Ever since the introduction of their first collection of geometrical bags, ZAAM’s designs have gained a cult following among fashionistas, bloggers, influencers, and women in general. Not only turning their attention to women’s bags, ZAAM also were among the few local brands to offer a dedicated men’s collection. With each year, the brand grows and its designs diversify. With their latest shoot and collections out in the market, we spoke with the man behind it all-Ahmed Azzam, as we talked quality, going global, and Egypt’s accessories scene.
Talk to us about your latest collection. What is the inspiration behind the collection, as well as the shoot?
We have different production lines ZAAM (women and men), ZAAM Basic (day-to-day practical bag), ZAAM Beach (seasonal beach collection), ZAAM Garments (limited edition annual clothing line), and the ZAAM signature (signature pyramid/polyhedron bag).
The latest for ZAAM Basic, was the pole collection and since this line aims to produce practical bags we are taking new direction of introducing new adjustable bags that could be adjusted in different styles. So now you can buy a bag and have it in three different styles (double fanny-pack, fanny-pack or cross-bag) and we’re currently working on new designs for the same collection with the same concept but with more styles for the same bag.
For the beach collection we just launched our CAY collection, and the name was behind the material we are using where all the bags are hand-stitched together to make one pattern.
Tell us about the concept of incorporating of transparent material in your new CAY beach collection.
For four years now we have produced the ZAAM Beach line. Since we launched it, we have been using PVC as the main material for the beach collections adding to it different materials each year from hand-colored crystals, printed genuine leather to canvas and fabrics. This year we didn’t use the normal PVC we used and instead we used new cylinder plastic tubes cutting it and stitching it all together one by one in different size and forms to create a whole one piece of pattern.
Even though you use various materials with every line, how would you describe your original brand aesthetic?
ZAAM has evolved to include new silhouettes, shoulder straps, and a variety of materials. Each line has its own fabrication and aesthetic, such as pure crystal, handmade gold-plated carved appliques and embroidery. We always seek innovation in each collection but yet remain true to the original brand aesthetic through having a solid brand identity to keep the uniqueness of the brand.
There are many up and coming handbag designers in Egypt. What do you think of this and what sets your brand apart from them?
It’s always good to have rich market with a lot of promising designers, actually being in the market for six years now (local, regional and international) put a bit of responsibility to support the new and upcoming designers with high potential. That’s why last year we introduced the ZAAM white-label line-which is basically producing for other young designers to make sure they introduce high quality product.
What sets ZAAM or any other brand apart is having original and consistent identity that is connected with all aspects in terms of designing, production, even PR and Promoting the products and brand in general.
Your first collection Geometrical Basic Women Bags collection was a big success. What was the reason in your opinion, and how did you capitalize on that success?
Again it’s not the collection that made it successful; it’s having a stable brand identity introducing new and unique taste. When I launched ZAAM in 2012 the market was in bad need of original and new designs. What made ZAAM special is the unique design, quality that was new to the market by locals, the approach, Shoots and PR.
Maintaining the success is the hardest part especially with good competition, the first step was having the production done in-house to control the quality. You can’t have loyal customers without them being satisfied with their purchase. We take great pride in the fact that each bag and accessory is entirely conceived and is meticulously handcrafted in our Cairo workshop in Egypt. Second, having a proper social media channels since it’s your window to your viewers, fans, customers and media. So it should always reflect your taste. Third, having your own store/outlet, at ZAAM we see it as a full experience that starts from the very first moment you enter our store.
How did you come to the decision to produce limited quantity pieces?
Not all our bags are produced in limited quantity, but again we believe that each woman is unique in a way. That’s why we make sure to produce different concepts and collections. Our young creative team work side by side every day to combine global innovation. We oversee every stage of production meticulously. All our items are controlled in-house, to ensure premium quality and authenticity in design and delivery.
What are the biggest challenges that you face in your business?
Each phase has its own challenges and difficulties, currently probably is how to find the best suppliers for the hardware parts, we have the best labors here in Egypt but they miss the commitment and in our business time is everything. Another thing is the international expansion, we have been doing great regionally but we need to do more when it comes to the international market more than photo-shoots and influencer collaborations.
What are your hopes for the brand in the future?
All our focus now is on the international market with keeping and maintaining what we achieved already in the local and regional market. We are currently based in Egypt, UAE, Korea and very soon in KSA as well. But the coming year would love to see more international cities.
