One year after they moved to Dubai from Pakistan in 2015, Anam Khalid and Wajdan Gul wanted to channel their passion for fitness into something they could call their own.
"We have been hustlers all our lives," Gul tells The National. "And we felt Dubai was the right place to start if we were ever going to do something."
Regular gymgoers, the couple soon found what they thought was a gap in the market. "We were following a lot of international fitness influencers at the time," says Gul. "And we realised that many of them were not wearing Nike or adidas. They were wearing local, homegrown brands that specialised in their sport.
"So if it's yoga, they'll be wearing a brand that specialises in yoga wear. If it's running, it's a running brand, and if it's training or bodybuilding, they were wearing a specific brand. And when we went into the gyms over here, all we saw was people wearing just Nike or adidas or Reebok. It was all very vanilla."
The generic brands were doing no justice to those who were spending hours at the gym to sculpt their bodies, Khalid adds. "Gymgoers work so hard to have that body, that shape, and these products were hiding that. They were not making them look better," she says. "And while there were other international brands, there was no local brand available."
After six months of intense research, Gul and Khalid launched their premium gymwear brand SquatWolf in 2016. Meant for both men and women – including a range of modest wear – and with a focus on quality and design, the brand quickly found success in the UAE.
Today, SquatWolf is sold in more than 120 countries. In addition to a $2.3 million investment from venture builder Disrupt in their early stages, Gul and Khalid last year received a minority investment from ASCA Capital Limited, an asset manager focusing on private equity investments in high-growth companies. Under the terms of the investment, ASCA will be able to invest up to $30 million over time in the brand.
Looking back, Gul, the chief executive, credits their success in part to their naivety. "We were naive enough to go after the big brands that were being imported by all the big groups here," he says, laughing. "I think sometimes you just need to have that fresh perspective into the market like: 'Why is nobody doing it?'"
But having an idea to start a brand is one thing and actually getting it off the ground is another. The couple say they were simply driven to make it a success when they pooled their life savings to start the brand in their living room nearly a decade ago. And challenges, there were plenty.
"Remember, this was in 2016. When we were starting, there was really no ecosystem for local brands, especially in e-commerce," says Khalid, who's the chief operating officer. "From licensing to banking, we had to do everything from scratch, even give our personal property and personal assets as guarantees to open a bank account, because banks didn't want to trust people who are just starting a business from nowhere.
"And I think we became something of a case study for international shipping companies because, for the first time, they were dealing with a company that was exporting from Dubai. Everyone was doing the opposite before."
Their two-bedroom apartment in Jumeirah Beach Residence became their first headquarters. "We used one of our bedrooms as a warehouse. Our living room was our studio and the spare bedroom also doubled as our office," she says. "When we started, all our models were our friends who were personal trainers. Their mothers were the spot girls who'd dress them up and everything. Our friend, who was a keen photographer, did all our campaigns."
Gul remembers the day they received their first order. "It was on May 16, 2016, for an order of Dh800 [$217] from Dubai," he says. "That day we realised that somebody really believed in us, and it really encouraged us to keep pushing from there."
The emirate has also played a major part in their success, they say. "We could not have done what we have done anywhere else other than Dubai," Gul says. "Dubai rewards hard workers. If you work hard, if you hustle right, you get what you work hard for. This is a city of opportunities. This is where 200-plus nationalities live. We have athletes from every background and every body type that we can put our product on and understand their preferences."
For businesses, Dubai also has many logistical advantages. Khalid adds: "We are very close to Asia where all the big factories are. And the rest of the markets that we ship to are not far away, from Europe to the rest of Asia."
In May, SquatWolf opened a 20,000 square metre warehouse in Riyadh, which can process up to 30,000 orders a day – a nod to the brand's biggest export market. "Saudi Arabia has the largest population in the Gulf and we wanted to make sure we're close to our customers," says Gul. "And we wanted to make sure we deliver to them the same day." More warehouses are being planned in Kuwait and Qatar.
But SquatWolf's biggest evolution as a brand will come next month when they open the first physical store in Dubai Mall. The decision was based on customer requests, says Khalid. "We get hundreds of requests every day from customers asking when we are opening our retail store," she says. "While we are essentially an e-commerce brand, 92 per cent of all our transactions are still actually happening in retail stores and pop-ups."
While many fitness apparel brands have come and gone, Gul credits SquatWolf's success to their singular focus. "We don't try to be everything for everyone," he says. "We've had so many people saying: 'Why don't we do yoga wear or CrossFit?' Or even kidswear and shoes.
"But we've stuck to what we're good at. So if somebody thinks gym, the first thing that should come to their mind when they choose what to wear is SquatWolf. And if we can continue to do that, I think we'll be successful."
"We didn't build this brand on trends. We wanted to build it on a very solid foundation that we created. We started as a gymwear brand, and we want to remain a gymwear brand until we have capped out the market, which we are far from doing. So I think just sticking to the core of what you do, and doing it the best way possible is what will keep us going for years to come."
