Growing up in Chicago, Luma Makhlouf had limited options to connect to her Palestinian and Arab identity.
She could wear a scarf or listen to Arabic music, says Ms Makhlouf, who has an undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Illinois in Chicago.
But accessorising her looks, as college students love to do, was not among them.
The lack of wearable art that would bring a touch of Middle East to the cold streets of the Great Lakes city finally gave rise to a start-up in Dubai in February. Ms Makhlouf's company Ursom, which means "drawing" in Arabic, sources art and graphics from local artists and prints them on T-shirts.
From wrapping and folding to printing and putting it in the mail, Ms Makhlouf does it all.
"We are bootstrapping the business," says the 25-year-old entrepreneur.
Most of the days, including weekends, depending on the orders, Ms Makhlouf is holed up in a small printing area inside a warehouse in Al Quoz industrial zone in Dubai.
Surrounded by mountains of plastic-wrapped furniture and cardboard packages of a moving company which occupies the rest of the warehouse, art gets printed in Ms Makhlouf's small cage-like space.
"We realised we love T-shirts, our friends love T-shirts, and we wanted to bring art to life through T-shirts," she says.
Ms Makhlouf has two business partners in Baher Al Hakim, master chief of napkin, a company which turns ideas into start-ups by handling the technology and product design part of the business then invests in them, and Amir Farha, a co-founder of Beco Capital.
Over endless amounts of coffee, she says they decided not to hire designers but scour the Middle East for artists.
"What made us believe in [Ursom] is that everyone who knew about it loved it, including designers and potential customers, so that gave us the confidence to invest and believe in the idea," Mr Al Hakim says. Napkin has been involved in five start-ups since its beginning in January last year.
One of the artists is Nadine Kanso, a fashion designer based in Dubai and Lebanon. She uses Arabic calligraphy to write "Salam" in a peace symbol.
All T-shirts are now priced at Dh120 (US$32), and the artists get 20 per cent of the listed price.
The designs are chosen by a 19-member committee called the Urban Design Community, which includes graphic designers, artists, art professors and fashion bloggers.
Ursom now has 15 active artists but a database of 400. Almost 60 per cent of the artists are from the UAE, and the rest from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and one from London.
It ships only within the UAE but expects to open mail orders to Kuwait in two months.
"People are starting to shop online," Ms Makhlouf says. Enterprises "selling products online are doing well, not [those selling] services".
While it has shipped about 55 T-shirts, she knows she has to scale up to remain viable.
A credible credit card gateway and a shipping partner are key to that game.
Now, Ursom uses Dubai-based Speedex, which picks up the packages from the warehouse. At times, such as on Valentine's Day, when Ursom promised same day delivery on orders, Ms Makhlouf drove around town handing out eight packages door to door.
For payments, she uses Gate2Pay, a Jordanian platform, because it does not charge a deposit amount.
The biggest investment was the printer that came for Dh150,000 last October.
None of the founders in the three-member team is paid a salary and Ms Makhlouf does not think they will be breaking even any time soon. But she is willing to give Ursom three years to do so.
By the third quarter of this year, she would seek investment of $100,000.
With more funding she would like to hire a customer service representative who would take the responsibility of handling all calls, which she now fields. By end of this year, she wants to have a team of five.
"I have learnt that customer service is the winner at the end of the day, not price-slashing, especially in e-commerce, [which is] a fragile industry in a fragile market," says Ms Makhlouf, who has worked with Bayt.com and GoNabit.
ssahoo@thenational.ae
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
RESULTS
5pm Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner Thabet Al Reef, Bernardo Pinheiro (jockey), Abdallah Al Hammadi (trainer)
5.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Blue Diamond, Pat Cosgrave, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6pm Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 Listed (PA) Dh230,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6.30pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Shoja’A Muscat, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7pm Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner Heros De Lagarde, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m
Winner Good Tidings, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
South Africa v India schedule
Tests: 1st Test Jan 5-9, Cape Town; 2nd Test Jan 13-17, Centurion; 3rd Test Jan 24-28, Johannesburg
ODIs: 1st ODI Feb 1, Durban; 2nd ODI Feb 4, Centurion; 3rd ODI Feb 7, Cape Town; 4th ODI Feb 10, Johannesburg; 5th ODI Feb 13, Port Elizabeth; 6th ODI Feb 16, Centurion
T20Is: 1st T20I Feb 18, Johannesburg; 2nd T20I Feb 21, Centurion; 3rd T20I Feb 24, Cape Town
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
Other key dates
-
Finals draw: December 2
-
Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
Company%20Profile
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
England World Cup squad
Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wkt), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
RoboCop%3A%20Rogue%20City
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