Oh yeah! This shop has a heart

When you pick up a pair of denims or a T-shirt from Uth Oye, an online initiative by two young Pakistani entrepreneurs, a portion of what you pay feeds a hungry kid or funds a computer for the lesser privileged

In a virtual world where you can pray, farm, cook and wage wars, Uth Oye.com comes as a breath of fresh air, encouraging you to do your bit for the real world by shopping online. Set up by Pakistan-based Babar Rashid Khan (28) and Zohaib Chaudhry (26), what sets these guys apart is that their entire marketing budget is donated to funding social causes. Khan has a background in advertising while Chaudhry owns one of the largest textile export units within Pakistan. What began as a part-time project two years ago is now a full-fledged venture with a team of 11 professionals handling the day-to-day operations.

Pop the social cause
"Uth Oye.com is a social enterprise rooted in pop culture and social commentary. In Pakistan, 63% of the population is 25 or younger and has disposable income to spend on consumer items. We wanted a brand that was strong on design so people would pick our products purely for the design, regardless of charitable undertones," said Khan (28), Strategy and Creative director at Uth Oye.com.

At a time when charities are under the scanner for misappropriation of funds, Uth Oye.com has a pay-on-delivery system in Pakistan (PayPal for international transactions) and they only associate with grassroot NGOs. So far they have tied up with non-profit groups that provide solar lamps to remote villages, equip computer labs at schools for underprivileged girls, serve meals for just Rs 5 (Pakistan Rupee) to the needy and provide natural biogas generators in villages with no gas supply.

While their limited edition T-shirts are a rage, they will soon come out with a range of jeans, hoodies, accessories such as laptop covers, mobile covers, chappals and posters. Pop culture, sarcastic slogans, colloquial English and the battle between East versus West takes centrestage in their designs which target corruption and other evils. Among their most popular designs is a T-shirt with Mohammad Ali Jinnah exclaiming "Dude, where's my country?" Another of their designs titled Devolution shows a politician evolving into a monkey and then into a primate.

"Our business model is not critical towards Pakistan. What we are critical of is social injustice and evil, no matter where it occurs. We are die-hard humanists," stated Khan. The response has spurred the team to set up outlets at Karachi and Lahore. They now plan to supply to stores across the Indian metros as well.

Email: hello@uth-oye.com
Log on to: www.uth-oye.com
Price rande: Rs 900 onwards