Instep: Tell us about your new label.
Ammar Belal: Ammar Belal Menswear is a completely new brand; it doesn't have anything to do with ABCD. It's the first time I have named something after my name, so it's something very personal and very different. This label has nothing to do with any of the past identities.

Instep: What's the philosophy behind Ammar Belal Menswear?
AB: My menswear line offers customers the best quality and the best price. What we do is give people the same quality as the best brand in the world but we won't charge you what those brands are charging; instead it'll be half of that price.
When you walk into an Ammar Belal Menswear store - whether you buy something very expensive or not that expensive - what you're paying will always be almost half of what you would pay abroad.

If you want to buy Ammar Belal Menswear shoes, they might be 12,000 rupees (which is expensive) but the same shoes abroad will be for about 24,000 rupees. They are the same shoes that are made by the Roberto Cavalli or the Dolce & Gabbana factory. Everything is coming from different places – Italy, Romania, etc.

Instep: What do you think of the fakes available in the market?
AB: They are fakes but some of them are very good. Fakes are there of every brand and actually nearly everything. I think there are two types of customers; there are some people who I know will always want to buy the real thing and then there are some who'll buy the fake… there's a market for everything – there are lots of fake LV bags, but you don't see Louis Vuitton shutting down, do you? It's just that there are also many people who want to buy the real thing.

Instep: How and when did you come up with the idea of Ammar Belal Menswear?
AB: I came up with the idea of Ammar Belal Menswear last year because I realized a very big problem I was having in my company. I was designing and targeting a market, which has a taste for foreign fashion and foreign clothes and because I was making my things in Pakistan, two things were happening. Firstly, the quality level in Pakistan is not the famous European quality level, especially if you are producing in bulk. Secondly, I was restricted by certain conditions – there are certain things you cannot make in Pakistan, some materials that are not available here so those were the limitations I faced in designing and quality control. My customers or the people I'm marketing to are people who have a taste for clothing. They have to choose my product as a replacement to what they would buy abroad.

Every year I've done something new, last year I launched ABCD Ethnic - it was my venture into the commercial market. The year before that was a music video and the year before that was a film.

Instep: Can we expect more music videos or films?
AB: Lets see… it depends whether I'm going for that. I'm sure I will, I mean I love music so much anyway, its just another way of expressing myself. I'm sure somewhere down the line I'll do something with film - I like expressing myself with different media, it should not be restricted.

Instep: What's going to happen to ABCD now that you're venturing into menswear?
AB: Next year will be the re-launch ABCD Import or Sarah's Import and again the same philosophy will be applied to ABCD and Sarah's.
The reason why there is an increase in foreign brands is because people have the option of buying foreign labels, which is very good, but it's hard to compete with them if your stuff is made in Pakistan. If you want to compete with them, then your product should be just like theirs. I believe you can get the foreign quality product.

Instep: Will you come up with different labels in the future too?
AB: Yes, that is what a corporate brand does; I want to create an empire, a fashion house that has different brands for different markets. Ammar Belal Menswear is a high-end fashion brand for men, ABCD is for the younger people, Sarah's is a very classic, basic label, AS Jeans is a customized label, ABCD Ethnic is an ethnic label – they all come under our fashion house.

Instep: Who are your competitors in the market?
AB: First of all, I don't think anyone is positioning themselves in this pricing range or targeting this market segment. My competitors are the foreign brands. My target market are people who buy Armani, Gucci, people who appreciate foreign labels – those are my clients. I want a local brand to come up, which is just as good as a foreign brand.
If a Pakistani brand has a shot of going international, being sold off a shelf in New York – it has to be a brand like this which is sourcing all over the world, it can't be restricted to just Pakistan.

Instep: Will you open up outlets abroad then?
AB: That is the plan. The point is to go big internationally - Pakistan is not the only market.

Instep: Where are you thinking of opening up?
AB: Other than Pakistan, probably in India, Dubai and then moving westwards – New York wherever.

Instep: What kind of fabrics will you be using for Ammar Belal Menswear?
AB: The best of the best! Extra fine wool, we're starting super 140s to super 180s (very fine wool). Summer, we'll be doing linen suits with ties 100 per cent pure silk; in winter we'll go 100 per cent cashmere.
We'll never use anything that is inexpensive. We'll use the most expensive, meaning, even when we produce the best quality product, the price that we'll be offering will be much cheaper – which is twice as much for the foreign label. Whether it's a belt, a tie or a suit – we'll always go for the best of the best. People will see that what they're paying for is amazing compared to what you usually pay for. It's good value for money but still Ammar Belal Menswear will be a high end brand

Instep: How often will you fill up the shop with new stuff?
AB: Well right now since we're starting there's going to be new stuff coming in all the time; right now we're starting with linen suits, super light weight wool suits, one of our main products will be Ammar Belal Shirts – men need shirts everyday so we have three types of shirts – the classic fit, the slim fit and the fashion fit.
Then we have ties, shoes, sunglasses and belts. We're actually co-branding with another company called Couture Pappari - they import all the stationary from Paris or Italy. I'm collaborating with them to launch all these little accessories stores.
One of the biggest things I'm launching in a month is the Ammar Belal Underwear – the same company that makes for Calvin Klein will be manufacturing for me. A lot of people don't buy underwear in Pakistan so I know Ammar Belal Underwear will be a huge hit here!

Instep: Abroad, there's a concept of major sales on clothes when the season ends, will that happen at you shops?
AB: I do believe that every season you get rid of the summer stock for the winter stock, so yeah I'm open to that idea but perhaps I'll start that after a year.

Instep: This will all be in the same store?
AB: Right now my store has a very boutique feel, but I'm building my flagship store in Defence already, which will open next summer. That will have multi levels with Sarah's, ABCD, Ammar Belal Menswear – all our brands under one roof.