My first failure in afghanistan

Born & raised in Iran

Colgate, development studies, and idealism… hard winter

Spring fling trip to Florida with David Angell

Meet Archie, pre-med student, and #1 US vacuum cleaner salesman

The Scheme & $5,000

1,000 Wedding shirts $ 800

184 Afghan rifles (used) $1,800

1 Bengal tiger skin $2,600

Guns Clothes

… and a Fantastic summer!

US student visa delayed…Grad school deferred

Failure 1: Bengal tiger skin: Confiscated by US Customs

Failure 2: Guns: No one wants them

Failure 3: Wedding shirts: Quality a disaster

Occasional clean wedding shirt sellable at boutiques

Customer Payment Problem NY Show Opportunity

• Amateur city… Late night…

• Major backing by one key fashion pub…

Retail hit: 35 stores nationwide

Bloomingdales

Bendell„s,

Many emerging new “boutiques”

…and TONS of more press

Not Guns… Not Tigers…

Bringing 2 radically different worlds together: Production Nightmare

Mired in complex high friction negotiations

Producers

VS.

Buyers

Try raising purchase price…

Experiment w/ direct hire… 1 tailor on salary…

... to 3 tailors...

… to a team of 20 … in a rented house

Shift to collaborative environment……. Transformative!

Hire our first designer in Boston…

... and the editorial support rockets

Anne Sheldon

...and further rockets

Development Dream: “Afghanistan, Iran of 100 years ago”

20‟s Dream: New York / LA fashion scene

A team of close friends

Eli KarimSaddiq Tom Pat Jim Anne Eli David EllynO‟DaySala Hathaway Sheldon Zelkha Angell Hessler

Demand goes CRAZY!!

Yves San Lauren goes Ethnic…

Enter the major European exhibitions: Pret a Porter, Igedo, London Fashion Week

Starting with press offensive…

The Sunday TimesElle German Vogue

7 years of expansion in Kabul & Boston

Establishing clear leadership & retail following

Wealth effect

Strategic sloth and growing cost structure

Aging of the trend

Iran revolution & fall of the Shah Soviet invasion of Afghanistan Logistical difficulties

Failure to diversify production

Cataclysmic failure for Afghan teams…

Failure to build nest egg .. Family in jeopardy

Self worth in tatters

Unable to make a living!!!

Wandering the desert for a couple of years…

Attempt at salvaging something…

A year of convulsions…

“Kick of the dying mule”

Failure?

Opportunity

Chinese farmer