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MASTERS TO WATCH: FARID KAZEM

Farid Kazem, plastic surgeon and founder of Kazem Aesthetics, tells MASTERS how he got into his profession AND wants the Kazem name to become a quality brand.Online Editor: Natasha Hendriks | Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer
Image: John van Helvert

Youngest plastic surgeon

"I did general surgery with the idea of becoming a thoracic surgeon. During an internship, I found out that I didn't want to do that after all. I liked the technical aspect very much, but missed the contact with the patient. Then I started working in a burn center in Rotterdam. There I met a plastic surgeon who reconstructed burns. I loved what he did! That was the direction I wanted to go. Plastic surgery is creating and not just tearing down. If someone has cancer and you remove everything, you say "congratulations, you are rid of the cancer. But that patient is disfigured for life. I couldn't reconcile that. I started to specialize and then did a fellowship in America. When I got my paper at 32, I was the youngest plastic surgeon in the Netherlands."

Kazem 2.0

"Last summer I moved my practice to Schiphol-Rijk. It is the most beautiful clinic in the country! You might expect something like that in Paris or Dubai. I have been in the business for 28 years now and have entered a phase of my life, Kazem 2.0, where I want to attract young colleagues, the gems, to coach them. Before, the Kazem name was inseparable from me, now I want Kazem to become a quality brand. Without all the actions being done by myself, but rather by people who have been coached by me and who I feel can further my philosophy - a holistic approach, the focus on total well being. When someone comes to me, I first want to know who I am facing. If that person is not feeling well because of deep-seated issues, I can do whatever I want on the outside, but that won't solve it. These are not the people with whom I will quickly draw my knife. I refer them to someone in my network. I look at each person to see what his or her weaknesses and strengths are. I like best to accentuate the strengths, making the weaknesses less noticeable. Then it stays natural."

Instagram dolls

"Young people who feel themselves insecure because of social media become prey to organizations that act purely out of commerce. Such companies create clones. Just look at all those Instagram dolls, they look like chipmunks. But a certain group likes that. If you take the Kardashians as the norm, you don't understand what aesthetics are. I think it's clever what they do, how they've become so influential. Because in my view, they are people with a disability, a discrepancy between upper and lower body. They have made a virtue out of their handicap and marketed it in such a way that the whole world thinks 'we have to become like that too.' I don't participate in that. My motivation is not to make a lot of money. I would be lying if I said that Kazem Aesthetics is not a commercial company. But it's not that my goal is to drag in as many clients as possible and earn from them. People come here because they know they will get honest advice from me. I'm going for the long term."

Masters #44

MASTERS #44