Episode 36: Stories from Our Stores

Hello, Marhaba. Thank you for joining us at the podcast by Shalhoop Group. My name is Lynal Khatib and I'm your host for today's topic on stories from our store. I have the pleasure of welcoming Amar Javed, our senior store manager at Farragamo at Shalhoop Group in Dubai. And he comes with international experience in the luxury sector, delivering and delighting experiences for all consumers around the world and in our region. He leads a team of like-minded luxury lovers, fashion lovers, and together they help Farragamo brand delight regional customers. Hello, and thank you so much for joining our podcast. Thank you so much for having me, Lyn. So, Amar, I want to start with the inspiration, romancing the story and romancing the job that you have because a lot of people would love to be working in fashion. And today fashion retail is more than just selling products. It's about experiences, stories, relationships. So, let's start by a day in your life. Okay, so my day starts every morning I wake up and I have this one song, "I'm Unstoppable" by Sia. So, that gives me the power boost. I really, really go for it and I build up that mindset that today is a new day and I think that's the beautiful thing about working in fashion. Every day is completely new. There's always a new story that's going to unveil. And I walk to work and I'm always in the zone that, don't know what, and I soak up Dubai because Dubai is a very hustle and bustle city. So, that feeds me energy. And then as soon as I step in to the mall and I'm going towards my boutique, I literally feel like Miranda Peasley from the Devil's product. And I'm literally like in the zone and the first thing that I do is I do a quick scan of the windows and I do a quick scan of the shop floor. I throw my bag and I get my soldiers with me and say this is what the objectives are. This is what we're doing today. What's our mission? What's our focus? What's new? What's happened in the fashion industry? And I mean there's so much happening right now. It's literally turned into musical chairs as you're all aware of all the big movements that are happening between the fashion houses and the designers catching them up to speed. Even testing them about, do they know what's happening in the world? And then from there, we kickstart the day. And it's more so reaching out to our top tier clients, but more so standing with my team, making sure that we are delivering the best experience in store because client experience is everything to me. And I think the one beautiful thing that I love is whenever somebody walks into the boutique, each person has a story to tell and it's the beautiful thing about working in fashion. You get to meet people from all over the world. You get to meet people from different job sectors and we all unite and connect on the stories that we have to share with each other. And the one thing that really fuels my passion is when I see someone being really happy and I've actually helped them genuinely or where I've broken their boundary and I pushed them to develop a new mindset of how they see themselves and how they see their body proportions and what's flattering on them and what's not flattering on them. And I think it's about making these, and then most of my friendships that I've made are from the shop floor and they turn into lifelong friendships. That's really romantic. I think more people are inspired now and coming from communication, thank you for making sure connecting externally, understanding what's happening and understanding the business. I think it's very important, so thanks for supporting communication and media in general. You touch on a lot of things and truly I think the purpose and it shows how you're lighting up when you talk about the storytelling, the connection and the customer. And it's not only when some people feel that I go in a store and I feel like they just want to sell me or they're just faking it so I can buy a product with luxury. It cannot be this way whatsoever and I think you are really living that the way you've described it. So tell us a little bit more about who enters your stores and because Dubai Mall is the largest, you have tourists, you have international. So can you maybe put the personas of people who come in the store from your perspective? Absolutely. Not the business. No, no, forget numbers now. No, no, it's basically the demographic clients that we have in general, all walks of life. We can start from the royals that we've had. We've been having some celebrities walk in like Naomi Campbell and her best friend who's one of our clients and we dressed for the Grammys and she came to Dubai Mall for us to style her. We have CFOs, directors. I mean, we also have people who are like Lindsay Lohan, her best friend. He came in. So we've got Hollywood celebrities, we've got Bollywood celebrities that come in. I mean, then we have the normal day-to-day people. So we walk through and then we also have people coming from across the globe and I think that's a beautiful thing about Dubai. We are a destination. We are a transit place. So we're quite fortunate to meet people from Far East Asia, from Japan and all the way to Argentina. And I had someone from like Alaska come and I was like, oh wow, this is. Only in Dubai. Only in Dubai that we'll see this. And then we also have the people that aspire and their first purchase of Luxury is with Ferragame. I think they're the most beautiful ones. That's lovely. I know you don't want to talk about numbers, but we'll get there. We will. So basically, I think that styling is one of them. At the same time today, store managers and your whole team is also accountable for numbers and you're driving both. The storytelling, the beauty of luxury, sharing the story of the brand, the purpose, the craftsmanship behind it and closing the sale. So how do you navigate these two objectives together these days? I think both of these topics, you can say, they go hand in hand. But I do think the heart is the styling and educating and fueling the team because if we surprise the clients that come through the door and we create this beautiful experience, the numbers will follow. Because, and then from this experience, we build up relationships and then we stay in touch with them and then we do clientelling with them and then they keep coming back and then obviously that fuels the numbers. And the experience that we create in the boutique, it's very emotional. And there's been a retail study actually that was done that 90% of high-value transactions that happen when they questioned the consumer, the consumer said I was very emotional. So it's absolutely necessary to create this beautiful experience because the numbers do naturally follow and I've actually seen that since I've joined Ferragameo, the numbers have accelerated and that was only with small, simple tweaks of changing the experience that was delivered inside the boutique. Very beautiful. And I think it's really important to connect with customers. We talk about clientelling and personalization where, at the end of the age of AI, but also omnichannel business where you're in store, but you're also driving online sales and interactions. Sometimes we feel a hyper-personalization and maybe bombardment with across all channels, even if we speak the word of a brand or a shirt or something, we start seeing it everywhere. But there's something special about the relationship and I know for a fact that as strong as the brands are, some clients are moving brands because their client advisor or store consultant moved from one store to the other or from one brand to the other. They actually follow them sometimes more than the brand and then there are some that are loyal to the brand. So in this age of AI and online offline, tell me about what are things that you feel can be done with AI? What things are irreplaceable from your perspective? I totally agree because people do follow people and people buy from people. I mean you as a consumer can choose to part with your money anywhere. You can even do it online and there's no human interaction. But the thing is people are more inclined to buy from someone because like you said, there's a relationship there. There's trust. They have that trust that you will guide them to the right thing, what is good for them. I think since COVID, there's been a big shift in the mindset of how people think. People crave human affection. People crave attention. People want to be spoiled. This is luxury. This is the principles and who doesn't like to be spoiled, to be pampered as soon as you walk. Can you feel like ease where someone takes off your coat, takes you, has a table set of your favorite drink. It should be ease. I think that's what makes the beautiful thing why people follow people because you are like a person or assistant to them when something goes wrong. I've got an event. What do I do? What do I wear? Oh my god. How do I style this? We come in. So we are there trusted like advisors where there's been occasions where they trust us more than their spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend. So they trust us more than them. It's actually really, really good because when it's Christmas, when it's Eid, when it's a sentimental occasion for the partner, they come to us saying, well you know her more than me. What do I get her? It's like, well, you can't go wrong with this because I know that she mentioned this. And we are, I mean, the biggest data collection of computers when it comes to clients, like if you ask my client advisors on me, I will know the smallest habits. So when, for example, a client of ours is trying to address and she's not comfortable, like by having AI, they can't pick up on how what she's thinking. But because I body language, how she's moving, even from the words that they're using, they can't pick up because we have a psychological connection with the client. We can pick it up and it's happened many occasions where like I'm guiding my client advisors when they are proposing pieces to the client in the fitting room, which is the most intimate part when you really get to connect and bond with someone is when they step out. Like she said this, she did this, she's not comfortable, you need to change and navigate the conversation this way and connect with her on what is psychologically comfortable for her. And with AI, you cannot get this psychological bond. It's absolutely important within luxury that AI can facilitate and help us to write a beautiful message to even see the patterns of the consumers purchase history to see what they might like. But when it comes to really advising and getting someone to really step outside their comfort zone, they can't do that. It's us because we have the trust. You can never trust a computer. It's impossible to trust a computer. Maybe with numbers. But when I experienced it firsthand, I mean the relationship with you, with other of our store consultants who are amazing as well. And it's true, I think we all agree now that AI will never replace the human interaction and we see it even more so in luxury and luxury experiences. So you've just reconfirmed, but I think really the body language and getting the cues from people when they're in the store or they're talking to you, I think that's very very important. And plus creating a personal touch, it can't be done with AI because only I will understand you as a person and when I truly understand you, I will speak from the heart. And when somebody speaks from the heart, you touch a very deep emotional place. And because of the human touch, there's one thing that my mother says and it really, really resonates with me and I've really channeled it into my career. That when it a human will only be highly attracted to another human and you'll get their trust is when you connect with them in their most emotional states. That is when someone is going through a tough time or when someone is extremely happy with their life. You always remember these people who are right or die with you and these are client advises, this is the vision, this is where retail is right now and it's very much the future of how we need to be because we are the people that make the people come in. That's true, you are at the forefront of the brand of everything that we do in the back office, you are there making it happen and making it real. So I think what we really want also from you is your expertise and fashion and to tell us what is trending, what are customers asking for, what are the latest styles or things that are coming from also the newly revamped brand for a gamma and the new creative direction and it's been very refreshed over the past years. What is trending, what do you recommend, what are our customers asking for from a fashion perspective? Okay, so when it comes to Ferragamo, which I'm deeply passionate about, Ferragamo has evolved, it's transformed, we are, I would say the hottest brand, we're very distinctive and I think that's what clients want. They want to be distinctive, they don't want to blend in with the rest of the crowd, they want to stand out, they want to shine when they walk into a room, they want people to turn their heads. So with Ferragamo, the new creative head Max, he's British 27 years old, super young, comes with a very fresh perspective when it comes to fashion, he's built up key signatures such as the scarf look, or he's built up the new shoe which is called the Ever. He's created one of the most hottest bags that I would say right now for a woman and a man is the hug bag, you know, it's become a staple where the hug bag is so nice. So yeah, which is very emotional sentence as well. It is very high double emotions. So yes, and now we are like the fall winter 25 fashion show that we just did was truly, truly remarkable. I mean the materials that we use, the silhouettes that he created, I mean having Shirley on a lay stress, never seen that. So he's very distinctive when he creates and he sends the girl down the runway. And when a lady or a man, when they wear Ferragamo, you will turn heads. And I think that's why we're being highly appreciated because the cuts, the silhouettes that we have, you can't find them anywhere. Well, I am enjoying my very much Ferragamo shirt and loafers, which you sold me. And I really see that. I mean when you used to say Ferragamo, maybe it was for a different generation or a different type of God. And now you see it more bold and daring. And you see the customers as well being more attracted to the new styles that are quite disruptive as you say. And massively, we've actually seen a shift in the demographic client of the younger client, you know, the Gen Z. And like even the millennials are really celebrating this new change, which is the beautiful thing because they were very much used to the older Ferragamo. But now they see Ferragamo with a complete different light. And we do still have two sides to the brand where we still have, you know, the classic chic. But then we also have the daring, confident, bold woman. And I think we speak to a lot of different people in one girl. So it is a destination, I would say. But we're still very true to our heritage. And everything is still linked back to the archives. And that's a beautiful thing where we're still celebrating, you know, the founding fathers, major creations. And I think he wrote history in such a beautiful way, but Max, he's reinventing that history and he's really, really celebrating it in the modern perspective. And I think that's what clients want. They want something that's trending. And I think when it comes to clients, they're very drawn to who's wearing what and where was this featured in. And I think that's what the mindset is, regardless of what continent, what destination, what country you live in, I think the new generation, that's what they're really fascinated by. And I think, like even now, we had the supermodel Adriana Lima walk the show for four into 25. And one of the top two clients that we have, she came in and she was like, I want the Adriana Lima look. And we were like, okay, we can leave it here. But I think we live in that world where we aspire and we look up to these people, you know, and who doesn't want that, who doesn't want to live that dream that moment. And to say, I'm wearing the Adriana Lima look today, you know, it's all about sometimes social gratification, sometimes internal gratification of how it makes them feel. And I'm quite guilty of that to be honest, where I've taken a product that was featured, you know, it was highly anticipated or, you know, celebrity wore it. And when I wear it, I feel like a million dollars. It's amazing. I think it's a mix of both finding your own identity, but also sometimes living the dream. And this year, as we celebrate 70 years of Shalhu Group as well. And I know that when I met one of the Faragamo family members, it was such a connection of family story, legacy heritage, but also linked with modernity and future outlook of, you know, bringing the brands, sticking court to the heritage and the roots and staying true to the purpose. But also disrupting and modernizing and serving everyone. So I did feel very inspired actually and we felt this connection and that's super important with our partners as well to have the core common values that we have. And all our team members obviously live up to these values. To create build a future where luxury dreams are realities. I think this is fundamentally what what it boils down to. So conscious of time, of course, my team always likes to have rapid fire questions. Okay. Are you ready? I'm ready. So first, let's connect from a job perspective. What is your advice to aspiring fashion retail leaders? I think you just have to be very passionate about what you do because when you are passionate, you will push boundaries, you will make noise and you will really transmit this passion to your team, which fuels them. And when they look up to you that you're very passionate, they will give each day 100%. They will never slack. And the most important thing is we have to have to always bear in mind the clients that walk through the door. We have to be empathetic, but most importantly, we need to be very genuine. Yes, we represent the brand. We are the face of the brand, but be true to them. That's beautiful. Your number one fashion rule that you love breaking. More is more. When someone says you can't wear this with this, no, why not? We live in a day and age where more is more, and it's appreciated to be daring. Love it. So that's the opposite of our motto, which is less is more corporate communication, but I love it. Yeah, I'm going to adopt that your biggest fashion oops moment that you've seen in the store. So we did have a lady who was deeply passionate about address and she was determined to get herself in. It was like two sizes too small, but she made that zip go right up, and I was so happy for her. And then she was like, and I was like, okay, it does work, but sometimes it doesn't work. But for her, it worked. So the most iconic customer reaction to a purchase. So what is the most iconic customer reaction to a purchase? So we had a friend of a celebrity and she was very much confused. And the first thing that she said, she screamed and she said, I can't make a decision, ring it up. That's it. And then she took everything. She just couldn't. So she took six full looks from the fashion show. Wow. I know. Do you follow after when they wear them? Do they tag you? Do they tag? Of course. So when they do wear the pieces, I stay in touch with them, the team stay in touch with them. We say, how did it go? And sometimes even on Instagram, they've tagged and they've said, thank you so much for the look, even for the red carpet or the Grammys. So we've been tagged and it's a great moment for us because it really makes us. It really drives us to motivators. This is why the reason why we do it. We truly make them happy. That's amazing. So you talked about unstoppable for your wake up song. Yes. But if your job had a theme song, what would it be? Beyonce Deaver. You know, like Deaver is a female version of a hustler. And I think in fashion, you have to hustle. You don't give up, like if you need a piece transferring, you scream from the rooftops. I need this piece here in my boutique. I've got someone. You really have to hustle. Which fashion trend would you ban forever? Oh, don't hate me. Rip jeans, I think they should not be worn. I think they should be burnt alive. I love that. Massively, no, no. Oh my god, my jeans are ripped up. No, no, no. Rip jeans is a big no-no for me. I think they should not be worn. Yeah. Noted. You're allowed, everyone. No, Rip jeans. Okay. I mean, look, I think we have a lot of rapid-fire questions for you. Oh my god. What would be your advice? I think this is the last one. Let's close it with the last question. For women who I try to support personally, we, you know, women who work in corporate organizations. They're of all walks of life, you know, married, not married, moms, not moms. After 40, before 40, all of the different categories they put us in. Okay. The not all organizations are into fashion like us. So we really come to work stylish. We wear the brands. We are very colorful. But a lot of women in corporate field, they just should put on a suit. It's changing. But what would you advise in keeping it a bit formal for some formal organizations, but adding color and, yeah, changing the outfit a bit? Okay. I think, yes, there's one thing being professional. But then I think it's human nature. We, we always like to put ourselves into a rabbit hole where we get comfortable. But being professional does not stop you from still expressing yourself. These pieces of art that are created, they show off your personality. So if you work in the corporate world, why must a woman wear black? Why was the man wear black, blue, gray? Now, if you want a certain detailing, do it because it will empower you. It will set you apart from the rest of them. And I guarantee you, whoever you interact with, they will never forget you because they will always remember you from what you wear. Because that's the first thing that someone sees and they observe and they pick up on. So don't be afraid to wear color. Don't be afraid to wear certain silhouettes. Obviously there's certain limitations, you know, that we can't cross the barrier. But if you want to jazz up your outfit, why not? Why not? Exactly. So I think I lied. This is not my last question. I want one more. I think you need to stop. Just one, just one. So to be inclusive, I know your work customer is a woman and a servicing mainly woman. But you did mention why should a man wear black and wear suit just every day to work. So there is an evolution in the transformant. What are you seeing and what is your advice? I think with the men, they're becoming more fashion conscious now. They have started to realize that it's not only the women that can be the most fashionable people. It's actually the men as well. So we have seen a big shift. They're not afraid to wear color. They're not afraid to wear certain silhouettes. Before the man wanted to be very toned down, mellow, classic, right now, like that's me as well. I'm guilty. I like to wear something distinctive. I like to, you know, be like on the fence. Is a gender-fluid type of silhouette that I'm wearing. There should be no barriers. And I think men have started to explore that. Even with the types of bags that they carry. I mean, fashion is evolving always. And I think the mindset has changed where the newer generation and even us, we've realised there's no box. We're not afraid of stepping outside the box now. I think that's the beautiful thing. The barriers have been broken from the fashion leaders. And from that, it's trickled down to us where we're like, no, why can a man not wear a pink tie with a black suit or a blue suit? Before pink was, oh, it's just for girls now. Pink is a staple for a man as well. Well, my son's favourite colour is pink and purple. There you go. A man's purple. And usually purple is always associated with a female colour. But for me, when I see purple, I fall weak. I'm like, literally, I'm drawn to it and I have to buy it. And I think with the men now, they want to compete with the women because I mean. Because we're just fabulous, you know. Of course. So, why can a man not be fabulous? And it's good that they realise this because it's about time. Thank you very, very much for all your insights, for leading with the heart, for connecting with the emotions, for driving the business and for telling us not to wear ripped jeans. It was lovely. Truly a pleasure. Thank you so much for watching. And listening, please share your feedback and tell us what topics you would like us to cover. Bye.