It all started when Sima Ved, founder and chairwoman of Apparel Group, bought nine pairs of heels on a 1996 trip to Hong Kong. “My husband said to me, ‘why are you stocking up nine pairs of shoes?’” she recalls. “And I said, because this brand doesn’t exist in the Middle East.”

That was the eureka moment that led the pair to bring fashion brands from across the world into their first Dubai store, before expanding to 14 countries spanning the Middle East and South Asia.

With further international expansion in the pipeline, the Apparel Group’s meteoric rise is a spectacular display of entrepreneurial spirit – and of Dubai’s strength as a global launchpad.

“Switzerland of the Middle East”

Dubai was the natural choice to headquarter Apparel Group, says Ved. “I was brought here [from India] by my father in the 70s. I saw him grow his business from Dubai, but across the region,” she explains. “I kind of wanted to replicate that, but with fashion footwear.”

There are strong reasons Ved and her father both chose the emirate as a springboard. A historic trading gateway between east and west, Dubai offers strategic access to markets in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. “Within four hours flight you can reach 50% of the world,” says Ved.

“Within four hours flight you can reach 50% of the world.”

— Sima Ved, founder and chairwoman of Apparel Group

The emirate also offers a stable base from which to operate. Dubai’s economy has remained remarkably stable, even amid the recent “permacrises” that have rocked the global economy.

With English widely used in business, and the local currency – dirhams – pegged to the U.S. dollar, the emirate is also well-placed to interface with international markets. These qualities make the Dubai the “Switzerland of the Middle East,” according to Ved.

Crucially, the emirate has also invested heavily in the infrastructure required for globe-spanning trade.

Globe-spanning infrastructure

Apparel Group is based in Jebel Ali Freezone, alongside Jebel Ali Port, voted “Best Seaport in the Middle East” for 24 years – itself a short drive from GCC-connecting highways and Dubai’s two international airports.

Between road, rail, and sea, businesses in Dubai have easy access to global shipping routes, with an impressive speed to market. “From when a ship comes into the docks, to when the customer sees our goods or it’s in the retail stores is 24 hours,” says Ved. “We turn around a container every 45 minutes.”

Ved credits the emirate’s hard infrastructure for such speed but says Dubai’s soft infrastructure is just as important. With 24/7 operation, high levels of digitization, and business-friendly regulation, “It’s all smooth and easy… simply because of the rules and regulatory framework,” she says.

Flexible regulations are just one way the government supports businesses like Apparel Group. Ved also credits schemes such as the Golden Visa program for attracting talent from across the world: “access to talent compared to 1996 is incredible.”

And the government is an enthusiastic public-private collaborator. “We’re always talking to the Chamber of Commerce,” says Ved, who is also a founder of Dubai’s Retail Business Group, which works with the authorities to advance the retail sector.

Nowhere is this public support more apparent than in the government’s support for retail’s digitization.

Going phygital

Apparel Group is bullish on digital. “All our activities are on the cloud,” says Ved.

The company harnesses this digitization for comprehensive optimization of everything from pricing to demand forecasting, thanks to powerful AI. “We’ve come to a point where our AI is actually telling us whether a shoe should be sent to a store or not,” says Ved.

Ved explains Apparel Group has followed the government’s lead, which has gone paperless and “shifted everything online.” And the company works closely with ministers: “the minister for AI is actually a good friend.”

This friendship led to another public-private collaboration: opening the group’s first phygital (physical and digital) store, 6thStreet, in the Dubai Hills Mall, both leaning on and showcasing the emirate’s digital-first philosophy and capabilities.

Government support is also driving sustainability. Apparel Group has signed the UAE pledge to reach net-zero by 2050, has been awarded the UAE Impact Seal Award for its use of solar power, and launched its own sustainable athleisure brand, F5, in London’s Oxford Street in 2021.

From Dubai to the world

Apparel Group’s journey is an impressive example of what can be achieved when business savvy is supported by the right environment.

And with plans to continue the F5 approach of “reverse franchising” – taking Middle Eastern brands abroad – the business is continuing to fly the flag for Dubai as a global launchpad.