Yaser & Mayasa Revisted ... by Andrew Terry Pasieka

It was hard to believe that it had been four years since we that exclusive interview with Yousif Albeer and his two sons Yaser and Hussain on their five generation family textile business, Yaser & Mayasa (SMJ Issue No. 22, Fall 2018). We were making ambitious plans for working together on a major project in 2020, the company’s 100th anniversary. But then something called COVID-19 happened and the world suddenly closed down, then went through a whirlwind of continual setbacks with each succeeding variant and wave.

For Yousif Albeer, he and his family were safely in Dubai as the world went into lockdown, theirs lasting 45 consecutive days. Many companies either closed or lay off staff, but Yaser & Mayas took the opposite approach.

”I told my staff they were with a safe company. Everybody could stay and everyone was going to get paid, but we all had to commit to transforming our business online.” Yousif said his sons, being younger, were always open to try new things, but even they shared Yousif’s initial wariness with going online. He was worried because the fabric part of fashion & design is probably the most ’touching, feeling’ part of the industry. Even though there were no guarantees there was no choice because the pandemic was now entrenched throughout the world.

Well, not to worry. Over the past two years, Yaser & Mayasa’s business has grown by 30%; in the years before the corona virus, annual growth varied from 5 to 10%. This was a 50 to 100% year-over-year improvement. So we guess that that biblical saying “out of bad cometh good” has some merit.

Another example occurred just before the pandemic struck. A lot of import companies in the textile business were courting China as the ‘next huge market’ and were jostling for an inside track. Yaser & Mayasa acted as though they already had been given the green light and filled their storerooms with inventory. When China opened the market Yaser & Mayasa was ready to move. Rival importers were left scrambling to catch up, some as many as three months later. Yousif said this was an important skill he learned from his father and grandfather.

“When something happens to slow down or shake the economy, I was taught that it is not a time to stop, but a time to move boldly forward. I encourage my family and staff the same thing now. Go ahead, don’t worry, corona will go away, if not today, then tomorrow or some other tomorrow.”

Another beautiful by-product of the pandemic is that the ‘business family’ got more time to spend together as just family. They also formed closer bonds with their clients, both newer and long-standing, because of the more frequent phone or internet contact, Zoom meetings, etc.

They have always believed in sharing their harvest and paying it forward, and it has never been more acute than now. The worldrenowned Sick Kids’ Hospital in Toronto badly needs a makeover, and more than just a face lift. There newest wing is 45 years old. It is time for an ambitious project: to rise up a new Sick Kids.

Yaser & Mayasa have made donations in previous years, but wanted to do something big for this project, because Sick Kids “is not a small name in the world.” They have decided to collaborate with young authors who want to publish their books with the goal of raising monies from their sales going to Sick Kids. Yousif says they are approaching top designers and celebrities in Dubai for sponsorships, and to do a gala book launching and fashion show in Dubai in March 2023.

“When you make other people happy you feel the happiness in your heart.”

Never standing still, Yaser & Mayasa are undertaking other initiatives. They have started online lectures on their fabrics, how they are made, what are their advantages, and how best they should be used. An offshoot of that are innovations in fabrics, specifically recycled fabrics. One comes from vegetables and wood called sorona, very soft with a beautiful finish. Another is polyester that comes from plastic bottles collected as garbage from the sea, first developed by a company in Paris, with Yaser & Mayasa buying franchises for Canada and Dubai.

Another initiative was developing an incubator program of sorts for young models. It behooved Yaser & Mayasa to start making designs out of their fabrics as another way to showcase them to prospective clients. Thanks to African Fashion Week Toronto (AFWT), they have been able to secure the services of three lovely young women who are the subjects of the following sidebar story.

A final word from Yousif Albeer on the spiritual connection he feels with his father and grandfather looking down on him and inspiring him. “I was working with my grandfather from four years of age. I saw how much in love he was with fabrics. I graduated as a mechanical engineer with honors from England. My father gave me a choice, but I chose to apply my skills in the family textile business. I gave my two sons the same choice. Yaser is an engineering graduate and Hussain is an economics graduate. They have made the same choice I did. They were not forced. I think the reason our family business is still strong as our sixth generation is just being born is that we allow our children to join our business when they are still children, to see what it is we do and why we love it so. I think that is why succeeding generations in other family businesses fail.”

What a legacy Yaser & Mayasa are building. From keeping their family business as strong as ever, to growing their business even faster online, to developing innovative fabrics, to giving a leg up to young models striving to succeed in the ultra-competitive fashion industry, to being the ultimate philanthropists for a world class health organization. Bravo!

Go to: www.yaserandmayasa.com

We first met Carine Ehe, Diana Muperery, and Joanna Thompson on the red carpet at the African Fashion 10th Anniversary Industry awards of the decade last August 28th. Almost a month to the day later they were modelling for us at the stylish, mansion-like home of Yousif Albeer, the current patriarch of Yaser & Mayasa Textiles. They are part of a very interesting initiative first described in the article preceding this one.

The three come to this setting and this career with some differences, even though they referred to themselves more than once in the interview as ‘sisters.’ Carine hails from Togo, West Africa by way of France which is one reason she says she has unofficially been in modelling five years. Diana comes from Zimbabwe, South Africa for the purposes of post-secondary education which she hasn’t started yet. She has been in modelling three years. Joanna comes from Guyana, arriving in Canada alone to for college. She is just past one year modelling.

Interestingly enough, all three women say their influence for getting interested in modelling comes from within. Diana says she feels energized every morning she gets up knowing she is doing something that day, even if it is just helping someone in a fitting for a photo shoot or a runway. Joanna has a jewelry craft business on the side and says that any day she is working on her business or has an idea about the business gives her a charge. For Carine, it is just taking charge of her ensemble for the day; it is like dressing for a personal runway.

What feelings do you have as you begin to walk the runway? They all said in one way or another that they feel some sort of power or just feel powerful, knowing that all eyes are on them. And, Diana adds, someone may be making a decision to become a model because they saw one of them.

What about the walk? Is it different from one runway to the next? They all mention it often is determined by the confidence they feel in the outfit they are wearing. Diana says sometimes she embraces her ‘queen’ at the end of a walk and gives her audience a glimpse of that at her final stop and pose before she exits.

So what happens when you don’t feel the outfit? Joanna first says you have to still approach it like a job because there is a designer that wants that piece properly showcased. Diana is a bit more optimistic, saying that she sometimes starts warming up to the outfit as she is ’walking it,’ and may feel very different at the end. Carine, who has been ‘unofficially’ modelling longer than the others, has the slightly more professional approach by saying one should not get too hung up on the outfit but should concentrate on there being an opportunity to model.

Rejection is a huge part of modelling. They have all experienced it in one form or another. How have they overcome it so far? Diana says that she holds it back and lets her emotions out in private later, so as not to show weakness in public. But in the end, “No one can tell me I am bad except me.” Carine agrees with the latter. “You just have to be confident in your own abilities.” Joanna echoes the other two. “It’s a mental thing. You got to know who you are. Look at rejection as one opportunity closer to acceptance.”

It was suggested that a negative could be turned into a positive if rejected by asking for feedback. Carine said she was actually in a casting where feedback was provided for all who auditioned, but this seldom happens. Joanna agreed that showing the casting director that you are open to constructive criticism was a good tactic. Dianna pointed out that every situation is unique and you should be careful that some are not interested in any conversation.

Finally what do they say to AFWT and Yousif Albeer who have given these opportunities? It was either God bless them or they are a God send. They all feel they have brought the ‘sisters’ one big step closer to what they all want to do, to be modelling internationally. Oh yes, and Hollywood too, exclaims Diana!