We celebrate the difference

Hello there dear readers, it's been ages since I wrote an article for maft magazine.

Not going to lie, I kind of miss it.  Today, however, I'm not quietly writing an article. Today I'm here to make a statement and send a message to all the creatives out there, following us or still not.

Since the beginning of our journey here atmaft, our first and forever mission is to promote, support, and encourage fashion designers based in our homeland: Tunisia. Now maft has grown and it became a platform, a home for designers and creatives all over the Mediterranean.  

However, working in the fashion industry, specifically in Tunisia, comes with its complexities and challenges since it's an unstable and underdeveloped industry where sources, support, and the economical and social situation of the country are becoming more and more complicated.

Definitely not an easy environment for fashion and designer brands to grow and thrive. However, though, we've seen many known and emergent brands, working hard, perfecting their products, and focusing on the creative process, forgetting the part where they have to showcase and promote their creations.

And this is where I take the chance to tell you, dear brands and fashion businesses, that in 2023 if you don't have a website, you don't have a brand. PERIOD.

Your website is simply your ID, your business card if you will. It is the online space that describes and promotes your brand, its story, missions, values, and vision. It is where you sell your product while offering the right user experience and providing the consumer with all the details needed to valorize even more what you're selling and the hard work behind it.

Instagram does not replace your e-commerce website. It's a great tool to promote your products and add a different angle of how your product can be perceived, and a great space to introduce your visual identity and influence your target. That's what Instagram is for: INFLUENCING through the brand, NOT PRESENTING the brand.

It is unfortunate, that to this day, we struggle to find designers' websites, to learn more about the brands, their archives, and old collections, to follow their evolution, and of course to have the chance to buy their products online, in one click. 

This is a cry for change and a wake-up call ! We live in the digital era and it does not remain acceptable for any business with a wearable product to not have a professional and well-functioning website.

So while 2023 is barely starting, make sure to include your website fees in your budgets, SINON, your brand will always and forever remain amateur and not taken seriously. Creation itself does not count, selling it, presenting it, and well promoting it does.

PS: Online shopping culture is already taking space in the Tunisian consumer's habits, with great user experience, high-quality photos, and a close-up of the material and other details, you don't have to fear hesitation when it comes to the purchase action.

Add this to your new year's resolutions and see you next time, very very soon ....

Supporting you, always, Malak.