_Designs three years ago to tailor to the needs of the Arab market and bring exquisite designs using the finest fabrics such as imported silk and pure Egyptian cotton, which were not widely used in the UAE.
Sales are currently done through the Instagram and snapchat pages, and they ship everywhere; yet their partnership with The Arabian Luxury Group (TALG) is expected to open new frontiers in terms of supply chain, marketing, and digital operations. “We are setting our grounds in the market and planning to open our first shop soon. We like to think that we are agile and are adopting to all market developments as they happen” Maitha highlighted.
Nephilim Official, haute couture that tells a story for every piece
Maitha, Shamsa, and Al Anoud Ahmed are three Emirati sisters who launched the Nephilim brand, a luxury ladies wear company. Nephilim captures the essence of nature and through it, engulfs the world with romance and femininity. Maitha, who has always been a passionate of fashion design and creative photography attended a fashion design course at ESMOD University to enhance her artistic skills before the launch of the brand. Along with her sister Shamsa, who is also a fashion enthusiast and works in Art Acquisition and Curatorship, the two sisters are the creative minds and designers behind Nephilim. They run the business with the help of Al Anoud, who oversees the finances and the marketing strategies of the brand.
“Each collection provides women with a dream-like style that could only exist in fairy tales. The pieces are rendered in signature embroidery and textiles with a focus on modesty aspects of the design offering each woman an exclusivity that she deserves,” Maitha elaborated.
While fabrics are imported from Italy, Spain, and France, the collections are fully made in a workshop in the UAE with an emphasis on high-end finishing. “Our target is to create a local brand according to international standards while maintain the local identity and modesty,” the 34-year old co-founder explained.
Collections are sold online through their Instagram page and ship internationally, and offline through exhibitions and in a luxury shop in Dubai Mall.
Feather Coffee, a taste that puts you in a happy place
When coffee-lover, Amna Ibrahim, decided to open a start-up selling coffee, she knew the name she will pick would be based on her sister’s fascination with “feathers.” “The brand name represents elegance and a happy state of mind, which Feather Coffee reflects,” 23-year old Amna explained.
The Emirati entrepreneur launched her brand one week before the COVID-19 lockdown, which was a struggle for the business operations; however, with restrictions getting easier, the orders started picking up again. “I decided to launch by ordering through the Instagram page, but with the help of TALG acquisition, we intend to increase the ordering platforms and open an outlet soon with a different concept and a warm ambiance,” Amna said.
Al Khomrah, a one-stop for modern and customised prayer needs
Ten years ago, two Emirati sisters, Mariam and Shaima couldn’t find decent prayer clothing for women in the market. They decided to take things into their hands and make their own customized prayer clothing, and when their friends started praising its quality and practicality, the sisters decided to launch their customized local branch.
“Al Khomrah,” which means the prayer mat during the time of Prophet Mohamed PBUH, is not just limited to prayer clothing, we do prayer mats, gift boxes for prayer products, Quran stand, and other home accessories, all handmade in UAE and sold through our Instagram page” explained Mariam. “We believe this acquisition will add so much to our business especially in helping us arrange our finances,” she elaborated.
