Nas: Funky T-shirts With an Arabic Twist
In early 2009, a group of college students started a business of designing hip T-shirts for the younger generation and selling them on a roof of a building. Today, Nas Trends is a famous brand in Egypt and has expanded to Jeddah.
“Nas” is Arabic for “people,” and is the inspiration behind the brand. “Young people are energetic, active, ambitious, optimistic and open to new things,” said Hashem Larry, founder of the brand in Jeddah. “Those are the qualities that reflect our designs and what inspire us day by day, so we can give more to our beloved customers. Our firm believes that the younger generation can change the world and lead to a better tomorrow, all while enjoying their time.”
“I went to school with the founders, but I joined them after they already established the business. Even though they started their business on a roof, people loved them. They also actually made a big sale on that roof and then started expanding and introducing new designs and collections,” he added.
The Egyptian brand has been designing two collections a year. “Recently, we designed the first collection of this year in Saudi Arabia. This is also the first Saudi collection, and we consider it an independent branch from the one in Egypt,” said Larry. “The factory that makes these T-shirts is in the free zone area in Cairo. We also use 100 percent Egyptian cotton, as we want high quality. You can consider this an Egyptian brand with international standards.”
Nas Trends’ mission is to transform anything trendy to wearable T-shirts by involving people in the designs. “Before each collection, we start an online competition where people can design their own T-shirts with Nas standards. Then, we filter the designs up to 10 or 15 pieces, and then upload them online so Nas fans and customers can log in and vote for the best T-shirt. We later choose the winner designs and execute them by forming them into T-shirts for the next collection,” added Larry.
Saudi Nas intend to follow the culture of Saudi Arabia, or Hejaz to be specific, says Larry. “The collection varies, but all are connected to the Saudi culture by designing well-known Saudi proverbs on the T-shirts. The collection is not following a certain trend; we wanted to mix styles to satisfy all tastes,” he explained.
Saudi Nas offers nine designs for their first collection and each design is present in a different color. “We are now testing the Saudi market and want to see how people would react to it. We hope they like it and approach it. Our style is fun, wild and energetic and it is only designed for young people who are open to new things,” he added.
Larry noticed that non-Saudis in Jeddah are the people who mostly shop from Nas Trends. “I believe the reason behind this is because we offer great quality T-shirts with a good price. In addition, most expats look for unique gifts related to Saudi culture to take back home. Our T-shirts are the best gift idea for both Saudis and non-Saudis,” said Larry. Saudi Nas chose to display their collection in a Bookstore as their marketing plan. “Bridges Bookstore is an important spot for Jeddawi youth. They always host educational events, book reviews, book signings and book clubs where a huge number of people attend,” said Larry. “We thought it would be a very creative idea to display there. The owners of the bookstore were very supportive of the idea and they agreed on giving us a spot there.”
“We also found support from photographer Mokhtar Chahine and model Abdulmohsen Bakhashwain who both did the photo shoot for this collection and volunteered to help us build our Saudi branch,” he added.
Their prices vary between SR100 and SR150 for one T-shirt. “We want our T-shirts to have a good price that everyone can afford. It’s true that we use high quality, but we still want to give an affordable price for all,” said Larry. “Since this brand is made especially for young people, we designed the price according to them. Even the Egypt brand has the same price range.”
Nas Trends is looking to open a kiosk in one of the big malls in Jeddah. “Being in Bridges Bookstore is only temporary, as we want to test the Saudi market and see people’s comments about the idea. We want to have our own location where customers can come and shop,” explained Larry.
You can search Nas Trends on Facebook and look at the Saudi and Egyptian collection.
Rima Al-Mukhtar
Arab News