Walk into Barakat Bespoke, and it's easy to become just as fascinated -- nay, enamored -- of the showroom as with the men's custom clothing purveyed there.
An industrial look is comfortably married to pure glamour here. A high ceiling. Exposed-brick and padded-leather sections of wall. Track lighting whose centerpiece is a bouquet of hanging, single light bulbs of different lengths. Even the rich brown wooden front door is a custom piece you wouldn't see just anywhere.
Men's suiting pieces and accessories hang neatly from racks; large bound books related to the tailoring craft adorn shelves. Twin mannequins display suit coats in progress. In the back of the main room, dark-gray draperies serve as an accent for a smooth gunmetal wall displaying a cluster of black-and-white photos. In front of the photo wall is a comfortable sitting area, complete with a compact bar laden with bottles of libations preferred by discriminating gentlemen.
All these elements combine to make a fitting background for Jenanne Filat, a fifth-generation tailor specializing in men's suiting.
"I enjoy meeting new people," she says. "I enjoy making them look good. And yeah, just being in the store around the clients is motivation enough for me. I love coming here daily."
Filat's appointment-only business has drawn athletes, politicians and some celebrities among its clientele -- not that she's going to name-drop or brag.
"I try to be as humble as possible," she says. "I'm very, very, very thankful for the clientele I have. I'm very thankful for everyone that walks through that door. Whether they are a celebrity, politician, a regular person -- everyone will get the same treatment from us. And I think that's what really sets us apart, honestly, as well. ... My client that spends $1,000 will get the same treatment as my client that spends $15,000."
However, Filat is not modest when it comes to the goods and services she offers.
"I'll go head to head with any luxury brand. We by far surpass anyone on the market -- and we guarantee it, too."
Custom suiting is Barakat Bespoke's specialty. Filat fashions casual suits, dressy suits, tuxedos -- "any kind of suiting, any kind of trousers, shirts. The possibilities are endless with us. And if anyone needs anything that is nontraditional, we can help them with that as well."
Filat also provides the accessories -- the shirts, the ties, the hankies, the cuff links, even the sunglasses, working with what she refers to as "small, artisanal brands." She's also suited up women. And she goes even further, styling some of her clients ... especially the busy ones who need it most.
"It's just very unique nowadays to find someone that specializes in their craft," says Derrell Hartwick, president and chief executive officer of the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce as well as a client and friend of Filat's.
"When you go and meet with Jenanne ... I mean, she's your best friend. She's your custom tailor. She's everything. And it's just such a great experience that you go there. Every time is different, because every suit is different, unique. She's got just the exact style that you want -- anything."
Does he have a favorite Barakat Bespoke suit? "Yeah, my favorite suit is my next suit. ... I love them all for different reasons."
Needless to say, apparel bearing the Barakat Bespoke label isn't chain-store priced. The average starting point of a suit is $995.
But, Filat points out, "when you come in here, you have to keep an open mind of not to shop price. If you're shopping price, it's going to be overwhelming. You have to consider that you're shopping value."
And outfitting a clients is not a quick process. It takes a minimum of six to eight weeks to present a client with a Barakat Bespoke creation.
But that client can be assured that, despite the fact that her vigorous schedule usually involves overseas travel, Filat is hands-on from beginning to end of each order.
A LONG LEGACY
Filat came by all of this honestly.
She was born in Jacksonville, the only child of her mother, Fawziya Barakat and her father, the late tailor Nafez Filat, owner of The Stitching Post. Living in North Little Rock most of her life, Filat comes from a "long legacy in the family" of cloth merchants and tailors dating to 1893 Jerusalem.
A photo of Nafez Filat in Chicago prominently adorns a shelf over twin tie racks in the store.
"My father immigrated here from Palestine in 1968," his daughter says. "He actually went to Chicago first, and he ended up moving to Little Rock in the ... early to mid '70s after visiting his brother here. He liked it, so he ended up moving [his] shop to North Little Rock first, and then he ended up in downtown Little Rock on Seventh Street in the late '70s.
"So I grew up around, of course, the tailoring, and I spent a lot of time in his store, in his space. And I kind of picked up some stuff."
Filat's family constantly tried to discourage her from going into the tailoring business.
"Because they immigrated from overseas, they felt they were forced to work in this industry, basically," she says. "They had no other choice. They didn't have a lot of opportunity for education ... . My father, when he came, he had less than $100 with him. He built on that, and it was a very, very, very big struggle for him. So I believe that they just associated this [business] with the struggle.
"When they came here, it was for a better life, and they wanted me to get educated."
Filat did get her education; the 1994 North Little Rock High School graduate went on to study Arabic and Middle Eastern studies at Harvard for a year, and in 2010, graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she majored in political science and minored in international studies. Yet, she was drawn to the family business.
This, she says, "was difficult in the beginning" for her father."But then he saw what I was doing with everything." Just before he passed away in March 2019, father and daughter had a talk about her business. "He was very, very proud of the entire operation."
Filat wants to take the family legacy to the next level, she says, and the suitings were a start.
"My father dropped out of school [during] middle school to do this. He was young when he started; he apprenticed for a long time. So it's an art. ... And I feel that this needs to continue. Of course, I work very, very hard to continue that legacy for him as well. It's very important. It's more than just a retail space. It's more than just suitings. There's a history here. ... This is me.
"There's not a single piece, or anything I do with any design work, that doesn't ... have a story," Filat says. "It always involves something from my childhood, especially with our street-wear line. Every single piece of clothing has its own story. And we want everybody that wears it to continue their own story in it."
According to its website history, the Barakat Bespoke name goes back those five generations, but the current store made its debut in 2014.
AN UNEXPECTED BEGINNING
The store was actually begun on behalf of her boyfriend at the time, Filat says. "He needed something to do. He was in finance. He had just lost his job ... . So we opened this. I branded [it]; I helped with it. I did everything so he would be able to have a space, because he said, 'I don't want to work for anyone anymore.'
"When we opened it, I was supposed to help somewhat, but I wasn't supposed to be immersed in it. I was stepping away at that point from some of this stuff." But exactly a week after the store's opening, "he totally up and left without saying anything. So I was stuck here with the store, with all the debt."
People see the store now, and her current success, she continues, but they don't know "the struggle that I had to go through -- emotionally, mentally -- getting everything together. And I was a single mom at the time, too. I turned it around, and I made it happen, but it was not easy at all. And I mean it was very nontraditional, the way I handled the business."
The business has, or course, evolved a bit over the years, Filat says. Menswear is her area of expertise, but the store did not do as much custom clothing in its early days; it started out more ready-to-wear. But Filat can say that some of her clients date back to the store's opening.
"All of my clients have become very close friends of mine as well. They helped sustain the business; they helped me through the tough times."
The store has not done much traditional advertising; in the early days, there were a lot of walk-ins, Filat remembers. She did get on social media, posting daily. And business has been so good that Filat has switched to taking referral clients only, although her employees take new customers. Other "advertising" for Filat has come through her appearances at such events as Arab Fashion Week.
Gina Radke, an author, speaker and business leader, first met Filat in 2018 when she made custom suits for Radke's husband. A few years into their friendship, Radke invested in Souq, Filat's own luxury street-wear line, which she introduced in 2018.
Radke also went on to hire Filat as her stylist. She lauds Filat's eye for fashion, which is "undeniable."
"It's her pure determination to make her way in men's fashion that I find the most admirable," Radke adds about Filat, noting that before the major local galas, "there will be tons of her clients in her store just so she can tie their bow ties for them. Her eye for detail and customer service are unmatched.
"She always seems to find a way when there is no way. She believes in helping others lift themselves up. And she strives to always honor her father's legacy."
THE BEST FABRICS
Filat sources the best fabrics to outfit her clients with.
"Everything is all natural that we carry. Sustainable," she says. She names her favorite company for fabric sourcing -- Italy's Vitale Barberis Canonico, dating to 1663. "They produce some of the best fabrics that I've seen."
Each client is different, so she and her people make it their first priority to talk to their clients -- "see what they're trying to accomplish, what their goals are, and then we also work with them on that and base it around them."
Filat notes that her younger clients want something "super tight and tailored," whereas her traditional clients still prefer suitings that are less so. But even among the younger ones, that preference may well be changing somewhat.
"The menswear industry ... will see a shift usually every 10 to 12 years, a major shift in the style, and we're going through that shift right now," she says. "The past 10 to 12 years have been very tight and tailored suitings, and now the shift is going to a looser cut. Double-breasted is coming back in. And we're seeing a lot more color on the runways right now" -- muted versions of traditionally bright colors. Another notable trend she mentions: mixing suiting looks with casual and street-wear. (The Little Rock market, however, is more conservative than in, say, Miami or New York, so the suiting-street-wear mix isn't as strong here, she adds.)
These days, Filat also gives her attention to Souq. The eldest of her two sons, 21-year-old Neemo Hankir, is co-creative director. (Her younger son, Noah Hankir, is a senior at North Little Rock High.) The line has garnered a lot of international attention.
"We have gotten requests for it, and we are in talks with some of the biggest stores in the world," Filat says. Souq has also made the runways of Arab Fashion Week. "My heritage is very important where I come from, so ... everything is sourced, created and handmade in the Middle East."
WORK AS HOBBY
When not creating wonderfully tailored clothing pieces, what does Filat like to do?
"There's nothing [else]. That's all my life," she says. "Literally, I am always creating; it's what I do. I love it. I breathe it. It's my entire life. I'm so inspired by architecture, by other people, by artwork, and there's nothing that I look at that doesn't convert to something, into my design world in my head. ... Even when I'm on vacation, I'm always looking for something. I'm always on the lookout to see if there's anything we can incorporate into any of our designs.
"It really does not feel like work, and I'm so thankful that I get to do this on a daily basis."
Jayce Thompson of Little Rock, a wardrobe specialist who works alongside Filat at the store, sees daily evidence of this.
"Jenanne is one of the most knowledgeable people I know, especially when it comes to the world of luxury, style and fashion," he says. "She will not be outworked, as her tenacious spirit won't allow her to be.
"Whether it's taking care of the people she loves most, or working through the nuances of being a business owner, Jenanne is going to go the extra mile to make sure everyone is treated with love and fairness. That's just who she is at her core."
Filat's goals for the future include expanding the Souq brand extensively, as well as expanding Barakat Bespoke into other territories.
"A lot of people come in and they're like, 'Oh my God, you've got to tell your story. You've got a fascinating story.' ... In the Middle East, they do a lot of storytelling, of course. ... Everyone shares their stories and that type of relationship you can only create through face-to-face experience. And that's a very important part of this business."
At times, she sounds like a motivational speaker, something everyone tells her she should be.
"I do this not for me. I do it for my people. Honestly, I do it for every Middle Eastern girl that may not think that she can do it, that has the fear, is told that she's not able to do this. I do it for every single one of those girls. And it can be done. And I encourage them to go out and just live fearlessly -- take a chance, fearlessly. That's the thing. My father was fearless. I remember that on a daily basis. And he was very encouraging and motivating as well."
Jenanne Filat of Barakat Bespoke in her River Market store on 07/01/2022 for High Profile Cover (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins(