How ZED is tailoring a new era of power dressing in Lebanon

In a country defined by instability, ZED is stitching together a story of ingenuity, precision and steady growth

“The ZED suit is my second skin. I was putting up the Christmas tree in it last night”, a client living in London admitted on his visit to Fouad Zarzour, Founder of ZED, a day prior to this interview. A ZED suit is aesthetically pleasing and comfortable to wear throughout the day. The key points, arm holes, and groin, are expertly designed for comfort. Many of their clients are Lebanese living abroad and commission suits from ZED when they come home. People are well aware in 2025 of price versus quality. ZED is the feelgood purchase.

The Lebanese brand ZED has made a name for itself with ready-to-wear and made-to-measure suits, executed in a modern approach for men and women. “When you look good while feeling at ease in what you’re wearing, you feel better about yourself and that reflects back in what you say, what you do, your mood and your confidence”, says his partner in life and in business Romy Ayvazian, Head of Marketing and Design. 

As we sit in the “kitchen” as they call it, the design room, I bear witness to the organized chaos, including fabric catalogues, yarn books, unfinished orders, finance and design folders. Samples from previous and upcoming collections are strewn about, and the piece holding it together, a coffee machine, since Zaarour runs on the caffeinated brew.

Overcoming the odds

ZED retail started out as a men’s wear brand in Achrafieh in 2011. They were adept at men’s tailoring for eight years. Their Phibraco factory, however, had been operational since 1986, the year the dynamic duo was born. A wholesaler in origin, Zarzour was intrigued by his clients and their retail businesses. 

Ever since he was a little kid, Zarzour visited his dad’s factory and wandered between the machines and the pressing. He took it all in and gained a world of knowledge.

History is repeating itself with his eight-year-old son Philip, named after his father, in the words of the workers who have been with the family for a long time.

They began with private labels for wholesalers and resellers shipping regionally. After the Syrian war, Zarzour launched the uniform division as exports diminished and they were looking to diversify.

But the turning point came in the 2020 port explosion, their Achrafieh store was destroyed which instigated a strategic move to focus and expand on retail. They went on to launch a women’s line and to set up camp in seven locations in 2025. “The objective was to open the stores as quickly as possible, with a six-month gap between each, to retain market share”, says Zarzour.

“I’m a marketeer outside of ZED”, adds Ayvazian. “After Covid, Thawra and kids, it all became too much to take. I quit my job and it was then that Fouad emphasized my passion for clothing and suggested we plan a ZED women’s line together”. It began in a capsule collection to cater to the lack in the market for women’s business attire.

 The whole concept of ZED is the desk to dinner notion, in the sense where you dress for work then you can give it a twist with a small accessory or an addition such as heels to make your look suitable for the evening.

Timeless fashion

In practice, they carry pieces that are timeless, versatile, and worn many times over. 

One of ZED’s unique edges is its accessible made-to-measure service, a rare commodity in an industry that often treats tailoring as a luxury. They built a system that made custom suiting both fast and affordable through years of experience in the field and about 15,000 made-to-measure suits.

One of our divisions is uniforms. At one time, we handled a challenging project, dressing 1,600 employees for a prominent client. 

 

He didn’t want anyone to come up with an excuse not to wear the costume. So, we designed a fast and efficient made-to-measure approach that helped complete the project in two months”. The experience set the tone for their custom work. They learnt from the mistakes and trained the salesclerks in the method. “We aim to be accessible as a brand, putting fair margins for these types of services.”

They used economies of scale in terms of production, thus the size of the operation allowed for competitive pricing.

As confident and as competent as the Lebanese may appear, the economic landscape of the country is not an easy one, which required strategies and survival instincts to grow where many fashion businesses struggled. Adaptability is the key to navigating storms in the words of Zarzour. Businesses must be emotionally ready to abort the original scheme and have a contingency plan. 

“Uncertainty is worse than war”. In Lebanon, uncertainty is a reality faced time and again.

New endeavors on the horizon

Looking ahead, Zarzour is most excited about expansion in the region, opening ZED’s first presence in a Qatari department store. “The diaspora loves local brands. They’re very supportive of us”, says Ayvazian.

Furthermore, they are developing the made-to-measure service, which is already afforded locally and remotely, in a new immersive and interactive experience, for women and men. Today, their focus is on women, they want to give them more choices.

The era of suits for women is just beginning”, affirms Zarzour, “in the world and more so in the Middle East. It is the era of women taking on big positions, as CEOs and presidents. It is just the tip of the iceberg and ZED wants to be a front liner.

ZED is now ushering in a new era: the same made-to-measure precision long offered to men will extend seamlessly to women. Every woman, no matter height nor shape, comes out looking refined in her choice of fabric and cut, without breaking the bank.