Abbas Haider

Abbas Haider was born to lead. He became an entrepreneur at the tender age of eight when he started SBSC, a company that resold computer accessories to a local electronics store.  Though he was young he was a skilled negotiator, regularly brokering deals with mature business owners. After he moved to the United States, his passion for start-ups grew.

 

During elementary and middle school in Fairfax, VA he continued his business ventures, building websites for clients. His grandfather owned an import/export company and quickly recognized Haider’s talent. He started teaching him the business, and by the time he was a junior in high school, Haider had his own import/export company called Ships n Ports. This gave him his first taste of international business and he began cultivating relationships with wholesalers overseas, importing luxury bath towels and reselling them to retailers. He was hired at Men’s Wearhouse, where a new idea for his business took hold. He started importing men’s clothing for resale.

 

Haider realized he wanted a company and brand that was recognized internationally. In 2008, he started Aspetto (meaning “style” or “appearance” in Italian) Incorporated out of his freshman dorm at the University of Mary Washington (UMW). He then decided to take his business a step further, employing tailors and offering custom made suits with imported fabrics for his clients.

 

While taking an international marketing class during his senior year of college, Haider and his group member, Robert Davis were assigned to market an American product overseas. They decided to use his business for the project, and came up with an idea. They would create custom suits that were bullet-resistant and sell them as protective wear to customers in the violence prone Middle East. They met with Renegade Armor, a company in Fredericksburg, VA that manufactures bullet-resistant material that could be incorporated into his suits.

 

Not surprisingly, Haider received an A on his project and subsequently filed for a patent for his product. By the time he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration from UMW in 2012, Aspetto Incorporated was valued at seven figures and featured in The Washington Post, HLN News, The Fairfax Times, and other mainstream media.

 

Haider is the creator and owner of America’s first bullet-resistant clothing line, Aspetto Armor, a subsidiary of Aspetto Incorporated.  His perseverance has paid off, and today Aspetto Incorporated is flourishing and its products are found worldwide. Now he has a new mission, to promote entrepreneurship in today’s youth and help the less fortunate.

 

Aspetto Incorporated actively works to give back to the community that supported its vision and is engaged in philanthropic activities with a variety of charitable organizations. It frequently participates in community building events where Haider speaks promoting entrepreneurship and leadership. Encouraged by the family that mentored him, he now hopes to motivate a new generation to follow their dreams and realize their full potential.