Strings Wearing "Don't Jealous" and "Code Red: Rahi" (Source: Uth Oye! Look Book Photographed by Adnan Malik)
Whohoo! The second line of Uth-Oye!, “a socially conscious, cause-based design initiative,” is now out. Last year, the graphic t-shirts were both unique and spunky, displaying choice catchphrases like, “Don’t Jealous,” and images of flying auto rickshaws, bleeding gas pumps, and a King of Spades armed with a muchie and an AK-47. This year, the initiative has produced more t-shirts, as well as jeans, hoodies, and handbags, all with equally spunky messaging and imagery.
Kalsoom want.
While I think the t-shirts are witty, the best part of Uth-Oye is its smart branding and ability to leverage this to raise awareness and help fund innovative and sustainable social initiatives occurring on the ground in Pakistan. One such partnership is with the Clinton Global Initiative – U and the Pakistan Sustainability Network, to provide solar lamps to a village in Thar, in Sindh province. Jeremy Higgs, the founding director of PSN’s Karachi chapter [and fellow Twitter buddy] told me,
When the Uth Oye! team approached us, we 1) couldn’t pass up an opportunity to work with a socially-minded and awesome t-shirt designer and 2) saw it as an opportunity to get the message out there about innovative solutions for environmental sustainability that are happening right here in Pakistan.
The nine-month pilot, which provided lamps to Oan village, an area with little to no access to electricity, was such a success that the Uth-Oye/CGI-U/PSN collaboration is now deploying a second phase, installing more lamps in this area. In another partnership with the Association for the Development of Pakistan (ADP), the initiative helped fund and build “15 natural bio-gas generators that generate usable gas by fermenting common waste items (Manure, Human Waste and Sewage)” in Soon Valley, an area with a significant need for alternative sources of gas and fuel.
Bio-Gas Generators Cause w/ADP (Source: Uth-Oye Facebook Page)
As someone who works with similar types of initiatives in my day job, I was not only impressed with the causes endorsed by this design initiative, but also how Uth-Oye made those same projects digestible for the average person, someone not used to the avalanche of obnoxious buzzwords so common in this industry. Case in point, underneath each cause’s description is a “Summary for the Lazy,” brief bullet points that break down 1) the situation 2) the need 3) the solution.
For those of you who needed a Summary for the Lazy for this post, Uth-Oye: Smart Branding + Cool Design + Innovative Causes = Apparel with an Impact.
Uth-Oye! clothing and accessories available in stores in Karachi and Lahore starting December 25. Online orders and [international] shipping available on the website. Join the Facebook page for more daily updates.
Brief note: Been trying to figure out how much of Uth-Oye’s profits go towards these great causes. Last year, they noted, “50% of our profits directly support organizations that are actively involved in the education, human rights, renewable energy and developmental sectors of Pakistan.”
Just fyi in case anyone was wondering – I always am curious about those things!
Hey Kalsoom,
Thanks for the writeup! As for the profits part here is how it works – Startups generally tend to incur a loss for the first 3 years of operation. Given that, their could be technically no profits to declare, unless you specifically allocate that.
So the work around we established was this: We forego the traditional marketing model of fancy schamncy parties, celebrity schmoozing and mas market spending. Instead we pump our marketing budget into sustainable projects with the hopes that this will resonate more with our consumer than a simple brochure or a TV ad.
It’s our little experiment: Can a business be CSR oriented, operate virally and still stay afloat? We’ll find out soon enough
Babar-
Thanks for the clarification! I currently work with early-stage social entrepreneurs and initiatives, so the causes aspect of Uth-Oye really spoke to me (in the nerdiest sense) and I think it’s been really innovative so far. Can I ask another q? What are some of the lessons learned from your 1st line of merchandise versus this new line, particularly in lieu of your support of sustainable initiatives?
From a pure business sense, Pakistan isn’t set up to support the small and medium businesses (apparel wise). So just getting a consistent cloth quality with high quality printing and dyeing for local retail is Herculean enough.
We realized this very very quickly that if the product isn’t solid structurally then (regardless of however it is branded or positioned) all the king’s men and all the king’s horses won’t be able to put Humpty back together again.
Hope this helps?
Definitely! I was asking more because it’s been awesome to see the growth of the initiative from last year to this year, congratulations on everything! I am purchasing my tees as we speak!
FANTASTIC… I love it! also concetrate on the youger expatriate Pak community as you guys will defo get business from there… best wishes!
Thanks for showing us this Kalsoom!
Ally
How do I order???
Click on what you want here: http://www.uth-oye.com/uth-oye-buy.aspx
And then fill out the info!
Hello
Very inspiring idea. When uth-oye is coming to islamabad?
Thanks
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