FASHIONING A NEW FUTURE
Designer and fashion professor Ammar Belal tells us how his artisan-made shoes will improve the lives of crafts people and school children in Pakistan alike and are perfect for the style and socially conscious UAE
“THE JUTTI IS a uniquely symmetrical shoe. Our business model also reflects this symmetry through our pledge that what we make equals what we give.” ONE432 CEO Ammar Belal’s thinking on the charitable aspect of his footwear business is clear from the off. The Pakistani designer, model and professor at Parsons School of Design continued: “Fifty percent of our net profit is shared with our artisans and our cause: providing high quality primary education for underprivileged kids in Pakistan.”
In today’s morally divisive climate, more consumers are looking towards socially-conscious, handmade products in order to redress the balance between client and producer and create a fair trade-off: the customer receives a beautifully-crafted unique item and the artisan is decently compensated for their time and skill. This is where Belal’s Juttis come in and, if you decide to invest in merely one pair of the sumptuous shoes, your money is stretched several steps further.
‘Craft – Cause – Community’ is the organisation’s mantra which is evident not only by employing skilled tradespeople, but also when you discover there is a programme in place to train female Jutti-makers, enabling them to compete in a traditionally male-dominated industry. Currently half of the company’s workforce is female. This is on top of generating funds earmarked for children’s education.
Taking over nine hours to make just one bespoke shoe, craftspeople weave cotton on a handloom, which gives the shoes their unique texture and the flexibility to mould to the shape of the wearer’s foot. While Belal is currently exploring partnerships with key retail outlets and markets in the UAE, right now you can discover the product range at www.one432.com. We caught up with the fashion head to find out more.
How did you embark on this project? Why was a charitable aspect to the business important to you?
My friends and I often speak about how our access to quality education was pivotal in the advancement of our careers. As an educator, I constantly think about the privilege that my students and I enjoy on a daily basis at such a prestigious institution and how it is completely inaccessible to an overwhelming majority from my country, Pakistan. With the recent “one for one” model gaining a lot of traction in consumer products, we felt that there was an opportunity to further build on this idea with an unprecedented standard of transparency and real time impact.
How crucial was it to establish a fair trade model in rewarding the artisans?
I come from a family that pioneered sportswear manufacturing. Being a part of the global apparel supply chain gave me a lot of insight into the labour laws within the textile industry. Valuing the actual makers of our products instead of only the designers or brands has been a philosophy that I always dreamt of embodying. With the communication technology that is available to us today, we are in the perfect position to finally create a sense of transparency and connection between the maker and the wearer of our products.
Why did you focus on shoes?
Based on our ideas of inclusive design and responsibility, we came across a unique irony within south Asian history and language. The word for all “shoes” in Urdu is “Jutti”. Surprisingly, “Jutti” did not always mean general shoes. The origins of the word denoted a uniquely symmetrical, fully handmade, south Asian slipper, which was so widely worn by the general public, that it became the generic word for “shoes.” Unfortunately, this beautiful tradition has been steadily declining, as the Jutti, in its purest form, has not been able to adapt to the utility and rigour of 21st
century wear. We thought this was a perfect opportunity for us to test its design methodologies by reviving a centuries-old craft technique through modern materials and functional design.
To whom do you think they will most appeal?
We believe they will have a lot of appeal initially in developed retail markets, which have shown great potential regarding the conscious consumer. It is an extremely versatile shoe. We believe that young working professionals and millennials/ Gen Z, for whom sustainability and ethical fashion are increasingly important would be our early adopters. We feel that Dubai is the epicentre of the ethical fashion conversation in the Middle East region. With its huge expat population and diverse community, it can be a great launching pad for our ideology in the region.
Can you wear them on any occasion?
Pretty much! For women they are a perfect substitute for any flat shoe (ballet flats, loafers, etc.). For guys, they are a great replacement for the standard loafer. The choice of upper tier materials (velvet, leather, cotton, or print) can dramatically change the utility of the Jutti from the most casual to a trendy formal occasion. I personally wear my leather and velvet ones with suits and the cotton ones with mostly jeans, shorts or khakis.
From where did you get the name for the business?
ONE432 is a prompt to question all systems around us and stop following the overly simplistic 1,2,3,4 linear approach. I always say, “Life isn’t as simple as 1,2,3,4, its ONE...4,3,2. One step forward combined with 3 steps of reflection.”