MOUTHING platitudes about peace and wearing your heart on your sleeve have become ordinary to the point of tedium. Wearing the peace message on your chest however as a fashion statement with something to say, other than “I can afford this T-shirt,” is another matter. This was the result of the combined ingenuity of a group of young Saudis and saw the birth of a new clothing brand, ‘1 Ummah’.
With only $50,000 capital and an ingenious design idea, they came up with new clothing brand that incorporated the message as part of the design in a stylish and thoughtful conceit.
Using the Arabic alphabet, the message is spelt out in English. By clever use of the Arabic alphabet using inversion and reversal of letters the messages — for example togetherness, peace — are spelt out in very distinctly Arabic calligraphic style and lettering but remain perfectly understandable to any who can read English.
“Our main slogan is ‘Come To Common Terms’,” 28-year-old Omar Al-Sheikh and one of the founders of 1 Ummah, the inspirational name of the brand. “The slogan aims to help bridge the wide gap that exists between the East and West inviting people from differing backgrounds to meet on common platforms.” Under the name of “1 Ummah”, the brand took the fashion industry by surprise with its success by taking a unique direction in the fashion world that is inspired by the Arabic art. While most of the fashion brands emphasized only the exterior of the outfit, 1 Ummah, said Alsheik, gave an identity to customers by allowing them to silently reflect their desire for peace and unity as the name of the brand suggested.
“What we wanted was to convey the plea to all be one nation and live in peace,” Alsheik said. “Hence the name: 1 Ummah — one nation — transgressing religious and cultural borders.”
The UK-based company hopes that the shirt with a message will be more durable than the ephemeral fashions that appear on the market in the Middle East and that it will reach further across the world carrying the message.
Even though many dedicated followers of fashion expected that the brand would not please Western consumers, the reply came speedily during the Notting Hill Carnival 2007 in London when the British artist Wayne Marshall performed on the stage wearing 1 Ummah.
“Following the first 1 Ummah collection in 2006 people said that it was an idea with a limited appeal,” Al-Sheikh pointed out. “However many celebrities world wide have caught on to the 1 Ummah buzz and have expressed an interest in the brand. Some artists have sported 1 Ummah — such as DJ Sassy, American rapper Mimms” and from Arab world Hanan Turk, Tamer Husni, Hakeem. “We are currently negotiating with top stars in the music world,” said Alsheik. He pointed that it was difficult but not impossible to convince celebrities to wear their T-shirts. “It’s the message that convinced them to wear 1 Ummah as some of them are peace activists or show tendency toward peace whether in the West or Middle East.” He said.
“Our main focus is producing T-shirts and accessories which are sold through 8 retile shops in UK, Geneva, Saudi, Dubai Lebanon, and Egypt.” Samer Alomair another 1 Ummah coordinator said. He added that plans include a collection of hats, trousers and jackets so that the company could open their own brand boutiques.
Over the last three years, the brand has been launched in London, Geneva, Jeddah and Cairo. “Our First collection in 2006 included simple design that aim to promote the name of 1 Ummah as a fashion brand and to make people aware of its existence and read its message. At that time we sold 4,000 pieces in the $25 — $40 dollar price range,” Aloamir said.
Kalid Kurdy another founder and marketing manager of 1 Ummah said that some people thought that the Saudi brand is targeting Muslim people because the brand name is similar to one Islamic organization. “1 Ummah” is for all, no matter what the religion, color, or language of the wearer. If the brand targeted one nation or another it would divide the world instead of unifying it, entirely the opposite of our intention.”
Commenting on the new collection released last September he said that it had been shown only to retail outlets, celebrities and to certain magazines and other media channels.”
