Iranian of the Day

I would like to nominate Mr. Eskandar Nabavi, fashion designer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist as Iranian of the Day. I met Mr. Nabavi at Popli Khalatbari Charitable Foundation's annual fundraiser in London last June. Mr. Nabavi serves on the Board of PKCF. His website is: eskandar.com.

Eskandar was born in 1963 – to an English mother and a Persian father – and lived in Tehran when it was fast emerging as one of the cosmopolitan capitals of the world. He travelled frequently to both Europe and the Far East with his parents. This gave him a great insight into very different cultures, not only from a fashion perspective, but also from a lifestyle point of view.

At an early age eskandar became aware of all the different traditional clothing of many countries. Clothes that are not governed by ‘trends’ but by function and tradition – layers that could be removed or added as temperatures rose or fell – a volume that gave ease of movement and comfort. This was the major influence on his collection and eskandar has taken many of these traditional shapes and made them wearable today. Using natural and noble fabrics, the collection has become a synthesis of cultures and traditions.

Furthermore, being taught to knit by his grandmother as a young boy gave eskandar the first medium to start expressing himself…and he did just that. For two years his collections were wholly knit based with tailoring being added in 1995. Now the ladies collection is sold in approximately 81 locations worldwide – including 38 Neiman Marcus stores across the United States. In Bergdorf Goodman, New York and Neiman Marcus, Los Angeles and San Francisco, eskandar has opened complete in-store lifestyle boutiques. These spaces are modelled on his own shops in London, Paris and New York.

2nd September 2002 - eskandar opened his London flagship ‘mini department’ store. The 4000 square foot space houses the women’s and men’s clothing collections, the eskandar bath & body collection, jewellery, ceramics and homeware.

4th October 2003 - the 3000 square foot Paris boutique opened, including the women’s and men’s clothing collections, bath & body, jewellery and homeware. The shop is located at: 7 rue Princesse, St Germain-des-Pres, 75006 Paris.

4th February 2005 - eskandar opened his first freestanding boutique in the United States, located at 33 East 10th Street, New York, NY 10003. The 6,000 square foot store encompasses the eskandar lifestyle, featuring women’s and men’s collections, accessories, home, bath & body products, books and furniture >>> eskandar.com