São Paulo – A Brazilian made Arab fashion her business and promoting this dressing style in Brazil her daily focus. The business of Lebanese and Emirati descendant Sarah Hiaty (pictured above), 52, started from a personal need to sell garments made by third parties and then became her own Arab women’s clothing brand Sarah Hiaty Arabic Collection.
The clothes sold are typical from the Arab culture, like kaftans, tunics, chemises, and gowns. The garments stand out online due to their colorfulness and creativity and have a large number of followers from Brazil and elsewhere. On her Instagram page, Hiaty do business with Arab and non-Arab customers from different states in Brazil and other countries like Switzerland, Egypt, Italy, and Canada.
Born in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, the Brazilian at first had no intention to be a business owner, and the idea came arose from necessity. Despite being born in Brazil, Hiaty was living in Egypt approximately three years ago when she had to come back to her birth country to take care of her sick mother for a few months, so she only brought two garment bags.
But in March 2020, when borders closed off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brazilian, like many other people then, found herself jobless, away from her partner, with no prospect of when she could return to Egypt.
A Muslim convert, Hiaty only had Arab-style clothes like kaftans in her bags. The same month she came back to Brazil, she was invited to do a lecture on women’s empowerment in Islam. Her dressing style caught the attention of some women then.
Since she had no source of income, she capitalized on the growing interest for her clothing to sell them and get some money to support herself and her daughter while living in Brazil. As her garments were sold, Hiaty found herself with few clothes, and she didn’t know where to buy new Arab garments like the ones she was used to. Then she had an idea to establish her own Arab cloth brand.
Besides making her own clothes, Hiaty could sell them to people who had the same taste in fashion. Four months later, she and her daughter Maria Eduarda established the brand Sarah Hiaty Arabic Collection. “My daughter is an excellent designer. She designed the garments I wanted to sell. We found a studio that could meet our demand from scratch. I didn’t have any customers, but my daughter created the Instagram page, and we’ve received orders from there since,” Sarah Hiaty pointed out.
Growth
In June 2020, Hiaty was negotiating her first sales. The brand has now over 6,000 followers on Instagram. Over four years, she received orders from buyers in Brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Grande do Norte, São Paulo, Paraíba, Paraná, and Amazonas. Garments are exclusive, and the store is nearly stockless.
Kaftan is the flagship of the company, made with distinguished materials like silk, pure silk, muslin silk, pure-cotton viscose, and silk with polyester. Customers receive a tutorial on how to wash them.
“The garments of our brand are very high quality and made with fine materials. So, when someone asks, we explain the reason for the price, which may be seem quite high, and what they can do to make it last. We aren’t an industrialized brand that makes 40 to 50 pieces of the same model. We’re a mother-and-daughter brand,” Hiaty explains.
The feedback of the customers has been her leading driver for her to grow as a professional. “I’ve learned a lot with the brand. Our improvement comes from understanding what clients want. We know how to listen, and we’ve read many customer reviews.”
Besides her daughter, who’s a also partner in the business, Sarah Hiaty has a three-member staff. For those who are starting their businesses now, she advises, “When you set out towards an unknown path, it’s important to study as much as you can, because you’ll certainly find some bumps – and stones and waterfalls and even landslides – along the way.”
*Report by Rebecca Vettore, especially for ANBA.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
