Four childhood friends in Dubai have come together to launch a men’s lifestyle concept called Brothrs Keepr. Fusing fashion, music and art, the brand, launched in November last year, features contemporary menswear handpicked from international brands from around the world. Each collection is launched at a themed pop-up presentation, held mostly in an art gallery. The next presentation, to be held on April 30, is called Dystopian Utopia.
Shahzain Mitha, 26, one of the co-founders, tells The Directory a little bit more about this homegrown UAE brand.
Where did it all begin for Brothrs Keepr?
We are all childhood friends, who have been born and raised in Dubai and our collective vision was to start a brand from Dubai to give back to the community that has given us so much. When we initially were in talks of starting the brand we always were looking to showcase our interests and talents to our consumer base.
Why menswear?
We chose to start with menswear as it is something that we all know about. One of our partners [who is the head buyer] has a keen eye for all things trendy, and really keeps an eye out so we can stay ahead of the game. Whilst we branched into menswear, to our joy, some of our pieces appealed to ladies as well [with pieces like our jackets].
So who are your other partners?
I head up marketing and PR for the brand. During the day, I am the business development manager in a hospitality marketing agency that my mother and I own together. Then there’s Mohammad Murad, who is our head buyer and creative spirit. He always has an eye for all things fashion and keeps up with global trends. We lean on Mohammad to provide us with a different outlook on what pieces to buy, and how we can really think outside of the box. Saad Shaikh is the head of operations and execution. He’s our mad scientist and his talent lies in the installation itself. What our consumers see can really be credited to him. His eye for what can be done coupled with the creative spark, really does justice to what we showcase. Mark Wehne is the head of finance and business development. All of the above would be a creative clutter without him keeping us in check with the spending. We do tend to annoy him with while trying to convince him to expense a dinner, but he just doesn’t budge.
Where do we buy the clothes?
For now we retail at our pop-up events. We don’t have a brick-and-mortar store. The reason behind this is that at our pop-up events, we really have the flexibility to use the space as a blank canvas for us to showcase not only our pieces, but the art as well.
What’s the next step for Brothrs Keepr?
In the immediate future, our plan is to launch our eCommerce store to allow our consumer base more frequent access to purchase. We will also continue to create pop-up stores, but the strategy behind them will evolve to be more or less a way to launch new collections.
Go get yours
Find Brothrs Keepr on Instagram at @brothrskeepr or go to brothrskeepr.com
