Part 2 - Economic     :

I understand that you’re partnering with Lebanese families to produce your own clothes.

What are the difficulties that you encounter in the process of producing clothes locally?

The fluctuation of the dollar rate has certainly been a major problem that I’ve been dealing with. I suppose most businesses today are struggling because of      this. I would buy the items or fabrics at a certain rate and then when it was time to sell the pieces, the Lebanese pound value would have depreciated. The disparity between my producing cost and my selling price would become minimal, and ultimately, I would be getting low to zero profit given that all of my prices are in LBP     .

How hard are the materials/labor to find and to afford?

Another problem that I have been personally facing is the lack of availability of fabrics and factories in the Lebanese Market. Unfortunately, the market here is not properly equipped to mass produce, or even produce at all, really. It is quite disappointing given the potential that we have here in Lebanon. So sometimes I have to settle for less than what I actually want, and sometimes I would even change the item completely because I would not find the proper fabric for it. I’ve also been facing a problem with quantities. Quantities are always limited, and this has been causing a lot of customer dissatisfaction. This is solely due to the size of the factories in Lebanon: they are small, family factories, and most of them cannot find employees. Consequently, the factories we work with are unable to produce huge quantities in a short time so we either have to keep producing the same item over and over again, or produce a wider variety, with smaller quantities. Of course, I opted for the second option.

How hard is it to find a balance between quality and affordability? Have you had to      make the choice between sacrificing one for the other?

As for my price/quality ratio, I believe it is near perfect. Since I manufacture most of my items here, I get to exhibit proper quality control over them. I pick the fabrics by hand, which also helps a great deal in imagining the item and getting the feel of it before it is even complete. Finalizing a sample piece takes about a week in order to produce the optimal version of said piece. I exert intricate attention to detail, and I personally choose every little detail, from the design to the color of the thread. As for my prices, I try to set them as reasonably as possible; I do not overvalue my items. My policy is to give the best quality at the best prices, and this is how I have managed to keep going. Whenever I feel as though I have to sacrifice affordability for quality, I try to change things up a bit, maybe try to provide the item at a lower price while maintaining the same quality. Some of my items might be out of the usual price range, but this would probably mean that I could not do any better in regard      to the price. As for sacrificing quality, this has never happened, and would never happen. I have one rule when it comes to aquì: if it looks too tacky and cheap for me to wear, and if I am not personally convinced of what I am selling, I do not even bother uploading it on the page. The golden rule of sales is to be entirely convinced of what you have to offer.

What has been the feedback by your clients? Do you get complaints? Or are they generally satisfied?

My clients are honestly amazing. They are all so supportive and generally accepting of the tiny mistakes that sometimes occur. One complaint I always get is about the lack of availability. People do not do well with this “limited quantities” concept, they want a website, they want big quantities, and they want them now. I am working to comply with these demands, hopefully sometime in the near future.

Another complaint I get is about sizing. Given that we are an online store, the option to try garments on before buying is not available. People often have to return or exchange the item because the size didn’t fit. I am not sure that we will be able to do much about this. But I feel as though people are slowly getting used to the idea of online shopping, and in no time they will learn to instantly pick the right size merely by looking at a picture.