By Holly Archer

Sisters Rima and Dina Zahran pride themselves in setting trends with Dinz Clothing, an accessories and clothing line based in Dubai that has reached international success and currently sells its products in Dubai, England, Spain, Lebanon and Egypt, to name a few.

Before 2007, when Dinz Clothing was launched, the concept of wearing the Arabic scarf was reserved for formal, conservative occasions. The scarf was traditionally placed around a woman’s head.

On a vacation in Paris, the Zahran sisters decided to wear the traditional scarf around the neck with ripped denim and casual attire.

“Nobody was doing it,” Rima says of the scarf. “A lot of people were defensive to wear [the scarf],” she continued. “It was part of a tradition, to wear it on the head.”

Originally a T-shirt company focusing on graphic T-shirts, Dinz Clothing launched their own line of colourful Arabic scarves. “We did it in pinks and oranges,” says Rima.

“We wore it with ripped jeans and casually. That’s what got everyone buying so much of it. People like something a bit daring,” she adds. “It was ok to wear it in Paris, [but] we were worried to wear it in the Middle East.”

The bright scarf was a hit, however. “[Our scarves were] our biggest thing. We are most known for that,” says Dina.

In the colder winter/fall season, Dinz Clothing now averages 3,000 to 5,000 scarf sales. In the warmer spring/summer season, the sales are less than half of that.

But the Arabic scarves and bright T-shirts were just the beginning of the Dinz enterprise. After 18 months of research, the sisters launched their own denim line, to which they both agree was their most challenging business accomplishment. Because the jeans have to fit like a glove on different types of figures, they spent a lot of time ensuring they had several styles to fit women of every shape. The sisters favoured dark washes on their jeans to keep the pants “classy.” Grey denim is also featured in their line.

Original designs set the Dinz denim apart from their competition. Dark denim may be common, but dark denim with a gold-threaded hand of Fatima on it, for instance, is a fresh take on jeans.

Though Dubai is very fashion-forward, Egypt has picked up on the Dinz fever too. Dinz Clothing is sold at the most upscale department chain in Egypt, Beymen, of Turkish origin.

However, the trends popular in Dubai are taking a year to translate to the Egyptian market. In 2009, the sisters printed cupcakes on shirts and denim. They were a hit in Dubai, and when the season was over and the trend died off, they began to receive interest in the cupcake denim and shirts from Egypt.

Egypt did not want to pick up the current season, but focused on last season’s cupcake trend because it had not reached them yet.

In the coming season, the sisters will donate proceeds towards autism. Each season, Dinz Clothing sells a product whose entire proceeds benefit a specific charity. During October, or breast cancer awareness month, the company sells a pink scarf and bracelet for charity.

In spring 2011, Dinz Clothing will focus on neon accents. T-shirts will have neon threads, and dark denim with neon stitching will also be featured.

For more information about Dinz Clothing, please visit http://www.dinzboutique.com/