Adventure story about the unlikely start & evolution of a fashion company, based in Kabul, Afghanistan and Boston, MA in the 70's.

2.  Born & raised in Iran
 Colgate, development
studies, and idealism…
hard winter
 Spring fling trip to Florida
with David Angell
 Meet Archie, pre-med
student, and #1 vacuum
cleaner salesman
 The Scheme & $5,000

4.  1,000 Wedding shirts $ 800
 184 Afghan rifles (used) $1,800
 1 Bengal tiger skin $2,600

5. Guns Clothes
… and a Fantastic summer!

6.  US student visa delayed…Grad school deferred
 Failure 1: Bengal tiger skin: Confiscated by US Customs
 Failure 2: Guns: No one wants them
 Failure 3: Wedding shirts: Quality a disaster

7.  Occasional clean wedding shirt sellable at boutiques
 Collection problem  NY Show Opportunity

8. • Amateur city… Late night…
• Major backing by one key fashion pub…

9.  Retail hit: 35 stores
nationwide
 Bloomingdales
 Bendell„s,
 Many emerging new
“boutiques”
 …and TONS of more
press

10. Not Guns… Not Tigers…

11.  Bringing 2 worlds together: Production Nightmare
 Mired in complex high friction negotiations
VS.

12.  Try raising purchase price…
 Experiment w/ direct hire… 1 tailor on salary…
 ... to 3 tailors...
 … to a team of 20 … in a rented house

13. Shift to collaborative environment…
…. Transformative!

14.  Hire our first
designer in Boston…
 ... and the editorial
support rockets
Anne Sheldon

15.  ... and the editorial support further rockets

18.  Development Dream:
“Afghanistan, Iran of 100 years
ago”
 20‟s Dream: New York / LA
fashion scene

19. A team of close friends
Eli Zelkha KarimSaddiq Tom Pat Jim Anne Eli David Ellyn
O‟DaySala Hathaway Sheldon Zelkha Angell Hessler

20. Demand goes CRAZY!!
Yves San Lauren goes Ethnic…

21.  Enter the major European exhibitions:
Pret a Porter, Igedo, London Fashion Week
 Starting with press offensive…
The Sunday TimesElle German Vogue

22.  7 years of expansion in Kabul & Boston
 Establishing clear leadership & retail following
 Wealth effect
 Strategic sloth and growing cost structure
 Aging of the trend

23.  Iran revolution & fall of the Shah
 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
 Logistical difficulties

26.  Failure to diversify production
 Cataclysmic failure for Afghan teams…
 Failure to build nest egg .. Family in jeopardy
 Self worth in tatters
 Unable to make a living!!!
 Wandering the desert for a couple of years…

27.  Attempt at “salvaging” something…
 A year of convulsions…
 “Kick of the dying mule”

28.  Failure?
 Opportunity
 Chinese farmer