The woman making gift wrapping an art form

The square black box is studded with scores of tiny Swarovski crystals that appear to reflect the store's lights in all the colours of the rainbow. Pinned to one corner of the box is a dainty little butterfly made of semi-precious stones and from the tip of its right wing hangs a string of artificial pearls. All in all, it is an exquisite box that in itself is a present worth giving. But there's more: inside is an iPhone with a customised cover bearing the initials of the intended recipient stamped in fine gold lettering. The entire gift with the wrapping cost more than Dh5,000. This is gift couture at its finest, where the simple process of encasing a present has been transformed into a detailed craft. "That box was created for someone who wanted something extra special for his loved one," says Aisha Butti Al Muhairi, owner of Wrapt, a unique designer gift-wrap and accessory store with outlets in Mercato Mall and Arabian Centre in Dubai, and Lagoona Mall in Doha, Qatar. Thinking outside the box A one-stop-shop for all things related to luxury gift wrapping, the Wrapt store is a veritable treasure trove of glittering beads, baubles, ribbons and wrapping material of all different patterns, colours and textures, including boxes shaped to look like anything from high-heeled shoes to children's school buses. We have used just about every material that you can think of to wrap gifts and make it special for the giver and the receiver - from high-end branded scarves made of the finest material to semi-precious stones, faux fur, crystals, lace and gold-covered leaves... The list never ends," says Aisha, who set up the first store in 2009 in Arabian Centre. "One of the best compliments I have ever received was when a customer told me ‘even if we gave you a piece of wood you would make it into a piece of art worth buying.''' We have done many absolutely amazing, what can be termed truly over-the-top gifts and giveaways especially for weddings,'' she adds. "One of the first expensive gifts we did was for a man who wanted to surprise his new wife. The gift box was studded with Swarovski crystals and expensive semi-precious stones with sand crystals. It was so beautiful and it cost him Dh6,000 for packaging and the gift,'' says Aisha. "He was into every detail of wrapping and spent hours with the Wrapt team putting it together.'' Having created memorable moments for many high-profile personalities, artists and singers, Wrapt has given the practice of gift-giving an uber-luxury touch. "Gifts and gift-wrapping is a passion for me,'' says Aisha. "I want to elevate gift wrapping to an art form.'' To this end, she incorporates many elements of high fashion into her craft. "Our designs are inspired by the catwalk. We work on our collection twice a year in tandem with the international Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter fashion calendars. I make sure that all of my wrapping materials are in sync with the colours, styles and fabrics of the forthcoming fashion Fash pack-aging Wrapt has tied up with fashion institutes in France, Italy and London to help inform its choice of colour palettes and textures. Aisha cites Wrapt's Tribal set, inspired by African designs, the Arabian-Turkish collection in beautiful blue-and-white patterns and the Moulin Rouge in Red as examples of its trend-based styles. "I am into exclusivity and novelty. My pieces are limited and once a collection is out, I never repeat it," she says. That must be why she gets such a steady stream of orders, ranging from individuals looking for aesthetic wraps for their wedding gifts to corporations seeking her store's help to wrap gifts for their clients on fest Wrapt can even arrange the sourcing of gifts if a client desires it. "I feel really happy and proud that many prestigious clients trust my taste completely and leave the choice of the gift and the wrapping to me," says Aisha. One of her most exciting assignments was from a senior dignitary who asked her to put together a gift that would be ‘truly Emirati.' "She gave me five days to think of the gift and the wrapping. After much thought, I decided to create a hamper, in a locally woven basket containing all things locally made such as dates, honey, fragrances and so on. The idea was a great success.'' Another recent challenge was put to her by a leading UAE corporate organisation - it asked her to gift-wrap 3,000 iPods. "And it wanted it in two days! I accepted because I am thrilled to meet challenges like this," says Aisha, who works with a core team of 20 people from her office in Al Qusais Industrial Area. The first threads Aisha's creative streak ran through her even as a young girl, when she used to enjoy making little trinkets and cards and decorating them with ribbons, beads and baubles. "I was keen to do something creative but was not sure what career path to follow,'' says Aisha, who is now married and has three children of her own. After graduating in journalism she went on to earn a Masters in Business Administration from the Higher Colleges of Technology, Dubai, but all along she was keen to start a business in which her creative abilities could be used to the full. After college, she helped establish the Dubai Ladies Club, then did a short stint in the government sector before deciding to set up her own business. "I wanted to do something very different and one of the areas I wanted to tap into was the high-end gift-wrapping segment, because I love giving gifts and receiving them. "The joy you get when you give a loved one a gift is an emotion that is universal. I did a bit of research and found that one thing people didn't like about gift-giving is the price they had to pay to wrap the gift!'' Finding that there was a niche in the market for good quality yet good value gift-wrapping waiting to be filled, she decided to offer customers "something that was aesthetic, and high-end but at standard prices with a wide variety of options. I thought of it as an art, a sort of a fine-couture business and, once I had the business plan ready, I could actually see the entire layout of the store in my mind's eye," says Aisha. She worked with UK-based Caulder Moore design agency on the idea, concept, logo and branding of the store and, a year after she had begun working on the project, the first Wrapt outlet opened in the Arabian Mall in October 2009. "Today I have two stores in the UAE, one franchise store in Doha and am in talks with people from a few neighbouring countries who want to start a Wrapt franchise. And I've achieved all this in a matter of three years!" Aisha is ambitious, and very clear about the sort of brand-recognition and positioning she wants her store to have: "I want Wrapt to be the Louis Vuitton of gift wrapping," she says.