Where it all Began
Founded in 1992, Al Wissam first opened its doors on West Vernor Hwy. in Southwest Detroit. Not once did the founder imagine that this small family-run business would shoot to success not only in Michigan but throughout the United States. Today, the Al Wissam brand is sold in more than 30 different states, along with major cities in Canada. Before the brand was established, Detroit was recognized internationally as an automobile city, not a fashion city.
The Detroit-based designer created a clothing line with global distribution throughout the United States and Canada after seven successful years in the retail business. As an immigrant from Lebanon, the founder didn't know any English but immediately became his own boss. After struggling to sell clothes door-to-door on the streets of New York for a few years, the founder moved to Michigan and opened a stand at the Gibraltar Trade Center. While working there on weekends, during the week, he delivered bread from Michigan to New York. The money earned from delivering bread went towards clothing for the stand at Gibraltar. The first-ever Al Wissam retail store opened in Southwest Detroit. Within a few years of its opening, the Al Wissam clothing store became so popular that it became one of the largest clothing retailers in the Midwest.
After seven successful years in the retail business, the founder accomplished a dream by launching the first-ever Al Wissam Leather Jacket. This marked the start of a culturally diverse era in Detroit fashion. What made these hand-made leather jackets special was the amount of work and art put into them. Each stitched leather jacket had over a million stitches and was covered in numerous artworks. With Al Wissam being a multicultural company, fashion was used as a tool to introduce elements of other cultures to customers. Jackets were created that displayed the iconic Great Wall of China, the complexity of hieroglyphics, the unique Aztec culture, the beauty of the African landscape and tradition, and honored various holidays from regions all over the globe, just to name a few. The company also honored individual greatness by making jackets that showcased various artists in the hip-hop industry, celebrated the nation's first African American President, Barack Obama, and honored the marvelous martial artists Bruce Lee and Mohammed Ali. Additionally, the company documented history with a jacket covered in speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
