Well-suited
Ishara Jayawardane
Fouzul Hameed is certainly the Donald Trump of Sri Lanka. Not only is
he into the fashion business but he is into charity as well. Hameed is
the Managing Director of Hameedia. The ‘My Friend’ charity was a project
which he had initiated.
Fouzul Hameed and Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC Managing
Director/CEO Kishu Gomes with guests |
Spacious environment |
A legend in the menswear industry in Sri Lanka, his sense of style is
on par with the most accomplished men’s wear designers, not only in
South Asia but in the world. In fact you could call him the ‘big cat’ on
the catwalk! A man who knows what men want and what women want in their
man, the formal launch of the Fouzul Hameed (FH) ceremonial grooming
studio was held on June 27.
Charity is the backbone of the entire ethos and the spirit behind
Hameedia and the Envoy Mansion . Its laudable and well known CSR project
is ‘My Friend’. ‘My Friend’ lends a hand to under privileged children
across the length and breadth of Sri Lanka to improve their education
standards. ‘My Friend’ was launched in November last year, and has
certainly added value to the under privileged kids in this country. The
purpose of ‘My Friend’ is to educate a 1000 under privileged children
across the country within the next six months. ‘My Friend’ is funded by
many initiatives: selling my friend merchandise through their stores (
t- shirts, mugs, caps, exercise books) and through the FH tips
subscriptions. All proceeds are channeled to the project.
An invitee |
Linked to this ‘My Friend’ initiative is the FH guide. We all like to
be update by receiving text messages relating the latest news in Sri
Lanka and around the world. FH guide also brings you grooming tips into
your mobile phone once a day and 30 days a month. Over the years
grooming and fashion have changed and today we have Sri Lanka’s ultimate
men’s lifestyle destination and store - the glamorous Envoy Mansion. The
Envoy Mansion is certainly one of its kind in Sri Lanka. The country has
come a long way since its early days of grooming. Everything you want is
at your fingertips right here in the city.
Hameedia and Envoy Mansion Managing Director Fouzul Hameed |
Harris Wijeyasinghe, Keerthi Sri Karunaratne and Yoland
Aluwihare |
“I have been in the industry for over 20 years. I realized that I
should come up with something new. I feel proud when I see the amount of
work we have done in Sri Lanka while II am on my trips abroad. Sometimes
I feel that our locals have not understood the value of a good product.
We have developed many workers, especially in manufacturing and
tailoring and today most of them are doing well. Some of them have
become my competitors too. We are very proud of them,” Hameed said. He
notes that when there is competition, they keep moving and start
thinking how to move forward. It is a motivation factor to improve the
business.
“Sri Lankans think that when you go to a tailor he will know how to
make a good suit. We have never had a tailoring institute in Sri Lanka.
Most of the tailors are not well educated. They come from different
backgrounds. However we have developed many god tailors with our
personal attention.
Today most of them have good careers and work around the country and
have opened up good stores. You need lot of knowledge with good
equipment and good machineries to make a good suit. You need a good
staff. You need good fabric and accessories and a good environment for
the workers. Under FH I want to make high quality garments. We want to
make the best shirt in town. This requires a lot of hard work. That is
the reason why I want to launch FH Ceremonial Wedding. What is important
today is the fit,” he said.
Hameed’s next focus is to go international.
“We will be opening a store in Melbourne under Envoy. It is a great
moment for our company. My staff have worked hard to support me in this
journey. Our policy is whatever you buy there is a warranty and a
guarantee,” he said. |