Category: Fashion

Ecru, the Kuwait-based lifestyle brand inspired by the ethos and culture of Arab hospitality is celebrating their ten years milestone with a pop up at Sadu House. I remember when they launched back in 2013 it felt like a sigh of relief that someone was opening something other than a cupcake business (If you’re too young to remember, back then everyone had a cupcake business).

I dropped by the pop up earlier to pick up a copy of the book “ABCs of Kuwait”, (more on that in a separate post) and the Ecru setup was really something. They completely transformed the space and as you can see in the photo, it looks really really beautiful.

If you’re looking for something to do, tomorrow is the last day for the pop up. They’re there tonight till 8PM and tomorrow (Thursday) from 11AM to 5PM. Also make sure you check out their retrospective highlight on their Instagram account for their story on how it all began. @ecruonline

Alo Yoga, the Los Angeles-based premium lifestyle/yoga brand is coming to Kuwait soon. Alshaya got the franchise and based on their jobs posting, they are setting up their head office in the UAE and then opening their first store in Kuwait.

Once open, Alo will compete directly with Lululemon so I’d imagine they will be getting a very premium location in The Avenues for their first store.

The very popular luxury piercing studio Maria Tash opened in the Prestige section of Avenues right next door to Harvey Nichols. They opened a few months ago but I only just noticed since their location isn’t in a part of Avenues I frequent a lot. This is now probably the best place in Kuwait to get your piercings since they’re always pioneering techniques and have nearly 30 years of experience. They don’t have a dedicated Kuwait Instagram account but their main account is @mariatash

Basic Beach is a cool new and local sustainable brand with designs inspired and influenced by the oceans and its creatures. All their waterwear is made out of recycled material while their packaging is made of plants that decompose after a short period of time and can be used as compost.

Their first collection includes rashguards, swim shorts, surfsuits and fun t-shirts designed by local Kuwaiti artist @notnorrah. Their stuff isn’t too crazy expensive so if you want to shop their collection, they’re on Instagram @shop.basicbeach and their website is basic-beach.com

I found out about Smiths Boutique by mistake recently. Before I traveled on vacation I was in Dasman Complex picking up a burger from Top Bun when I noticed something going on in one of the shops nearby. Turns out it was a small event for a local watch boutique called Smiths. I’m a big fan of watches and so decided to check the event out. The owner was there, a watch guy himself (obviously) so he proceeded to explain to me and my friends his concept, the watch brands he had on display, and why he chose to bring those specific ones to Kuwait.

Smiths carries brands you might never have heard of like Laco, Roue, RZE and HVD but they all have interesting stories. Laco for example is a German watch brand that has been around since 1925 while Roue is a brand inspired by watches in the 60s and 70s. Smiths also carries modified and homage watches, a category that has exploded in popularity recently due to watches like the CasiOak, a mashup where people took an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak replica case and combined it with a Casio. Smiths carries some modified Seiko watches which are interesting, fun, and attainable, but that also pretty much describes all the watches Smiths carry.

If you like watches you’ll appreciate what Smiths is trying to do. With most of the watch stores sticking to popular and generic big names, it’s refreshing to see one thats trying to be a bit more unique and offer something more curated. The Smiths Instagram is pretty active and informative so make sure you check that out @smiths.oclock but their website is also mobile phone friendly with all their watches displayed along with their prices, you can check that out at smiths.boutique

To celebrate the month of Ramadan, Off-White™ has released an exclusive capsule collection that will only be available at their stores in Kuwait, Dubai, and Riyadh. The 17-pieces take on various interpretations of relaxed silhouettes and modest dressing in honor of the holiday.

If you don’t live in Kuwait, Dubai, or Riyadh, the items can still be purchased from Off-White™ but only through their website. The Off-White™ store in Kuwait is located in the Prestige section of the Avenues. Their local Instagram account is @off___white___kuwait

Thrf is a new online thrift shop set up by the very fashionable @hesitant__alien. The account sells pre-loved, vintage, and brand new clothing all hand-picked by her and updated every weekend. All the prices and sizes are listed in the description and everything is very reasonably priced.

The clothes sell out fairly quickly so make sure you follow the account to be notified once they drop @thrf_kw

If you’ve been to Al-Rai area recently you might have noticed a Nike store that was under construction next to True Value. The construction work is now complete and the store is officially open, turns out it’s their new outlet location.

The Nike outlet is two floors, the ground floor for men and the top floor for women. They had a ton of stuff for sale and all heavily discounted. I was hoping to find some cool Metcons for sale but ended up finding only one color combo which I didn’t like but you might find something you like.

If you want to check the place out they’re open 10AM to 10PM on weekdays and 10AM to 11PM on weekends. Here is the location on Google Maps.

A couple of years ago I got my Wizr t-shirt printed in Dubai. I had it done on a direct-to-garment (DTG) printer which is basically an inkjet printer that prints directly onto fabric. Compared to the usual heat transfer prints, DTG prints look a lot better, as if the t-shirt was store-bought.

Back then I had asked if there were similar services in Kuwait and I got a few recommendations. Sadly most of them seem to have shut down last year due to the pandemic. But, I did eventually find one place that was still active called Inkservice. They’re a print shop with various locations around Kuwait but their DTG service is located at their Shuhada Co-op branch. I had an old Rambo advert printed on one of my white t-shirts and it came out perfect so I’m going back to print some more things.

The cost is 4.5KD if you provide a t-shirt and 6.5KD if they provide one. If you’re looking for a place to print on t-shirts check these guys out. It takes a few minutes to print so you can wait there till it’s done. They’re on instagram @inkservice and here is their location on Google Maps.

Lululemon the popular athletic apparel retailer brand is opening up at The Avenues. Lululemon is popular mostly because of their yoga wear and I know a lot of people (well mostly girls) who are going to be excited about this since they no longer have to order their clothes online or wait for a Dubai trip. The store is opening up in Phase 4 of The Avenues right next door to the clothing brand Monki.

A user on Reddit a few days was asking about a local vintage clothing store which in places like the States and Europe is generally a store that sells second-hand clothing. Although I’m not aware of any vintage clothing store in that sense we do have a couple of thrift shops that sell second-hand clothes:

Odettes Closette – They’re located inside 8 Mall in Salmiya.

Thrifty M.E. – An Instagram only based account.

Both places also accept donated clothes and accessories but if you prefer your stuff to go to a better cause, below is a charitable organization which also accepts your second-hand clothes:

Basta – 80-90% of the items donated to them go to low-income community members. The rest of the items get sold with the money going towards funding student tuitions. Other than clothes you can also donate toys, books, and gadgets.

If you know of any other thrift shops let me know in the comments below.

The very popular luxury piercing studio Maria Tash is going to be opening in Kuwait soon. Maria Tash posted on their instagram account that they will be opening up in the Avenues and also updated their profile description with “Coming Soon: Kuwait”.

No opening date was mentioned but they do mention this will be a new permanent store and that’s because they’ve previously had pop-ups in Kuwait. Maria Tash has locations in New York, London, Rome, Dublin and Dubai and if you want to be notified on any updates you can sign up to their mailing list.

When I was in Dubai a couple of weekends ago I got a Wizr t-shirt printed for me and a friend similar to the one Keith Wells had back in the 70s (the author of Wizr). I got it done at Virgin Megastore in Dubai Mall and it only took a few minutes to print each t-shirt. It was like an inkjet printer for t-shirts and the quality of the print was pretty incredible.

Has anyone seen anything similar in Kuwait? The printer kind is called a “Direct-to-Garment Printer” but the only ones I’ve seen in Kuwait use heat transfer with an end result that isn’t so great. With direct-to-garment printing, the t-shirt ends up looking like it was printed in a fashion production line.

If you don’t know what the Wizr is, click here.

Yesterday I dropped by a new department store that opened up called The District that carries a number of brands including UNIQLO and Lululemon. I was curious to check out the UNIQLO items since I tend to stock up on their t-shirts and socks whenever I’m in LA.

Just to be clear, this isn’t an official UNIQLO store. I ran into the owner while I was browsing and had a chat with him and turns out they tried bringing the UNIQLO brand to Kuwait but UNIQLO weren’t interested (even Alshaya are having trouble trying to get the brand). So, what they decided to do was buy UNIQLO products at normal retail price, ship them to Kuwait and slap their markup onto the items. How much of a markup? Well here are the prices of a bunch of random items so you can compare:

Low Cut Socks
Online: KD1.2
Kuwait: KD2

Dry Pique Short Sleeve Polo Shirt
Online: KD6
Kuwait: KD17.5

Fleece Long-Sleeve Full-Zip Jacket
Online: KD6
Kuwait: KD24

Oxford Slim Fit Long Sleeve Shirt
Online: KD9
Kuwait: KD24

Women Ezy Jeans
Online: KD12
Kuwait: KD30

Sprz NY Basquiat Short Sleeve Graphic T-Shirt
Online: KD4.5
Kuwait: KD24

Ouch right? But here is why their prices are so expensive. Stores tend to buy items at wholesale prices, so for example, if an item retails for KD10, the actual cost of the item to the store is around KD4. The KD6 difference would cover the cost of shipping, customs, salaries, rent, and profit. In this case, The District is purchasing the items at full retail price of KD10, then slapping on the cost of shipping, customs, salaries, rent and their profit resulting in the prices you see above. I didn’t check the Lululemon prices but I’m assuming its the same.

If you want to check the place out yourself, The District is located in Bida’a [Google Maps] and they’re also on instagram @thedistrict_kuwait

Thanks Aisha!

Dar Scrubs is an interesting small store that sells clothing and accessories for doctors. I didn’t think there could be so much variety in scrubs but I guess even doctors want to look good. I even spotted Grey’s Anatomy branded scrubs which is actually pretty smart of the show.

If you’re a doctor (or just looking to role play) then you should pass by and check them out. They’re located in Promenade Mall inside their Soapbox space. If you don’t feel like passing by you could also check out their online store [Here]