Nizam Deepooa Technical Director KARIBAN BRANDS

Interview with Nizam Deepooa Technical Director KARIBAN BRANDS

February 2021

Technical Director at KARIBAN BRANDS for more than five years, Nizam tells us about his career and explains the tricks of the trade.

NIZAM1

What does your role as technical director at KARIBAN BRANDS consist of?

My role as technical director is first and foremost about supervising and supporting the product managers and technical teams in order to develop their skills. I have to guarantee the technical feasibility of products, manage budgets and stay alert to risks, while optimising production processes.

I also have to expand our sourcing: pinpointing, evaluating and selecting the best suppliers. Our supplier selection criteria are based on several aspects: expertise and technical capabilities in particular, but also on the range of products we want to develop to offer the best value for money.

Initially, we have to evaluate the factories and on-site teams. We only work with production plants that meet standards and certifications, such as WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production), SA 8000 (an international standard that recognises decent working conditions) and BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative).

For KARIBAN BRANDS, it is essential to exchange views and be able to provide technical support to suppliers to obtain high-quality and fashionable products. On site, the teams from our liaison office in Bangladesh support, verify and check the factories; they guarantee the quality of the work. Our devices and specifications have to be scrupulously respected.

Over the past five years, things have changed a lot thanks to the new improvement processes we've implemented, factory audits, improved logistics and the required certificates. Most of our factories currently hold the OEKO-TEX® certification, 98 % are Social Factory compliant and our goal is to reach 100%.

How do KARIBAN BRANDS come up with their collections?

There are various sources of inspiration behind our collections: everyday life, feedback from sales staff, trade fairs, showrooms, factories, etc.

The various employees – CEO, technical director, product and sales managers – work closely together and set out their objectives during a number of collection presentations. The broad outlines are established at these events and the collections are then built based on several rounds of feedback.

Our common goal is to create beautiful, well-cut basics with a fashionable touch and a few little extras that make us stand out. We move forward hand-in-hand with our partner factories and, once negotiations are over, our prices are fixed definitively. We're constantly looking for areas of improvement and innovation in our collections while focusing on eco-responsibility, which is a global issue and a priority for KARIBAN BRANDS.

The 6 brands of KARIBAN BRANDS