Faces pressed against storefront glass, security desperately trying to hold back a crowd of hundreds, while a nervous staff prepared for the imminent onslaught. No, it wasn’t the run-up to protests in Downtown Cairo or Alexandria, but rather the scene at the opening of the first Egyptian outlet shop from Turkish fashion house Orka Group with their damat, Tween and ADV men’s fashion lines.

At the opening of the Alexandria shop, the first of two expected in Egypt this year, Orka Group General Coordinator Osman Arar announced, “There are three markets as we see it: the European and American, the Chinese and Japanese, and the Middle East and African. The Egyptian market is very important for us. A year ago we didn’t have a free trade agreement [between Turkey and Egypt] and the tariffs were very high, but now tariffs are a bit easier and the Egyptian market is open to us. We want to be a real player here. The Egyptian market is a very strategic one primarily because Egypt is geographically close to Turkey, and our vision is that Egypt is the most important market among all African countries. Egypt is essential in our development plan.”

The damat/Tween/ADV outlets will only carry their own lines, unlike their most obvious competitor in both Turkey and Egypt: Beymen. While Beymen carries a wide selection of other designers’ fashions, the Orka Group shops are selling an entire lifestyle they expect will be filled exclusively with Orka Group products.

In a damat/Tween/ADV store, you will find not only cutting-edge apparel, but jewelry and furniture as well. Yes, furniture. It’s a mix of products no one in Egypt has attempted, but Arar is convinced of his vision — and has 35 stores across Europe to justify his experiment.

At Orka Group’s expansive offices in Istanbul, an army of select fashion industry professionals brainstorm, experiment and ultimately manufacture what is becoming one of the most sought-after product lines in the world, and that standard of excellence is obviously being applied to the Egyptian venture. The damat/Tween/ADV shop in Alexandria is crisp and immaculate with not a fiber out of place. The staff is knowledgeable and attentive: each customer is given a seat and a drink, provided snacks and can chat up the able staff for style selections quite literally tailored to his very personal desires.

The damat line features suits, ties, cuff links and all that is needed for formal and business wear. The Tween line is equally as crisp, if a bit more casual, while the ADV offerings are high fashion for the sporty-active look. Though damat has had plenty of celebrity shoppers (Michael Jackson is a regular), every customer gets the same royal treatment.

Orka’s biggest worry about opening in Egypt?

“We are struggling against the imitations all over the world. Our strategy in this situation is to prevent our products from being imitated by any means that the law will permit and as a principle, we usually use the best quality fabrics in our collections. Egyptian cotton is one of the world’s special fabrics and has been used in a part of our collection. We will be increasing its use in future collections and we have even discussed the creation of a factory in Egypt,” Arar says.

Orka plans to introduce fashions that reflect the local personality as much as what may be happening in Istanbul or Milan.

“Our brands are already inspired by cultural inheritance and this is how we produce all of our original designs,” Arar notes.

Body shape is another consideration, and the damat and ADV lines will be available in larger sizes. And to make customers really happy, Arar promises prices in Egypt will match those in Spain, Italy and Turkey.

Orka’s second and larger outlet store is scheduled to open in Cairo’s CityStars Mall by mid-October, with plans for another 10 to 12 across Egypt’s major metropolitan centers over the next five years.  et