Quake: the first Qatari sportswear brand that's shaking things up
Quake Sportswear Qatar (QSQ) may not be seismic just yet, but as the first homegrown Qatari sportswear brand it's certainly starting to make waves.
Founded in 2016, it began as a brand catering to men's sportswear, fitness and body building. Quake is the brainchild of Bader Nasser Al Saadi, Hamad Abdulla Al Rasheed and Abdulla Khalid Al Naama, three young Qataris with a shared interest in fitness, and a friendship to boot.
The idea for a men’s sportswear brand came to two of the founders, Bader and Hamad, during one of their routine work outs at the gym—no surprises there.
It hit them right away that nothing of its kind had been done before locally, and that the demand for sportswear was only increasing with the awareness of fitness. Abdulla was soon on board with the proceedings, taking the finance reigns, and in two years the brand's identity emerged with its logo and products.
The founders Abdulla (left) and Bader (right) pictured with the owner of Flexzilla Supplements
The trio created Quake alongside their day jobs, and everything down to the logo and financial legwork was done organically, without the assistance of an incubation centre, which is a common practice for many startups in Qatar.
Quake began as a sportswear brand catering exclusively to men, but what surprised the trio was the attention and interest their products were receiving from women.
Women have a tendency to brush aside exclusivity when it comes to male clothing, especially regarding items that are more unisex, like hoodies. Abdulla pointed out that the next logical step for them as a business was to create a female line of sportswear within Quake, tapping into the female market, seeing as girls and women tend to buy more clothing on average.
The new line for females is in the works, with designs that mirror the simplicity, clean lines and bold colours that define much of Quake’s apparel.
The brand has evolved in more ways than one. Initially, because Quake was aimed for those interested in fitness and body building, the clothing tended to be tight and tailored toward fit and muscular buyers. The triad soon realised they would need to change their tune, simply because many people purchase active wear before or while getting into shape—or, let’s be honest, even for the couch and trips to the grocery store.
The success of Quake thus far is a testament to how interactive and aware its founders are of their consumers. They literally loosened up (sizes), cut costs, and are now reaching out to female buyers because of the reactions and feedback they’ve had from both strangers and near and dear ones.
The name Quake itself is more than a patriotic attempt to match the first letter ‘Q’ with Qatar. According to Bader, it’s symbolic of the hidden force and potential that all of us have within ourselves, similar to the hidden power that the earth holds within itself, that can move mountains when stirred.
As with Nike (the ancient Greek goddess of victory), the importance of this symbolism lies within how it drives the brand through its premise of potential, growth and strength.
Quake’s products are available in five different sportswear outlets in Qatar, with Flexzilla Supplements (near La Cigale hotel) being one of their main retail partners.
From the opening of QSQ on 8 Feb, 2018 (Quake/Facebook)
Quake’s website will be live soon, but in the meantime, you can subscribe to it here, and learn more about Quake Sportswear Qatar by following them on their social media.
Facebook: Quake
Instagram: @quake_qatar
Snapchat: quake_qatar
Twitter: @quake_qatar
