Rest assured, in this case, the emperor has clothes. In fact, the three brothers behind the Emperor 1688 brand want to make sure everyone does, with garments that look good, feel good and won’t set you back much. You also won’t have too far to go to find them: the company has recently been quietly expanding across the UAE and surrounding nations. Up next are plans to broach London and other highly competitive shopping areas.
“We already have a large demographic of Arab and Iranian customers,” says Babak Golkar, one of the three founding siblings. “But within five years, we will have opened up several stores in Europe too and expanded into other Middle Eastern retail locations.” The partners – Babak, Haman and Farhan Golkar – believe that their brand has got what it takes to crack the international markets. Educated at the London College of Fashion, Central Saint Martins and Chelsea College of Art respectively, the Golkar brothers say they find inspiration in architecture and contemporary art, and you can find evidence of both in the structure of their clothes, such as slim-line tailoring and a subtle use of embellishment, which serves to provide a sense of grandeur. “We want our customers to feel confident, and metal and gold thread instantly gives that feeling of power and prestige. Our favourite colour-palette is black, white, grey and gold. It’s a very chic combination and can move from the urban to the formal well,” Babak explains. Zippers and crested badges also make frequent appearances in Emperor 1688’s aesthetic, which carries over to diffusion lines such as Emperor Sport, Emperor Jeans and Emperor Junior.
Keeping apace with the latest trend in leisurewear crossover, the brand embraces contemporary sportswear but gives it an interesting complexity. Case in point, their latest spokesmodel is Maxim Bouchard, a Canadian diving champion headed for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. “We supply a lot of clothes to sports personalities so Maxim came onto our radar,” Babak says. Bouchard, who survived a terrible diving accident in 2010 after which he was told he might never regain full use of his arm again, is a poster boy for determination and beating the odds and, as a bonus, pretty savvy when it comes to social media. “The idea that through adversity you can achieve something, really struck a chord with us as designers and as a brand,” Babak explains.
But if truth be told, the Golkar brothers, who were born and raised in England, could not be said to have had all that much hardship in getting to where they are today. “In 2009, we set up a sewing a machine in the kitchen and in 2010 we got our first customer, which was Saks Fifth Avenue,” Babak reveals. Six years later, they’re still in Saks, and the brand has garnered many honours, including as a finalist of the 2014/15 International Woolmark Prize and more recently, the 2016 Grazia Menswear Designer of the Year Award, a highly coveted prize because it is unsolicited and voted for by the public.
To further prove their talent, the Golkans produce their own campaigns – photography and videos. “The brand is basically our fourth brother,” Babak says. “So when people see the videos, they kind of recognise him as another Golkar.” Citing American photographer Slim Aarons and baroque-period post-renaissance awakening as his inspiration, he points out the juxtaposition of classical music over very urban-looking black and white videos he has used to infuse meaning into the brand. “We’re obsessed with the 17th century, even though it’s not really predominant in our clothes, “ he adds, which explains Emperor 1688’s somewhat cryptic name.
Their business strategy however is thoroughly 21st century and the brothers says they’re aware of the changing landscape when it comes to marketing, even somewhat scoffing at traditional industry practices. Although they’ve made appearances at London Fashion Week and Fashion Forward Dubai, they claim to favour a more direct approach. “We’re finding having more intimate connections through social media is more important than having a fashion show,” Babak says. The brand’s consistent imagery is garnering a growing base of followers on Instagram and Facebook, ensuring their royal message is heard loud and clear.
“Fashion is supposed to make you feel wonderful. We want you to feel like an emperor. Kings in history, they weren’t usually the most beautiful or the tallest people,” Babak concludes, “they were quite often short, fat and ugly. But it’s the clothes that made them feel like they were the king.” If the Golkans can achieve anything close to that affect, they’re surely on to something.
