Building A Global Brand and a Devoted Following, Faraz Zaidi on the Importance of Longevity and Shifting Direction.

Meet Faraz Zaidi, the Immigrant-born American designer whose built a seven  figure global fashion business originating in his bedroom in a small rural town in  New Jersey. Twelve years after launching the brand, Faraz’s business and creative  pursuits have been characterized by the word “pivotal.” Despite the challenges  posed by a decade of style and cultural changes in the world along with a global  pandemic, Faraz and his team have been able to significantly grow their business  through the introduction of new products and marketing campaigns. “We pride  ourselves in our ability to keep up with the times” Faraz says. He hints at this  being the secret to his brands longevity and continued relevance.  

According to Faraz, the most important ingredient to success in any business is to  be well-informed about the current state of the world, including socio-political  issues, popular culture, global affairs, music, technology, and art and to design  relevant products around it. When the pandemic hit, Faraz noticed a pressing need  for attractive, high-quality face masks that could be worn with a variety of  clothing. Since he couldn’t find any masks that met these criteria, he and his team  decided to make their own. 

 

After being featured in reputable publications like Vogue, GQ, Esquire, and  Hypebeast, the demand for Faraz’s face masks surged. He attributes the success  of his masks to a well-crafted business and advertising strategy combined with  the best product he and his team could design. Faraz says, “The formula for  success merging design and targeting strategy was difficult to deny.” 

After the pandemic passed, Faraz faced the challenge of catering to a diverse  group of customers who were drawn to his brand primarily because of their need  for high-quality face masks. In order to return to the brand’s central focus of  clothing, Faraz had to pivot back into this area. He says, “We then had to shift  back focus into clothing again as our central core pillar of the brand and retell the  stories that made us who we are.” 

As succinctly explained on Faraz’s company website, the brand centers around the  theme of constantly adapting to change. The collections are inspired by the  designers’ personal experiences and the world they live in, and are shaped by  themes of cultural identity, spirituality, social and political commentary, and  personal struggle. The pieces are designed to evoke a sense of timeless poetry  within the context of modern fashion. The images, text, fabrics, and shapes used  by the brand reflect the concept behind each collection and showcase the  designers’ reference-rich worldview.  

The brand’s vision and future plans involve staying attuned to the constantly  changing mood of the world and using clothing as a means of communication to a  wide audience. From the state of the economy to human behavioral and social  patterns, all of these factors goes into our design process as our products are  truly a reflection of us as people and the societies we exist in. 

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Faraz’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farazzaidi/ 

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