Read This Story of A Brand Where Borders Don't Matter: World's First Peacewear Clothing Brand

Entrepreneurship

UAE

19 Years

I’m a student at Tetr college of business. We move to a new country every semester, build a business there, and our grades come from how much revenue we make.

Our second term was meant to be in India. But being Pakistani, I was unable to get a visa. That’s when it hit me. Why couldn’t I go to a place that looked like home?

A place my grandfather was born in, but I probably will never be allowed to step foot in. That's where it started.

A bunch of us - me, another Pakistani in Dubai, and our Tetr teammates in India — Burmese, German, Israeli, and Indian. All from different countries, different flags, but the same mission: build the world’s first peacewear brand. All on a mission to bridge conflict zones.

My personal mission is really simple; prove you can make money, build real businesses, and still help people, push humanity forward, and stand up for those who can’t.

I was born and raised in Dubai. From a young age, I understood how important it was to be financially free,to chase freedom, not just money. As I grew older and started learning how the world really works, I saw something frustrating: there’s so much room for goodwill in business, but most people ignore it to maximize profit.

That's what led me to co-found Alyx Society, a space where students could launch sustainability projects and actually make a difference. It taught me how to balance doing good with building systems that last. But making money is the part I hadn't cracked yet. I had already failed at 3–4 startups.

Then I found Tetr. A program where you learn business by building real businesses across the world. I was hooked. I had never been someone who could sit in a lecture, I needed to do something, mess up, and grow.

Tetr is where I met the people who are now my co-founders at 8 Billion Project (8BP).

"We may carry different flags, but we share the same fight, to be peaceful through business that actually means something."

How did you turn your idea into a business?

This wasn’t a solo journey. While I was focused on partnerships and mission, my Pakistani co-founder was driving our content and shirt designs, and our team in India — roofline, was setting up the supply chain and leading offline sales, which became a core feedback loop for us. We would test something, get real responses on-ground, tweak, and test again.

As we were building our billion dollar project, our focus was clear: how do we bridge the gap between India and Pakistan in a meaningful way? I spent a lot of time speaking with people who understood both business and geopolitics, and one of those conversations, with Forbes journalist Anubhuti — changed everything.

She helped me see that the issue isn’t hate. It's fear; the fear of being misunderstood, of getting hurt and that fear stems from a lack of understanding. And a lack of understanding almost always comes from a lack of education.

That was the lightbulb moment. We weren't just building a clothing brand. We were building something that could shift perspectives. That's when we decided to commit 8% of our revenue to funding education for underprivileged children in both countries.

We've already partnered with a community welfare school in Lucknow, where we are funding the education of two students , both of whom have lost their fathers and are facing serious financial struggles. We are also in conversations to do the same in Pakistan.

We have also pitched to several investors. Many of them suggested revisiting the 8% revenue model, they felt it should come from profit instead. And while we understood their concerns, we also knew this part of the business wasn’t negotiable. We're looking for partners who believe that impact and business can grow together; people who see this not as a cost, but as part of what gives the brand its strength and soul.

Key milestones:

Began funding education for two students – Saifullah and Savina Bano (class 9) at Community Welfare School in Lucknow
Featured in GulfToday with a press release, upcoming in India
crossed 150k+ impressions on social media
Received organic interaction from artists like Ali Sethi
Sold out 190+ units from our drops

How did you get your customers?

We have focused on a mix of offline and online strategies. On the ground, we sold through local melas, which helped us build personal connections and gather real-time feedback. Word of mouth has been powerful in spreading awareness.

Online, we have used organic social media to share our journey, from design to production to the mission behind the brand. Being transparent and purpose-driven has helped us build trust and keep people coming back.

As we grow, we are working on expanding into more digital channels while keeping our community at the core of everything we do.

The goal is to prove that this model works, that fashion can create real impact. Once we do, we’ll replicate it in other conflict zones around the world, adapting the details to each context.

Our mission is make peace cool.

What is your average monthly revenue?

We are still in the early stages, focused on validating the model and building community. In the past two months, we’ve generated ₹1.99 lakh($2300) in revenue through grassroots efforts, primarily offline sales and organic marketing. As we scale, we expect revenue to grow steadily alongside our outreach and impact.

How are you doing today and what plans for the future?

Our story is what’s driving everything. People see it and instantly feel something, because it’s not just marketing. We are not positioning ourselves as saviors, we are just saying what a lot of people have felt for years but didn’t know could exist on a shirt. That emotional relevance is what’s moving this forward.

Early on, we tried to do too much at once. We tried every idea, every direction, all at the same time. It came from ambition, but it also scattered our energy. Now we are approaching things with more sequence and structure. We have learned that momentum doesn’t mean chaos, it means being able to go deep, not just fast. That shift has made us decisive.

The world is more open to unity than we give it credit for. The noise of division is loud, but underneath it, there’s a real hunger for connection, and we showed up with something that lets people wear that feeling. There's also a huge gap in fashion for shared cultural memory across conflict zones. No one else was doing it. We just stepped into a space that was already waiting to be filled. We move fast. We don't wait for perfect conditions; we test, learn, adapt, and go. We have honest conversations, uncomfortable ones, with the shared goal of building something meaningful. And most importantly, we lead with customer value.

Where can we find you?

Book Recommendations

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson
The Compleat Strategyst by J.D. Williams

Podcast Recommendations

Diary of a CEO Podcast by Steven Bartlett