Amy Pugsley Many people dream of being entrepreneurs but few know how hard it is to make your dreams come alive. The sibling duo of Aseel and Yahya Karali that comprise the brand known as S(old) have taken their Cairo-based company online with a new website that launched this past week. Dominating the vintage scene with amazing couture pieces, vintage finds with labels like YSL and Burberry, and customer service excellence it is no surprise that S(old) is taking their business model to the next level. Flair Magazine sat down with co-founder Aseel to ask her some questions amidst a busy website launch and the start of a new era in Middle Eastern vintage.
We love the pun! What inspired you to choose S(old) as a name for your company?
The pun came from a striped blazer that was from 1948! Me and my brother said that it’s “So Old!” We both liked that and it kind of stuck. We played around the fact that at the time we were the first vintage brand of that sort and we wanted to emphasize on the fact that most of our items are second hand so they have been “sold” before. Eventually we both agreed that S(old) is our identity.
We know there are two parts to S(old). Part one, your brother who has previously been referred to in the Egyptian press as the “Vintage Sheik” and you who you self identify as, “The Girl One.” What has this partnership taught you?
I don’t know where to start! This partnership wasn’t just a business one. Through S(old) I was able to develop a completely new relationship with my brother. When we started he moved in with me (for the first time in 10 years) because of the business logistics, but through that, I was able to grow a complex relationship with Yahya who is now my business partner. It wasn’t easy mixing our personal relationship with our business one, but our love for fashion and the road trips made it easy to find an equilibrium. I’m good with the artistic part of the brand, and he’s a great strategist, which was a perfect partnership. The girl part was mainly because when we first started, I was new to the scene and always referred to as “Karali’s sister” so I sort of owned it… I’m S(old), the girl.
We know it’s not all fun and games, but sometimes it is, what is your favorite part of being an entrepreneur?
Finding gems amid the chaos will never stop blowing my mind. It’s always so exciting to us when we find a neglected designer piece in the middle of a pile of dusty clothes, me and Yahya pretty much freak out (while maintaining a straight face as to not scare our suppliers). Also, a huge part of it is the road trips; we take an 12-hour road trip to get to our suppliers. After weeks of barely seeing each other due to our busy schedule, the road trips are the time Yahya and I get to catch up. We even have a ritual at the end of our exhausting trip—we get coffee and cashews and talk about our favorite finds of the day. I can easily say that the trips are my favorite part about S(old) and my relationship with Yahya.
Vintage streetwear is definitely a vibe. What is your favorite vintage streetwear trend?
My current two favorite trends are collared shirts underneath a crewneck sweatshirt, and oversized blazers (especially leather blazers).
What do you predict the biggest vintage trend will be for 2021?
I believe that whatever makes you feel like yourself is always going to be the biggest trend. I’m really enjoying how experimental people have become, and it always inspires me while picking a new batch, there are no limits, anything I pick will have a customer. But also animal prints are making a hard come back in 2021.
What is your favorite S (old) item ever?
A vintage Adidas crewneck from the ’80s, a vintage Giani Versace shirt from the ’90s and a black Moncler puffer jacket!
How can people buy S(old) products?
We have always been appointment-based where people call me to come over and try on the clothes, but our location was a bit far for people so now we have a website with shipping all over Cairo. Check us out! http://www.soldattire.com
You just launched/are launching a new website! Congrats, what can vintage fans expect?
Thank you! There is a lot to expect obviously as we have been working on this for a while. Basically, there won’t be any favoritism meaning whoever picks the item gets it, there will be more drops, our clients will get to see the items a couple of days from when we pick them up, ordering will be seamless as we are partnered with a major logistics company and most importantly no risk of Covid as it’s all done virtually.
