Perhaps the most iconic aspect of SHUKR’s website presentation is the striking photography, taken against the backdrop of beautiful, traditional Damascene houses. These remnants of Ottoman splendor are priceless historical gems, testifying to the beauty of traditional Islamic architecture. SHUKR has been privileged to photograph its clothing collections in some of the most famous of these fairy-tale palaces and homes, including the Azem Palace, Maktab ‘Anbar and Bayt Nizam. We have also photographed in other atmospheric Islamic architectural masterpieces, such as the magnificent Umayyad Mosque, the dramatic Khan As’ad Pasha, the sumptuous Bait Shami restaurant, and the atmospheric old souks. This photograph of our Tunic Shirt, taken in the Azem Palace, was a winning shot during our Ramadan 2005 campaign:

The Azem palace was originally built in 1750 as a residence for the Ottoman governor of Damascus, As’ad Pasha al-‘Azem, and it currently functions as the Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions. Here’s a shot our cameraman took with a minaret of the Ummayyad Mosque in the background. Who wouldn’t want to have the Umayyad Mosque as their local masjid?!

Maktab Anbar has some wonderfully intricate geometric wooden doors, which we love to photograph against. Here’s a favorite photo from Ramadan 2007:

Maktab Anbar, built in the mid-19th century, contains a mixture of traditional Islamic design themes, including, of course, the symbolic gardens, as well as European-influenced stonework.

Bayt Nizam, an 18th-century quaint Damascene house, has some wonderful stonework. Maybe this is what is engaging our male models in this photo? Probably not!

This mother-of-pearl engraved door from the Bayt Nizam has some thoughtful religious poetic lines, saying:

“That which Allah wills, Is
And that which He does not will, is Not”

“Whoever trusts in Allah, Allah frees from need (from any besides Him)
And whoever depends upon Him, Allah suffices him”

(Click on the image to enlarge it and read the Arabic engraving yourself)

A typical SHUKR photoshoot takes up the whole day, and we have a small team of enthusiastic models, assistants, a director and a cameraman. None of our models are professionals, but rather just naturally talented individuals we bumped into here and there. We normally have 3 female models on site, which gives us an opportunity to create some interesting group shots. Here’s a favorite from Ramadan 2007:

Judging by the amount of page views this next image received on our websites, this was our most popular image ever:

The photoshoots normally are an enjoyable experience, and probably the best one was when we rented out the Bait Shami restaurant to do some shots for Ramadan and Eid. This is a traditional Arab house recently converted into a restaurant, the best destination for Arab cuisine in Damascus:

The photoshoots are, however, also a lot of hard work. After a full day on one’s feet, rushing around trying to get everything done in time, it’s time to take a break!

We’d like to know what you, our customers, think about our pictures. Do you appreciate the traditional architectural backgrounds? What do you think about the style of photography? Is there enough product detail shown? We’d love to hear from you.

~Anas, Managing Partner

SHUKR Behind the Scenes, Part 1: The Design Process

SHUKR Behind the Scenes, Part 2: Pattern-Making and Prototypes

At the SHUKR factory in Damascus, Syria, we work with 3 unique seasonal collections: Spring/Summer; Autumn/Winter and Ramadan/Eid. Each season has 100 new designs. These 100 designs are then broken down into monthly production orders. Here’s an exclusive look at the hard work that goes into making the high quality clothes we are proud to offer our customers.

Lay Planning

The first stage in production is to use computer-aided design programs to lay out all the various fabric pieces that will be cut. The “lay plan”, as it is called, is then printed out onto paper using a gigantic printer which is over 6 feet wide!

Fabric Laying and Cutting

This lay plan is placed on top of the numerous layers of fabric that are rolled out onto 25 feet long tables. Our workers carefully cut through the paper and fabric layers with specialized electric fabric cutters.

Bundling

After the fabric is cut, the next stage in the production process is called bundling. This process involves sorting out all the various fabric pieces into specific bundles of styles, colors and sizes. Working through thousands of different cut fabric pieces is not an easy job – a slight mix up in the fabric pieces can lead to a long days work!

Sewing

The sewers are then given the bundled fabric pieces to expertly sew together. Most clothing production companies work according to impersonal assembly line systems involving a specialized division of labor – one sewer sews the collar, another the pockets, another the sleeves etc. However, this only works when the company is producing very large quantities of a single style. This method doesn’t work well for the Islamic clothing market which is just a small, niche market. And it definitely doesn’t work well for SHUKR’s approach, which is to produce smaller quantities of many new designs in genuine seasonal collections, rather than larger quantities of just a handful of designs. Consequently, rather than an impersonal assembly line, almost all of our garments are completely sewn by just one or two workers, offering a much more personal touch for our customers.

Post-Sewing Inspection

Quality control checks are present at all stages of production, starting from an analysis of the fabrics before we even start cutting them. However, one of the most vital areas of quality control in the SHUKR factory is post-sewing: each garment is checked for its conformance to our rigorous sewing specifications that far exceed market standards.

Finishing Department

After sewing, most of our garments are sent to a garment washing factory where they go through a vigorous pre-washing treatment to eliminate any shrinkage in the fabrics. The fabrics are also softened and other treatments may be required to create comfortable, moveable, flowing SHUKR garments.

Back in the factory, buttons are then sewed onto the garments that require them.

Thereafter, our garments are delicately and meticulously ironed using industry-standard steam irons.

The final stage in the finishing department is a thorough check on the quality and the sizes. Any defective garments – even if only slightly defective – are put aside to be sold in our defect shops in the local markets. Only completely unblemished, 100% perfect garments get to earn the SHUKR label. This is Jihad taking the measurements of a garment. He is one of our oldest employees. In fact, he was the second SHUKR worker hired, way back in 2001.

Warehouse

The finished items are tagged and packaged, ready to be sent off to our various distribution centers and retail outlets around the world.

Check out a previous post we made about our photography:

SHUKR Behind the Scenes, Part Four: What’s Behind a Picture?

- Anas, Managing Partner

Having taken a look behind the scenes of the design process with Tabassum Siddiqui, our Head Designer, in Part 1, we now take a glimpse at the next step along the way to producing the SHUKR garments that you find online.

Part 2: Pattern Making and Prototypes: Striving for Perfection

Turning an idea into reality

After receiving our Head Designer’s inspiring collection of designs in our Syrian production factory, another creative step in the process needs to be accomplished, that of pattern-making.

Tabassum sends a TEKPAK for each design in the collection, which is a pack of technical specifications for each design, including a flat sketch of the design, sewing instructions, and the choice of fabric and accessories. However, regardless of how much detail Tabassum conveys about her designs, there still needs to be a talented team of pattern-makers who convert the theoretical design into a series of pattern pieces which, once sewn together, make up the physical garment. Take this flat sketch of the Sahira Dress Top (US, UK) which Tabassum produced:

Our pattern-makers studied the design and produced the patterns which were used to manufacture the end product you can now find online:

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Each style requires different pattern pieces in different sizes and different proportions. For example, take the Paneled Godet Skirt (US, UK) pictured below from our spring collection. How many separate pieces do you think are sewn together to make the finished product?

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You may be surprised to know that there are over 20 fabric pieces needed to be sewn together to make it. The pattern-makers’ job is to create these pieces in the right sizes and proportions so that when they are sewn together, the end result is an attractive garment, conforming in its measurements to rigorous company standards. It’s no surprise to learn then, that pattern-making is a highly skilled profession which requires formal training and many years of experience to understand the principles involved in creating perfect patterns.

SHUKR’s pattern-makers work with the flat pattern drafting technique, using well-known computer-aided design programs. Here is one of our pattern-makers working on a new blouse:

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Creating a Prototype

The pattern-maker starts off by making a sample pattern for the new design. The computer-generated pattern is then printed via a specific oversized printer (over 5 feet wide!), placed on top of the fabric, and then carefully cut out, ready to be sewn.

The sewn prototype garment is then tried on a fit model—a man or woman whose measurements are the commercial measurements for that size. The prototype is analyzed by a select committee of inspectors for its accordance to company sizing standards, aesthetic appearance, functionality, quality of construction, and conformity to Islamic standards of modesty. If any problems in the fit are identified then the whole cycle is repeated again: the pattern-maker amends his original pattern, a new garment is cut and sewn, and then it is tried on the fit model to make sure that the problems have been eliminated and the pattern is now perfect. If problems still remain then we will continue repeating the cycle until we are completely satisfied with the prototype. We normally get it perfected by the second attempt, but there have been cases of repeating the prototype up to 5 times in the quest for perfection!

Lots of work still to go…

The pattern-makers’ work is still not done, however, even once we have agreed upon the pattern for the prototype. Why is this? Because the prototype is still only in one size, normally a size medium. We now have to create the patterns for all the other sizes that SHUKR offers, which range from small up to 3XL. This is done by a complicated technique called grading, also done by computer-aided design. There are certain principles SHUKR uses to transform the size medium prototype into a size small and size large, and from a size large to a size XL, and from XL to 2XL and then 3XL. Once we have all the patterns for the different sizes ready, we will cut and sew another sample, this time in size 2XL, to make sure that the grading has been performed completely accurately. The measurements of the size 2XL are taken to make sure that they conform to company standards.

Off to production…

Having completed the exhaustive process of pattern-making and prototype preparation, we are now ready to enter this new design, along with many completed others, into SHUKR’s monthly production schedule. This, however, is the subject of a future blog post: The Process Part 3: Production. Stay tuned!

~ Anas, Managing Partner

What goes into the SHUKR garment that you order and receive in the mail? In a series of 5 posts, we’ll give you an exclusive, behind the scenes look at how SHUKR works. The first post is from our Head Designer, Tabassum Siddique, who starts the ball rolling with her collections of exclusive designs. She designs SHUKR’s 3 seasonal collections: 1) Spring / Summer; 2) Autumn / Winter; 3) and Ramadan / Eid.

Part 1: The Design Process: It’s Much More than Making Pretty Drawings

Sometimes my collections for SHUKR will start out like this…

…an early morning walk snapping photos of everything that catches my attention. By the way, these aren’t pictures of my neighborhood, but believe me, I wish they were. The beachside is an extremely inspiring place. I suppose that it has a lot to do with all of the negative ions in the atmosphere that make you feel more balanced and recharged, with your senses stimulated, and in contact with your creative side. Since I am constantly working on large collections, I have reached a point where I know exactly what I am looking for when I am out scratching for new ideas. Most people think that designers just sit around and wait for inspiration. Or, the opposite-that they are constantly jet-setting to exotic locations and drawing pretty pictures of clothes, but that’s not true. To come up with ideas at least several months ahead of a new season takes several factors: discipline, for the most part; a business sense; knowledge of apparel construction, design, and art; and, scratching in the best places to have the best ideas-there is no process of osmosis here.

The research part of the design process includes such activities as short trips, attending fabric fairs, style hunting, museum visits, reading books (and the topics vary greatly), watching films, writing, sketching, looking at graphic designs and prints, studying patterns or testing new ones out, collecting samples of everything, and finally, speaking with customers, co-workers, friends, or family. Once I have finished the research, I bring all of these elements together and look for a common thread to create a cohesive idea. I would say that the least glamourous part of this process, if any part of my job could actually be considered glamourous, would be reviewing past sales reports and other more technical aspects of coming up with new collections-a vitally important aspect of the business of an apparel company.

Once I get the parameters for each collection, I have to decide how can I make my ideas work, given my restrictions and within the context of the company’s style. At this phase of the process, which gets increasingly more intense (and the part that my husband dreads) is when there are many late nights, no weekends, and rattled nerves. But alhumdulillah, he has been a good sport about it and a great source of inspiration and support as well. Usually about the same time, or in the research phase, I have already thought about the colors and fabrics that will be used. If there are any fabrics that we would have to import, then I sometimes have to call or email these companies to inquire about prices and place orders. Although I may have developed a collection with concrete ideas and everything mapped out, this is not to say that things do not get changed at the last minute.

Some common challenges that I encounter could be that the color palette changes, some designs get edited out, the fabrics that I had wanted to use are now not available, or there are designs that can be too time-consuming, too costly, and or too difficult to produce. This can sometimes be very frustrating for a designer. Many times, what I have designed in the beginning can end up being something else by the time it’s up online. What is important, regardless of the ever-changing limitations, is to always make the collections work.

After all the concepts have been sketched out, they have to be presented, reviewed, and later modified. From these approved sketches, I redraw them and turn them into technical drawings with detailed descriptions on how each garment is made and what details it requires. This will be used by the patternmakers to produce the samples and then the production orders.

This is probably the most time-consuming and arduous part of the design process. Throughout the entire design process, nothing is at a standstill. I still have loads of other things to attend to while I am working on a collection: tons of emails, marketing, other projects, and prepping for the next collection. This is where discipline plays a key role, and being able to zone in on my work and focus despite all of the other responsibilities I have to attend to.

Even though there are long periods of working around the clock, deadlines, and sometimes very tedious tasks, I love what I do. From the inception of a collection and especially at the very end, I always find it very interesting to see how the entire collection has transformed and developed throughout this part of the process.

~Tabassum, Head Designer