Mr. Hamid Saeed – CEO – Giorgenti New York

Our biggest achievement is that we built a fashion brand based on Dress for Success. Were proudly making these garments in Pakistan and exporting them to more than 50000 customers in the USA and worldwide

EVOLVE: Please share a rundown of yourprofessional background with us?

Mr. Hamid Saeed: Im a fashion designer, wardrobe and image consultant from New York. For the last 20 years, I have dedicated my work in helping professional men project the right image. Im uniquely qualified for what Im
doing. I learned logical thinking and problem solving skills from my degree in Chemical Engineering from UET (University of Engineering & Technology Lahore). I wanted to explore the world and get higher education, so I left for New York. New York is known for being the business and fashion capital of the world. Thats why I decided to pursue education in business and fashion. A degree in MBA gave me a solid background in how the business leaders think and how the business world works. Then I received my training in fashion design and image consultation from Fashion School of Technology in New York. Later on I applied all my education and training in building my fashion
brand GIORGENTI / BEST CUSTOM SHIRT and image consultation business.

EVOLVE: Tell our readers about Giorgenti New Yorks products and services, especiallyits achievements and consistent growth in Pakistan?

Mr. Hamid Saeed: Our core competency is in producing world class mens custom suits, shirts and accessories based on their specific measurements and personal preferences. Were proudly making these garments in Pakistan
and exporting them to more than 50000 customers in the USA and worldwide. Our biggest achievement is that we built a fashion brand based on Dress for Success. There are four components of my concept of dressing professional men for success.
You should wear colors that are flattering for your personal pigmentation. We help men decide what colors look good on them.
Your body type dictates what styles are good for you. We help men choose the right styling based on whether they are short, tall or heavy.
Your personality tells us what kind of clothing you can carry. I always say clothing does not carry the man, man carries the clothing. We help men choose clothing to enhance their personality.
Men should project the right image based on their profession, status and stature. We help men by crafting their image based on their profession and title.
Our manufacturing business has consistently grown in Pakistan over the last 10 years. Our image and wardrobe consultation business in Pakistan is fairly new but its growing at a rapid speed because no other mens brand is
offering image and wardrobe consultation as we are offering. Our competitors are merely selling clothing while our focus is on dressing professional men for success based on methods and techniques that we have developed over the
last 20 years. We have started providing custom suits and shirts with wardrobe and image consultation service in Lahore by opening a design center on MM Alam Road. Due to heavy demand of such service, we expect this business to grow exponentially over the next couple of years.

EVOLVE: What kind of culture have youmaintained at Giorgenti and how would youshed light on its significance?

Mr. Hamid Saeed: Our company culture is consistent with our company values and mission. We consistently try to make a quality garment that not only meets but exceeds the international standards. In order to meet that we
have built quality into the process of manufacturing. We have made sure that quality is built in each production step, and relevant people are fully trained to observe the quality standards and apply them at each step of production. We
have also used barcoding technology to make sure that our quality standard are applied and checked for consistency purposes. Barcoding technology also helps us identify who made which part of the garment so we can find the root cause of a mistake and re-train the worker who made the mistake. Our business is a highly customer focus business.
Thats why we have created a company culture where the entire team is focused on servicing our customers. Each detail of customer order is handled meticulously and the final design and fitting of the garment is handled by experienced and talented staff.

EVOLVE: What distinguishes your companyfrom its competitors?

Mr. Hamid Saeed: First of all I would say that we are the only custom clothing brand in Pakistan. So in that respect we dont think we have any competitor in Pakistan. But if we look at overall mens clothing business , I would say our competitors focus is on selling their products, while our focus is on crafting the right image and creating outfits based on persons profession, status, statute and occasion. We also use special proprietary tools that we have
brought from the USA, to accurately measure men for making custom suits and shirts. We also make a unique pattern for each customer based on his specific measurements, while our competitors use existing patterns to create
a custom garment. In addition, all customer measurements are saved in our proprietary system to achieve consistency in our products and easy future ordering.

EVOLVE: You must be facing a number ofbusiness challenges. How do you addressthem?

Mr. Hamid Saeed: Our biggest challenge is in hiring skilled tailors who can stitch quality garments according to our high quality standards. We have found that tailors by generations, unfortunately are a dying breed in our country. To meet this challenge we are training our own tailors. Were taking young adults and give them complete training to make them productive for us and the society we live in. To teach, train and hire youth of our country is also consistent with our mission to create job opportunity in Pakistan for underprivileged part of our society.

EVOLVE: What are the important benchmarksif kept in a right direction can helpany organization climb ladders of success?

Mr. Hamid Saeed: In my opinion there are three biggest benchmarks for any business. Service. Service. Service. Today we are living in a highly competitive global world. We are only a click away from our competitor. For any
business to survive and thrive they must fully service their customers and exceed their expectations. The other benchmark is innovation. If a business doesnt remain innovative, it cannot succeed over a long term. We try to provide the best service and continuously innovate with new designs, fabrics and fits.

EVOLVE: How do you balance pursuing opportunitiesand maintaining focus?

Mr. Hamid Saeed: I think there is a fine balance between pursuing new opportunities and remaining focused on current business. The best way is finding and training the right team so you can delegate some of your existing responsibilities to the new team, therefore you have time to pursue new opportunities. Just going after the new opportunities and neglecting the current focus (operation) is a recipe for disaster.

EVOLVE: Is there any company that hasever impressed you?

Mr. Hamid Saeed: FedEx and DHL continues to amaze me how they move billion of packages in aggregate but still maintain the focus on delivering a single package on time. UBER is also an amazing company which controls all
stakeholders with a single application and their business model is brilliant. No physical assets, yet valued as one of the most valuable company in the world.

EVOLVE: Where do you see yourself andyour organization in next 5-10 years?

Mr. Hamid Saeed: In Pakistan we see ourselves becoming a household name in customized
clothing for men, women and children. And worldwide we see ourselves in becoming a major player in customized clothing.

EVOLVE: Any message for the readers ofEVOLVE magazine?

Mr. Hamid Saeed: Remember, people make visual based decisions about you based on what you are wearing. Ask yourself this question when you dress up in the morning; Are you projecting the right image for your position, status and stature? Do you look the part? If you are a CEO or C- Level executive, do you look refined, polished, sophisticated and successful? Make sure you look the part. This will help you move your mission and your agenda
forward. Dont let your guards down when it comes to dressing.