On display are tees that feature everything from a lyric of a popular Arabic song written like musical notations resonating from an Oud to pithy one-liners accompanying stellar graphic design work like an emperor’s crown perched on words that translate to The Presence of King or the women’s tee emblazoned with a lit bukhoor seeming to give out a burst of aromatic fumes with text that translate to The Master of the Oud (Oud, here, being the perfume, not the musical instrument).Īl-Thani says, “I make all the designs but I keep in touch with my friends group in the Arab region, who are also designers. “A lot of people are now wearing this when they go to the beach,” says al-Thani’s cousin Abdulaziz al-Thani, “The Blessed website – blessed.qa – is up and running.” While that one’s priced at QR250, the prices of the tees can be anything between QR150 to QR500.Ī funky blue V-neck tee, priced at QR150, featuring Popeye – his face wrapped in an Arabic guthra and wearing a sailor’s cap on top of that – simply says: Going down to the beach. One tee is inscribed in striking Arabic typography ‘Al Umar Wahid’ which means “you live only once” a cool spin on the same, now-overused acronym by the young, YOLO or You Only Live Once. The feel of the clothes is rich and so is the look.
Like the halo that hovers on top of the B of the Blessed logo, little halos sit atop each tee on display. The launch certainly appears successful as visitors pour in to check out the funky designs and art work adorning the tees on display, alongside canvas boards of the bare design. So I have tried to draw the good from Western brands and have given it the Arabic look for our people.” But more importantly, our people want to see our designs, wear clothes that represent us and our sensibilities. As we need the West, the West also needs us. “As a graphic designer, I wanted to put my Arabesque designs on T-shirts,” explains al-Thani, Managing Director and CEO of the brand, “You go to a mall and you find all the clothing brands are from the West. So six months back, I started working on my own T-shirt line featuring Islamic art, motifs and patterns, Arabic heritage, calligraphy, local flavours, and pop cultural elements that the region and the community can relate with.”Įver since, Blessed has been enjoying terrific word of mouth, also courtesy his account Blessed_story on Instagram. “Around a year ago, I started posting my designs on my Instagram account and got a lot of great feedback. Sales can happen later.”Ĭoincidentally, al-Thani’s Blessed has reached public in the blessed month of Ramadan, as the exhibition featuring his tees is the first time his work is physically out there to see.
“Tonight, we are launching this brand,” al-Thani said, in the midst of dealing with potential customers and interested passers-by, “But my only purpose of using this space, which Katara kindly offered us to use, is to make my brand known to people.
BOOKED AND BLESSED TSHIRT FULL
Tuesday night at Building 19 of Katara Art Studios saw a tastefully designed room full of Blessed tees draw throngs of curious Arab visitors. In a nod to the growing trend of local talents breaking out with smart fashion lines fusing Arabic elements, Qatari graphic designer Mubarak al-Thani has now introduced to the country and the region, what he calls “a Qatari pop-culture brand.” Al-Thani said, “Blessed is Qatar’s brand new T-shirt brand for the youth.” That’s when home remedy may cure the shopaholics. The Arab populace, chiefly Qataris, travel too much, shop too much, and often, the world is not enough. Photos by Anand Hollaįashion-forwardness in Qatar has been on a remarkable upswing in the past five years – any fashionista worth her Louboutins would agree. THE BRAIN BEHIND THE TEES: Mubarak al-Thani, Managing Director and CEO of the brand.
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