In 2020, Karim Abed was the Chief CFO of the home builder based in Texas. The work was well true, he said, but longed for the start of his own business and joined his Egyptian heritage again.
Fast move forward to 2025 and by the fact that the company is Wyr, a men’s clothing brand using cotton in Giza, tracks and small factories based on Egypt. The company prosper.
In our recent conversation, Karim dealt with the initial struggles of Wyr, subsequent growth and yes, the benefits of Egyptian cotton and craftsmen.
Our whole sound is inserted below. The transcription is condensed and adjusted for quality.
Eric Bandholz: Tell us who you are and what you are doing.
Karim Abed: I am the founder of Wyr, a premium brand of men’s clothing that was launched in 2020. My girlfriend, now my wife, a Wyr design, a shortcut for “what you would rather” wear. I loved simplicity and stuck with her.
Before Wyr I spent almost ten years in Texas work in finance, eventually as a financial director for a domestic builder’s real estate division. It was financially enriching, but I wanted to create something of my own.
In the end, I decided on clothes because in Egypt it would become a family connection. I was hoping to re -connect with its culture and heritage, while producing quality objects – shirts, pants, boxers – using Egyptian cotton, a reputable product.
In January 2020, just before the pandemic, I traveled to Egypt with production samples and refined patterns on which I worked for six months and started in July of the same year.
I learned from mistakes. I kept my financial work to entertain the company, so I could bring a lot of bucks. In the first and second year we lost good love for money. Covid did not help to let me work from home and focus on wyr after hours.
Bandholz: When did you fully commit yourself to a clothing company?
Abed: During the first year we sold only 1,000 units and generated only $ 20,000. As soon as I improved our sales design – premium Giza Cotton, accurate adaptation, great reviews – sales exploded. He returned to nearly $ 1 million in the second year. This growth gave me confidence that I went full -time.
Many brands of clothing are ordered from large factories, often in Eastern Europe. I have different ways. I organize in Egypt and work with small craft workshops instructions of large manufacturers. A craftsman with 35 years of experience leads our hand equipment. The team of 15 people is still spreading and remarking.
The partnership with these craftsmen ensures careful quality and allows their own details such as curved hem, unique tailor -made sewing and tailor -made that a large factory is not accommodated. We give them enough business to focus only on Wyr.
To maintain the standard, we added our own quality control team to this small factory. This practical approaches allows us to demonstrate craftsmanship and adapt that define our brand while scaling the production responsibly.
We all said, we used six factory depending on the question. Everyone specializes in skill. For example, one focuses on chinos because it has the right machine for sweaty cotton, while the other processes our curved trim that requires priority sewing. Each product is the most suitable for this craft.
This network lasted months for construction. Through my wife’s family connection, I met an experienced production manager who joined our team. He helped us try a number of small workshops, drop those who did not meet the standards and added a new audited.
Today we have eight employees in Egypt, included managers for quality, stock and production control. We also maintain a small warehouse. We run Lean and produce based on the necessary foundation. Ownership of our yarn allows us to remain flexible and maintain a solid inventory while ensuring quality.
Bandholz: What is different between Egyptian and Giza cotton?
Abed: Giza is a specific, long -term tribe of Egyptian cotton, sorted by the type of rental and fibers. It is a rare and government regulator. Most “Egyptian cotton products” are not really a giza. We will ensure the production by reserving about 10 tons of yarn from the textile mill throm and verifying it ourselves.
Consumers may think that the T -shirt is machine -made, but for us it is a critical qualified job for us. Drawing and layering patterns, accurate cutting and careful sewing affect final quality. Every step – from choosing cotton to spinning, dyeing and sewing – happening in Egypt.
Our cotton is solid. It is the highest input costs for our shirts. Cheap alternatives are available in countries such as China, Bangladesh and India. In particular, China stands out in synthetic athletic fabrics. But for the authentic quality of cotton in Giza, Egypt is unrivaled.
Bandholz: You did it with clothing, a competitive industry.
Abed: The challenge was persuading consumers – who can feel our shirts online – about their value. We rely on advertising strongly with fast news about the attention of our adaptation, the production of cotton in Giza and a simple style without a logo. This has created enough trust and reviews to control repeated purchases that remain our largest growth engine.
Viral is not realistic for minimalist foundations. Our attraction is undervalued comfort and timeless quality, not flashy logos. Instead, we focus on constant acquisition and maintaining customers.
Soon I hired several marketing agencies, but no one cared just like me. With my financial and analytical background, I realized that I could mostly managers from it. Now I’m processing AD strategy with one team member, outsourcing only to create content. For promotional events such as Black Friday, we are planning campaigns, throw away creative into our ads and carefully watch performance.
Bandholz: How can you find the content creators?
Abed: We produce episodes of podcasts internally. Create ads for humorus and our customers generate reviews and reports. I find the creator on Instagram who correspond to our minimalist vibration, and then I invite them to create authentic contributions.
Surprisingly, simple photographs with flat layer-well-styled shirts and pants-exceptionally well, even if it is difficult to shoot, so some of these works are entering. The key is a constant iteration and a variety of creative sources that keep advertisements fresh.
I prefer creators who really like our shirts rather than those who chase payouts. Some accept products in exchange for content. The audience, which can be “pay-to-play” viewers, can feel unauthenticity.
We briefly tried a large public relations agency for exposition, but it felt from the brand. I would rather grow local than to pay athletes or influenced five -digit amounts for sponsorship. Authenticity depends more than endorsships.
Bandholz: What is your next growth phase?
Abed: We are induced carefully. The exception would be to have one factory focused Soley. The day before I was playing with the opening of my own device, but that’s a completely different company.
In the perfect world, its own part of the supplier chain, from production to sale. This provides customers with high value and ensures the best quality. But I also appreciate my life outside work and I want time with my family.
I am not a fan of thinking “Grow first, profit later”. Some losses have been leading years to become a positive cash flow. I believe the company should be within two or three years apart. The scale is conducting steps. You jump overnight from 200,000 a year to 2 million shirts. The supplier chain must expand methodically to maintain quality.
Bandholz: Where can people buy your reach?
Abed: Our site is wywear.com. We are also on Instagram. I’m on LinkedIn.
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