The history of mankind is developing in a spiral. Once upon a time, primitive people needed to cover their unprotected bodies from the cold and rains, and they began to sew their clothes from dressed animal skins. At a new stage of its development, modern society can afford clothes from a wide variety of materials - from natural cotton and linen to thousands of variations on the theme of synthetic fabrics and microfibers. So why does genuine leather and fur not give up their positions and excite the minds of both leading designers and consumers around the world.
Leather, suede, nappa ... It can be soft, thin and velvety to the touch. Or vice versa - coarse, thick and rough. It all depends on where, how and why it is used. From outerwear and gloves to shoes and bags - genuine leather becomes our "second skin" in bad weather, and sometimes just a bright, original and comfortable wardrobe element. More recently, the inhabitants of the Emirates did not even suspect that women would wear boots-boots here in the summer, and men - “Cossacks” who did not go out of fashion. That leather jackets and skirts will become not just things in "cold weather", but will bring some variety to the style of business clothes of Dubai offices. A few dozen years ago the Bedouins walked in white and black spacious robes, covered their heads and faces with scarves, and sandals, though leather, flaunted them. What now?
"Everything mixed up in the house of Oblonsky." That is, in the world. To buy a fur coat, leather jacket or sheepskin coat people go to the southern countries - Greece, Turkey, Emirates ... Notice, not to Iceland or Norway !!! Paradox? Not at all! It’s just that the emirate’s market, which attracts tourists from all over the world like a magnet, can’t ignore world famous brands of leather goods. About one of them - Canadian Danier - we decided to talk with Hana Kadri, Danier's manager.
To get started, tell us a little about the Danier brand. The Danier brand has been known in Canada and America since 1972, and today we have more than 95 stores in Canada alone. In March 2007, we opened our first store outside of Canada - at the Dubai Festival City mall in Dubai.
Khan, why here in the Emirates?
This question is asked to me, without exception. In fact, it’s quite obvious why we decided to sell our leather and suede clothes and accessories in Dubai. The fact is that, having monitored the market, we came to the conclusion that the Emirates and, in particular, Dubai today are one of the largest tourist and shopping centers not only in the Middle East, but also in the world. Here, experts recorded a very powerful tourist "traffic", as they say now. This means that every tourist at least once peeks at one of the luxurious Dubai shopping centers. And maybe not in one. And it will definitely go through shopping galleries and go to our boutique.
What market segment is Danier focused on?
If we had met five years ago, I would have answered that our customers are mainly from cold countries - North America, Canada, Europe, Russia, parts of the CIS and Baltic countries, who need comfortable raincoats, jackets , a coat for the weather. But today our company presents modern collections of leather clothes for every day, which are suitable for any climate, any wardrobe - business or everyday. We offer people lightweight leather and suede jackets, skirts, trousers, blazers, jackets, bags and accessories. The color scheme of all our products is the most diverse: from lemon yellow, white and mustard to coral, lilac, olive green, blue and so on. Therefore, our clothing is in demand among buyers from around the world. True, I note that buyers from Russia and the CIS countries in the number of products purchased in Danier are in first place among others.
Tell me, Hana, what attracts your brand to buyers? It is no secret that leather goods can be inexpensively purchased in stores on the Nasser Square retail area.
Firstly, by its quality, and secondly, by prices. Or vice versa, firstly, by prices. Opening our boutique in Dubai, we were faced with the fact that customers who first came to us and looked at the price tags did not at first believe that genuine leather products hang on their shoulders. Many openly tell us: "Genuine leather cannot be so cheap!". And we answer them: "Maybe!". The quality of Danier clothing is impeccable, and the price level allows us to maintain our own production and production volumes. The only thing that we don’t release is shoes, because for the production of shoes we need professional developers, special equipment, comfortable pads. This is a very time consuming process. But the clothes and accessories are developed by our own designers, using all the variety of raw materials - calf and sheep skin, suede, nappa, raccoon, rabbit, fox, silk and viscose for linings and so on. Today in Dubai we present the spring-summer collection of clothes. It is expected that soon a large selection of belts and belts will appear in our Dubai boutique. In addition, we offer our customers a variety of leather care products - cleaning, protective, as well as special reminders.
And organizations like Green Peace don't stop you from living? Today, it seems that the whole world has focused on environmental issues, and here - leather clothes.
Our company has already resolved these issues a long time ago. The fact is that Danier does not use hides of specially grown animals as raw materials for its products. We take into production those hides that remained after slaughtering animals for meat. Therefore, Green Peace and similar organizations have no complaints against us.
The first boutique in Dubai is open and successfully operating. What's in the near future?
We are going to open some more Danier stores in Dubai. We see a very promising Mall of Arabia under construction in the Dubailand project. But it is in the plans. Today, with the example of our first boutique, we study consumer demand. In the new winter collection, Danier will present insulated leather goods with collars and fur trim for men, women and youth. We hope that our clothing will very soon become very popular, both among the guests of Dubai and among its residents. Cool days are just around the corner, and the “second skin” will definitely not hurt us.
Thanks, Hana. I wish you success.
/ Interviewed by Irina Ivanova, Elena Olkhovskaya /
