The ZAAF Collection is a community oriented fashion line that brings luxury and style from artisans in Ethiopia to you in the comfort of your home. As of today, if you are lucky enough to live in the Washington DC area, you can ogle their goods in person. They had the grand opening of their bricks and mortar shop on Florida Avenue this afternoon. This spacious and light filled new store is complete with a design lab, where you can choose your own style, leather, handwoven details, hardware, and logo material.
Rocking one of these genuine leather bags with handwoven details brings you the comfort of traditional handicraft, with a solid modern styling that fits right in with your city vibe. This model was one of my favorites.
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I have seen a number of multinational entrepreneurs become successful in the last several years, by offering purses and accessories from their home countries that combine a delectable sense of luxury with traditional styling. Off the top of my head, I can think of luxury bags from Morocco incorporating traditional kilims (handwoven rugs), and leather bags from Pakistan with lavish embroidery.
Based on our observations of others who have started these kinds of businesses, one of the challenges of growing this specific kind of multinational venture, is that from the beginning you are involving the hearts and livelihoods of artisans who are trusting some of their livelihood in your vision. This is usually a highlight of the business, as the potential to positively engage the community can be incredibly fulfilling. However, it can also make the inevitable ups and downs that much more emotional.
This business model has a lot of rewards to offer. The multinational entrepreneur gets to share their love of traditional handiwork from their country, in a way that also represents the modern heartbeat of their people. The high quality of the items can demand a higher margin, which is important to the financial sustainability of these businesses where the clientele tends to be more niche. The best of these businesses contribute in powerful ways to the fair development of the artisan community in the origin country. What's not to love?
Based on our observations of others who have started these kinds of businesses, one of the challenges of growing this specific kind of multinational venture, is that from the beginning you are involving the hearts and livelihoods of artisans who are trusting some of their livelihood in your vision. This is usually a highlight of the business, as the potential to positively engage the community can be incredibly fulfilling. However, it can also make the inevitable ups and downs that much more emotional.
This business model has a lot of rewards to offer. The multinational entrepreneur gets to share their love of traditional handiwork from their country, in a way that also represents the modern heartbeat of their people. The high quality of the items can demand a higher margin, which is important to the financial sustainability of these businesses where the clientele tends to be more niche. The best of these businesses contribute in powerful ways to the fair development of the artisan community in the origin country. What's not to love?
This is me (on the left) with Abai Schulze, Founder & Creative Director at ZAAF (on the right). I have been following her on social media, and it was a pleasure to finally meet her today.
Abai, sincere congratulations on today's Grand Opening. May you be very successful, and may all of the communities that your venture touches grow in prosperity and style!
Abai, sincere congratulations on today's Grand Opening. May you be very successful, and may all of the communities that your venture touches grow in prosperity and style!
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