 Crowds
of shoppers flocking at a store. Women complaining that all their
favourite designs have been sold out. Beelines to the ATM machine.
These could be scenes at a shopping mall or high street anywhere
in the world; but this is an everyday occurrence at the Pakistani
retail chain Ego.
Ego is the retailer success story of the decade in Pakistan. From
a low-key opening in the overcrowded lanes of Zamzama in Karachi
in 2006, the store has had a significant impact on how women shop
in just a few years.
With an increase in women heading to the workplace who didn't have
the time (or the patience) to blackmail tailors and bargain at fabric
stores, a huge need emerged for office wear, leaving hundreds of
women standing in front of their closets everyday, faced with the
dilemma of 'what do I wear?' . Ego rose through the ranks as 'the'
store to head to for a one-stop solution, selling affordable ready-to-wear
clothes that were appropriate for the workplace and trendy to boot.
Since its launch, Ego has consolidated its market share, leaving
behind retail stores that also opened up around the same time. Today,
it has a total of 11 retail spaces in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad,
has done seven exhibitions in the US and plans to do 60 more across
the world from Bombay, Delhi and Colombo to the UK and US. It has
become a brand in its own right, has the female singing sensations
Zeb and Haniya among its loyal clientele, and has more recognition
than any of the new designers who have launched their first 'prêt'
collection with couture price tags.
 Ego's
success as a retailer finds its parallel in how fashion has evolved
abroad in the past year. When the chill of the global economic recession
began to set in, couture houses like Christian Lacroix found themselves
out of business, and stock at high-end retailers gathered dust.
Retail buyers and magazine editors focused on showcasing affordable
designers who made classic pieces that a shaky consumer base would
buy regardless of the financial crunch.
But customers defied the recession and caused riot-like scenes at
the Topshop opening in New York, the worldwide launch of H&M's
Commes des Garcon collaboration line and the Sana Safinaz lawn sale
in Karachi, proving that the tide has turned irrevocably in the
favour of affordable fashion that can make the transition from daywear
to evening wear.
Perhaps that's why Ego has survived and grown steadily. But they
have plenty going for them, including a solid retail foundation
and a strong customer focus. A visit to one of the Ego workshops
located in Defence is a revelation. The door to Adil Moosajee's
office - the jovial man who runs Ego - bears a note with customer
feedback: "a reminder to do better", says Adil. But more
so than the pride Adil and Ego should rightly have in their success
is the pride they take in their employees. Ego works on a unique
model where they have outsourced manufacturing to their own employees
who are given units to run. This develops an in-house line of suppliers
that manage their own operations and can expand.
"One of the things we're really proud of is the people that
we've pushed forward. The guy who used to do our printing has his
own press; the embroidery worker has his own facility. Four of our
employees who used to make 7000 rupees a month now make 30,000 a
month because they handle their own units… so they've really
grown," reveals Adil.
The customer is king
Ego has eschewed normal forms of advertising in favour of the Home
Express newsletter and the social networking website Facebook. Ego's
page on Facebook is a one-stop look at everything the retailer is
doing. They upload new designs at a remarkable frequency and hundreds
of comments pour in everyday as well as customer complaints. The
page has 14,266 Facebook users listed as fans of Ego.
This is their platform for directly interacting with customers and
getting valuable feedback. And Ego relies heavily on their clientele
to promote them as  well.
"We believe that no one can market Ego better than the people
wearing Ego," Adil explains. "If you're wearing it and
you tell people its Ego it speaks for itself. You don't have to
say 'I like it' because you obviously must like it, that's why you're
wearing it!"
Designer drama
As far as design goes, Adil is extremely content with how Ego is
operating right now. They produce 15 to 20 new designs every month,
which are designed by Adil and Amir Tariq (who work on a permanent
basis), with a rotational team of people who work for different
periods of time and put in their design input.
But one wonders whether Ego could follow the examples of retailers
abroad who have collaborated with high-end designers to make affordable
street wear with a designer tag, but it is met with an emphatic
no. "This is one of the times that you'll hear me sounding
cocky, " says Adil, "but nobody can do what we do better
than us. So it's not going to happen."
I press further. Look at the impact of designer lawn sales that
someone like Sana Safinaz has, that name does sell. Couldn't it
have the same impact on Ego?
"It could work for some people, its not going to work for us.
Our line is called Ego, for crying out loud! (Laughs)"
"Truthfully, I really don't think anyone can do what Ego does.
After all, we don't claim to do bridals better than Rizwan Beyg
or anyone else. Secondly, we don't want to. If we've taken help
from anyone to come up with ideas or improve or design, it's the
customer. The customer has come back to us over the years and given
us a lot of feedback and helped us create new styles."
Fashion Rocks!
Despite not using conventional advertising, Ego has found its designs
on Coke Studio billboards and the LSA red carpet, via their celebrity
clients, Zeb and Haniya.
"People like Zeb and Haniya have not just helped us market
us but have given us incredible confidence," says Adil. "I
didn't know them at all. They walked in to the store one day and
left their CD and said 'look we really like Ego, listen to our CD,
if you like our music, and let's strike a deal where we promote
each other'. We heard their CD and fell in love with them, and now
they wear Ego everywhere."
The duo performed at a concert Ego organized for their opening at
The Forum in Karachi, a tactical move that brought in more potential
customers to the store than any of the usual launches. Haniya told
Instep at the concert, "When we walked in, I told Zeb 'hey,
that's the kind of stuff we wear!'
A heritage of retail
Ego has all the retail basics right, from restocking (a sore point
with multi-label stores and designers) to stock turnover and store
management. Ego has a strong background to learn from: Adil hails
from the Moosajee family that owns the retail brand that is synonymous
with quality menswear and suiting - which his family owns. "Moosajee's
plays a huge part," says Adil. "Moosajee's has been in
business for a long time. We have their support in terms of structure,
finance, administration, how to hire and manage people, dealing
with inventory, logistics etc. The confidence of the fact that we're
good at retail... It's very different in terms of markets and the
design element, but the retail mechanism is the same."
That confidence has been bolstered by the customers, who have flocked
to Ego for their affordable price tags (ranging roughly between
1000 - 3000 rupees). "So Ego's pricing…with the state
of the economy..." I venture to ask. Adil laughingly replies,
"Have you NOTICED how ridiculously cheap we are? It's CRAZY!"
So how is Ego surviving? "We're happy," says Adil. "The
numbers work for me, it's not huge amounts of money, but it's good
money."
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