The power of street-wear lies in the originality of the voice behind each and every look. Even though this particular fashion genre is often thought to be targeting the masses, one of Egypt's most prominent brands, "Unty", aims to restructure related stereotypes through artistic and personal designs that represent an intellectual tie between the founder and the consumers. Omar Mobarek is a young local advocate of this rising style. Over the course of seven different collections, Mobarek has built a community of young individuals through Unty that seek to stand out from the crowd, artistically and fashionably. He agreed to sit for an interview with Daily News Egypt to further discuss his ambitions and the industry. How do you perceive the current status of street-wear in Egypt? Street-wear can be a look or a culture. It exists in Egypt as a look; if you walk down the street, you will likely find some kiosk owners wearing Nike Air Maxes and a delivery boy wearing Yeezy Boosts along with sweatpants and oversized top. Of course nothing is original but these people have embraced street style. They go for the look, they get it down pretty well and I respect that. They are more progressive with their style then most people I know and deal with. Unfortunately the people that can afford the original Yeezy Boosts or Supreme Jackets still chase luxury brands and high-end looks. So in regards to the actual culture, with all the most recent brands dominating the street fashion world, the current status is disappointing. A couple of previous movements have shown some signs of hope that we will finally start to really understand and embrace street style as a culture but as of now, we still have a lot to work on. What makes Unty different? Unty is a personal voice. We are inspired by several things but in the end, we just do what we feel like doing and as long as it is not solely driven by trends, we will always remain different. We intend to create fashion that lasts longer than just one season.
For the consumer, we make very limited pieces. You should not go somewhere and find that everyone is the same thing; we try to give people the chance to be different. The brand's designs and collection focus on the streets' aesthetic (Photo from Facebook) How does your creative and manufacturing process work? Our creative process is ongoing. We do not limit ourselves in regards to what themes or concepts we work with; as long as it works together in the end. We produce with a local factory in Egypt to secure the highest quality available. Who is your target audience? Our brand targets whoever appreciates it. We offer diverse pieces that will appeal to different people depending on their taste. Meanwhile there is more to the brand than just the designs; our mix also includes the concept behind each piece as well as the campaigns, the branding that goes into it, and the several elements that we use to communicate our ideas. If we would have to put a label on our target audience, I would have to say that it is people who look at brands as a whole rather than just at face value. Tell us about your latest collection: Our winter collection is our seventh collection to date. It was our most diverse yet featuring sweatpants, a bomber jacket, two sweaters, and two caps. The concept of the collection revolves around some of the "what ifs" we have faced in our lives. We launched the collection with a campaign shot by Omar Harbi in an ambiguous setting since the thoughts we got when contemplating about "what if" were just imaginary; nothing familiar. We also did a second shoot in the streets of Zamalek with local stylist Radwa El Ziki to communicate the urban aesthetic of Cairo through street style.
What is next for Unty? We have several things in the pipeline; first we have the launch of our website (www.unty.co), where all of our products will be on display for direct online purchase and delivery, as well as a gallery for our previous campaigns and a place for people to fully grasp the brand as a whole. We will be kicking off the SS2016 season with our first capsule backpack collection followed by the summer collection, which will feature new additions to our product line. We would like to implement a successful collaboration by the end of the year as well as expand into Alexandria.
