For some, fashion can be intimidating. There are risks to be taken and comfort zones to be pushed out of. No man does that better than Roy Rizwan. For almost seven years, he has served the area from his storefront in Southlake Town Square. Walk into Zar Clothier and you'll immediately be greeted with a smile and a frighteningly accurate size estimation. Roy doesn't need to ask for you pant, shoe or dress size. He knows it the moment you walked in.
I chose to open Zar Clothier in Southlake when.... all of our Dallas location customers from Westlake and Southlake would come to us and tell us that we needed to move closer. I thought about it and thought, 'You know, why not?' I used to work for Hugo Boss and didn't even know where Westlake was. It was a big difference when I moved here. The people here are very nice.
I take pride in being… very good to our customers. We tell them what looks good and does not look good on their body types. We teach them how to wear things. The main goal is to dress customers with one item at a time. We are very honest about what looks good on people. I know without being told what size clients wear and what will look good on their body type. After all, I've been in this business for 27 years. Before Zar, I used to work for Hugo Boss for 11 years and Bernini before that.
I am from... Pakistan. In our culture, you become a doctor or lawyer only. I came to school in the United States in 1991, and I changed my major from law to fashion. My dad did not approve of that, but I just did it because I love what I do. I enjoyed fashion school and it just went really well from then on. I wanted to do what makes me happy, not just what makes my dad happy.
The store collection is inspired by...what is in. If I see something in GQ Magazine, I buy it. I travel all over the world to see what is in, and then bring a taste of Texas. Dallas is not like New York or California or Chicago. I bring back pieces and incorporate what looks good. For example, in New York, everyone wears black. I try to bring that but add something different to make things pop. When you come into my store, you don't see just navy or black suits. It's all about plaid, patterns, anything.
Stylistically, Southlake men are… old-school people, but we are changing that. We see a lot of pleated pants and men wearing one size bigger than they need to. The average Southlake man takes care of his health really well, so we don't have to worry about that. We see navy jackets with khaki pants, and we change that to plaid jackets with jeans. We change their shoes from black shoes to cognac. Whatever we put on the customers ends up getting them a lot of compliments. Once they get those compliments, they come back and really start to trust our judgement. We change their style step by step. We don't change it 100 degrees right away because that would be too much for their comfort levels.
Women in Southlake... live in Lululemon and David Lerner all day long. So I change their lifestyle. We give them fashion pieces for when they go out with their girlfriends or even Central Market. We just change their style here and there, but not too much. Like a nice, clean jean and retro shirt. Something that looks a little different from the ordinary.
If somebody asks for a donation... I'm there. If I do charity, I do it from the heart. I help with Art in the Square regularly. Whatever this community needs, I'm there for them all the way. It's great to offer good customer service, but for me, charity is the most important thing. If anybody needs anything from us, I never say no. The only thing I don't do anymore is parties. I'm not as young as I used to be, so after work I just spend time wife my family. They are top priority to me.
I have the best… family in the world and I always smile when I talk about them.
I have two beautiful daughters. One is 18 years old and one is 21 years old. My wife is a personal trainer and we have been married for 25 years. I'll love my wife until death. I'm blessed. All the blessings from God, I have them.