Ursom: Luma Makhlouf & T-Shirt Art

Ursom! A clear call to action in the name of art and the love for it.

Have a passion for design? Would love to see your deisgns on T-shirts? Well look no further, Ursom.com, just launched with an artistic bang at Dubai’s MAKE Business Hub offers you just that.

With a night filled with friends, art, music and T-shirts, Luma Makhlouf, the face of the newly launched site took the crowd on a journey of colors. We sit with her to tell us more about Ursom and what to expect!

1) Who is Luma Makhlouf? Tell us more about yourself.

Well I’m 25 years old. I am a Palestinian who grew up and studied in Chicago. I moved to the Middle East  4 years ago where I started my career off by working for website start-ups. I worked in the recruitment industry and then moved on to be one of the first at Gonabit.com, the first group buying website in the region. That really opened my eyes up to growing and nurturing a business and what’s really important for a startup to survive.  Two years later I met my business partners for Ursom!

Luma Makhlouf @ Ursom’s Launch Event

2) What inspired you to leave everything behind and start your own business?

It was not planned. Once my partners and I started discussing the potential of the mode, I got excited. The brain juice kept flowing, and I was obsessed with the idea of it being a way to express art through your everyday garment. Who doesn’t want awesome designs on a really high quality t-shirt? When that hit me, it was time to take a leap of faith. 

 

3) What is Ursom and how did it come to life? 

Ursom is simply an eCommerce site that sells t-shirts designed by local artist from across the region. They send us their designs; we present it to our urban design committee, who are a group of very creative and influential minds from across the region. They vote on which designs they love or hate, and the ones with the top votes go live and are sold online. Designers get 20% of every shirt sold.

People from the age of 3 to 60 wear t-shirts. The only issue is lack of design and quality. My partners and I saw this as an opportunity to source the best cut and quality for a t-shirt and then uniquely focus on having it act as a canvas for amazing local artist.  Eight months later, Ursom was born! 

 

4) Are you going to be online based or are you going to be selling offline too?

We are only accepting payments online. We want to educate the market on eCommerce and make their shopping experience as simple as possible. We have taken away as many unnecessary steps to assure them a quick, safe, and easy shopping experience online.

Screenshot of Ursom’s Homepage

5) How does it work? Does any designer get to put their design on T-shirts and sell it, or is there some sort of screening process? 

Any designer of any kind can send in their profile to Ursom. They visit our partner page, send a sample of their designs and then we present it to the committee. Once they vote, we notify the designer on whether their design has been selected. 

Babusha Pink T-shirt by Sarah Mostafa

6) You’re based out of the UAE, is that where your focus is or are there plans to expand regionally/internationally? 

Yes, all of our operations are based here in Dubai, but we definetely want the world to know about us. We plan on shipping internationally and even featuring artist from all walks of life! 

 

7) From your identity and branding, it could mean that T-shirts are just the beginning, is that the case or are you going to stay focused on T-shirts?

We want to make sure we perfect the t-shirt first and then surely add other great products. We already have a few in mind that we know our users will love. 

Ursom’s colorful packaging

8) What is your point of view on the art and design scene in the Middle East today?

It fascinates me every day. Every time I meet a new talented artist with an amazing story, I can’t help but ask them “Where have you been hiding?” I feel like the community is growing very fast and is finally getting the attention it deserves.  People are really starting to appreciate all the talent across the Middle East and are realizing we have some serious superstars here!  

 

9) What piece of advice would you give to up and coming entrepreneurs in the art field?

One thing I have learned while building Ursom, is that the art community here is very small and deserves a lot more attention than it gets. I would defiantly recommend that people use each other as a useful resource and network as much as you can to find those hidden gems that are all across the region. So much fascinating things are happening in the art field that not many people know about. 

With Ursom we hope to shed light on all of these talented people and help them grow their fan base through the love of t-shirts.