Co-founder of Victor Brands Holding, Ray Victor, was Zeinab&rsquo;s guest on &ldquo;Good Vibes Only&rdquo;.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Victor's passion for fashion led to the creation of Victor Brands Holding, and his active presence in the fashion community solidified his experience and awareness of the always-evolving fashion trends.&nbsp;
Victor Brands Holding is a group that caters to a mass audience and believes in inclusivity &amp; diversity, and it includes the renowned fashion brand; the House of Victor, and the homegrown monthly magazine; the Victor Magazine.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Journey Into The Fashion World
&ldquo;The turning point was sometime in 2018 I was visiting Milan and I was wearing a retail shirt and I was out with my friend and I noticed that in the place where we were going that there was someone wearing the exact shirt that I was wearing. I stormed out of the place, the next day I went out to Milan and I bought some fabric and I vowed that the moment I landed in Dubai, I will go to the tailor and make some clothes for me.&rdquo;
Then I thought that if I can make some shirts, maybe I can do something else. I started actually sketching some stuff, me and Martin, my business partners started this together, and we started creating clothes for ourselves and one thing led to other, then we thought why don&rsquo;t we make a business out of this because we are developing an identity out of these clothes? And it happened and Victor started in 2019.&rdquo; &nbsp;
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The Journey Behind The Brand &ldquo;Victor&rdquo;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s actually a long journey, we started as a fashion brand in 2019, and towards the end of 2019, COVID hit and we had to do some maneuvers. We had to create clothes that were fit for this period of time, not a lot of events, nobody was going out, so we created streetwear that was fit for just going around, not very showy, and it actually sold very well. Then we passed the critical period of covid and we discovered that we came across a lot of talents, designers, photographers, artists, and content creators from all around the world. We came across them when we started the brand in 2019 until 2021 and we wondered if we could create a platform that would accommodate and shed the appropriate light on these talents that deserve to be put on stage for everyone to see their art, this is why we decided to create the Victor Magazine. The other magazines had their specific agenda or targets towards art, acting, singers, or specific sectors of the artistic scene in the Middle East, but we wanted to create something somehow dedicated to fashion, beauty, and lifestyle together. We created Victor magazine for this purpose and it actually boomed since its start because we only publish real art, jawbreaking content, fashion shoots, and success stories from around the world it&rsquo;s also in English so it was the perfect platform to tell the world about Dubai, our home&hellip; and to tell everyone how anyone can start a business in Dubai and become successful.&rdquo;
"Now Victor magazine is three years old and we have a lot of amazing stars on its covers. In October&rsquo;s cover, we will have Hassan Abu ElRoos, he is the second Egyptian after Mony Helal. He is the first singer/actor to be featured. The importance of having fashion shows and fashion events because it is the gage for fashion designers to see and the public would decide, this is for whom we are working, for people. Collectively, the feedback from the media was really impressive and it made me realize that what we are doing is actually good and it&rsquo;s having some good feedback and we should actually on and do something other stuff," Victor added.
What&rsquo;s Your Favorite Fashion Event?
&ldquo;My first preferred one is Operation Victor in Dubai Fashion Week, the first official Dubai fashion week we participated in. &nbsp;It&rsquo;s inspired by the theme of pies all of the models were wearing shades. All of the models put the bags on the runway and it&rsquo;s picked up by the model after them.&rdquo;
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The Preparation Before A Fashion Event
&ldquo;It takes a couple of months. So we know, for example, that we are participating in a specific fashion show, and we decide we are going to create a new collection for that, so we come up with an inspiration. We start discussing the color palette, the cuts, and the designs, and we draw some sketches and then we develop them into whether we are going to do print and what kind of fabrics we&rsquo;re going to use then we shop the fabrics and talk with our tailors and our team&hellip; Then we start actually working on the pieces. Towards the end, like a month or two before we start working on the visuals. It&rsquo;s very important for us to have visuals as our fashion shows are quite theatrical, they&rsquo;re not very standard, we don&rsquo;t just put the clothes out there on the models, it&rsquo;s a whole experience, it&rsquo;s a message, it&rsquo;s an experience.&rdquo;
The Message Of The Brand?&nbsp;How Do You Balance The Business Side And The Creative Side Of The Brand?
&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t start the brand to compete, this is not our intention. We have fire inside us and we want to put it out to the world. The idea about how men or women should dress. This is our art, our design, and that is what we want to get out in the world. Thanks to Victor magazine gave us the chance to work with other designers. The constitution of our company is quite diverse, I take care of the corporate part of things and Martin takes care of the creative side of things. I take care of legal finance and contribute to the creative side of things, especially the cohesiveness of the new collections, the color palette, and the choice of fabrics but Martin is the creative director of the fashion brand and the editor-in-chief. So we complement each other roles.&rdquo;
What are the important tools anyone should have to start their own brand?
&ldquo;The unique idea. The first question you&rsquo;d have to ask yourself before starting your brand is &ldquo;What is the added value to the market or the fashion industry?&rdquo; why are you putting yourself out there? What&rsquo;s new? Why would someone buy from you? What&rsquo;s so special about you?
You should not have all the answers at once, it&rsquo;s enough for you to have the desire&hellip; then start and things will build up for you but take mindful steps.
Take care because it&rsquo;s still a business&hellip; always think where&rsquo;s your heading? Where you wanna go? STrt cautiously yet do not lose the fire inside you.&rdquo;
Evolution of Fashion Design In Egypt
When asked to comment on the evolution of fashion design in Egypt, Victor commented, &ldquo;Fashion design in Egypt is still in the formation stage. We have a lot of renowned designers in Egypt, they are valued colleagues. Many of them are international as well, but there is no fashion community in the international sense, a fashion design hub for all designers to work together. There&rsquo;s Egypt Fashion Week, yes. I hope for Egypt Fashion Week to work to continue and evolve and develop. Designers have to be inspired by what actually Egyptians wear today, build on this fashion, and give back to the community.&rdquo;
What Advice Would You Give To Any Aspiring Designers?
&ldquo;In the end, it&rsquo;s going to be business, unless you just want to make a gallery or an exhibition, if you want to make an exhibit, that&rsquo;s fine but that&rsquo;s not the brand.
If you want to create a brand or a business, you have to ask yourself a couple of questions, 'what&rsquo;s the added value to your market? Who is your customer? &nbsp;What kind of investment do you need?'
If you have the headlines of the answers to each of these questions, you can start. Everything will fall into place later on in your journey. It&rsquo;s going to be a very interesting one. It&rsquo;s a very difficult journey but an enjoyable one. Do not expect a smooth journey. You are going to learn about of things about yourself, the market, your friends, your partners. It&rsquo;s self-revealing, and it&rsquo;s really interesting with highs and lows, but when you get to the high part, it&rsquo;s worth it.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

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