Friday March 29th, 2024
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New Online Art and Design Retailer Skware One Set to Launch This Month

Rising from its predecessors' ashes, Skware One aims to empower local artists and designers by providing them with an online marketplace to reach wider audiences.

Staff Writer

Online retailers come and go, especially in this day and age, where people like their shopping almost as much as they love their internet browsing. But when it comes to supporting local talent in these marketplaces, many have gone before and few have succeeded.

This isn't the first time we get a local online retailer focused on local design, so as Skware One prepares to launch, offering the best and freshest in locally designed lifestyle goods, we reached out to founder and CEO Haidy Zakaria to find out what will set them apart.

Skware One, according to Zakaria, is the fruit of three years of managing The Word Project, Egypt's first slam poetry community. When we asked Zakaria how the two are related, the answer was quite compelling: "The Word Project was about making poets seen, having their voices heard". That's when she realised other kinds of artists and makers need a platform as well. And so she stepped right in.

The platform hopes to shed light on a variety of amazing products made locally, everything from jewellery to notebooks. You make it, they sell it.

We couldn't help but wonder though how Skware One hopes to set itself apart from similar platforms, ones that'd tried similar business models but unfortunately didn't go very far. "The thing that will set us apart is that we will focus on not only the artist, but also the buyers, facilitating an easy transaction between both," says Zakaria. They also plan to market their sellers and have a physical presence, like special events, as well as the online one. "Our business model is based on the idea of a symbiotic relationship between us, the buyers, and the sellers. Always trying to reach that sweet spot where all parties are happy."  

Set for an April 2nd launch, Skware One already has 15 vendors and counting. These will include some awesome names like Creepybats Designs, Pino Fabrics, Patterny Accessories. So all you designers out there wanting to get in on the ground floor, here's your chance.

Check them out on Facebook or visit their website: www.skwareone.com.