Sibling design duo Alia and Jamil Juma are starting to call China home.
Last year, the New York-based designers set anchor in the northeastern port city of Dalian, China, where they own a production factory, staffed with 20 employees. Now the pair are traveling the country, showcasing their mobile pop-up shop in cities such as Beijing, Dalian, Shanghai and Shenyang as they mull opening a flagship in the country next year.
“A lot of people have not heard of the brand [in China], so we’re inviting them to get familiar with Juma,” Jamil said. He declined to give a sales figure but said that the brand sells at about 100 points globally.
The decade-old contemporary brand has had a presence at Harvey Nichols Hong Kong for almost five years and this summer broadened its distribution in mainland China. Jamil said the brand is aiming to open its first permanent flagship in China next year, most likely in Beijing or Shanghai.
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This past summer, Juma’s Beijing pop-up shop occupied a traditional Chinese home in Beijing and a similarly historical Japanese-built residence in Dalian. Juma will open a pop-up in Shanghai around Christmas and Chinese New Year in late January.
Jamil now spends half the year in Dalian. “At the time, we didn’t know one person in Beijing or Shanghai,” he said, explaining how their former manufacturing contacts in Guangzhou made the pitch to move and they agreed.
“[The factory] is small, we do our production in-house…develop all our scarves and ready-to-wear,” he said. They do outsource a few things, such as scarf weaving to India.
Jamil noted China’s small but growing interest in the contemporary segment of the market.
“I think [the contemporary segment] is still in its early stages. I mean, definitely in places like first–tier cities, people are getting tired more of the luxury labels and they’re looking forward to discovering new labels, but it’s a mix…I say it’s more the younger girls between [ages] 25 to 40, they’re asking: ‘What else is out there?’” Jamil explained.
Everything moves quickly in China. Instead of developing in seasons, Juma now creates new styles every month to replenish the merchandise for their pop-ups and for online distribution. The country has also had an influence on the brand’s design philosophy.
“You get influenced by the females around you and their habits and our collection is more feminine, more colorful as well,” said Alia.