ISLAMABAD: On one ramp, you could see a bridal collection followed by resort wear, then a line of edgy tuxedos.
There are veteran designers who have become household names and whose aesthetics can be spotted and recognized, but there is also a new crop.
These new brands focus on wearability, contemporary cuts and aesthetics, but there is also a significant amount of thought put into the business of fashion and understanding changing clientele. Speaking to rising stars in the industry, Arab News got an insight into how they are changing it.
“At the core of Zuria Dor designs is the focus on the millennial generation,” said Madiha Latif, half of the creative team behind the brand with Kinza Latif.
“As millennials ourselves, the designs project what we think would be appreciated by our generational peers: Modern, independent, driven women who are set to rule the world.”
Hamza Bokhari, creative head of Jeem, also sought to design for the modern Pakistani lady.
“My design philosophy revolves around this present-day woman who is deeply rooted in her culture and heritage,” he said. “It’s an amalgamation of old-world craft and modern relevance.”
Rehar, who runs his eponymous label 'Hussain Rehar', joined the fashion world at Elan after graduating from fashion design school.
His philosophy is “creating distinctive and new designs in their own nature by setting new trends and providing the fashion industry with a taste of individualism.”
Rehar said: “It’s very important for a designer, or anyone for that matter, to progress, to keep on improving.”
He added: “The fashion industry is all about innovation. You have to innovate to make a mark, or else you just blend in and lose your identity. Change is what drives and fascinates people to invest.”
Bokhari said: “I started about five years ago. At that time, Pakistan was going through a transitional phase from couture to affordable luxury.”
He added: “Retail is a very integral part of any fashion business, which also in a way helps you with the couture side of it.” The Latifs prefer to be described as engineers rather than designers. “Engineers are trained to be problem-solvers, drivers of change, long-term planners, constant learners, systematic and technology driven,” said Madiha.
“Many boxes need to be ticked for the brand’s vision to become a reality, but we want to spearhead systematic improvement on the design and manufacturing fronts. Who better to do it than individuals with formal training in engineering?”
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Pakistan’s new designers bet on wearability, modern relevance
Pakistan’s new designers bet on wearability, modern relevance
Decoding villains at an Emirates LitFest panel in Dubai
DUBAI: At this year’s Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in Dubai, a panel on Saturday titled “The Monster Next Door,” moderated by Shane McGinley, posed a question for the ages: Are villains born or made?
Novelists Annabel Kantaria, Louise Candlish and Ruth Ware, joined by a packed audience, dissected the craft of creating morally ambiguous characters alongside the social science that informs them. “A pure villain,” said Ware, “is chilling to construct … The remorselessness unsettles you — How do you build someone who cannot imagine another’s pain?”
Candlish described character-building as a gradual process of “layering over several edits” until a figure feels human. “You have to build the flesh on the bone or they will remain caricatures,” she added.
The debate moved quickly to the nature-versus-nurture debate. “Do you believe that people are born evil?” asked McGinley, prompting both laughter and loud sighs.
Candlish confessed a failed attempt to write a Tom Ripley–style antihero: “I spent the whole time coming up with reasons why my characters do this … It wasn’t really their fault,” she said, explaining that even when she tried to excise conscience, her character kept expressing “moral scruples” and second thoughts.
“You inevitably fold parts of yourself into your creations,” said Ware. “The spark that makes it come alive is often the little bit of you in there.”
Panelists likened character creation to Frankenstein work. “You take the irritating habit of that co‑worker, the weird couple you saw in a restaurant, bits of friends and enemies, and stitch them together,” said Ware.
But real-world perspective reframed the literary exercise in stark terms. Kantaria recounted teaching a prison writing class and quoting the facility director, who told her, “It’s not full of monsters. It’s normal people who made a bad decision.” She recalled being struck that many inmates were “one silly decision” away from the crimes that put them behind bars. “Any one of us could be one decision away from jail time,” she said.
The panelists also turned to scientific findings through the discussion. Ware cited infant studies showing babies prefer helpers to hinderers in puppet shows, suggesting “we are born with a natural propensity to be attracted to good.”
Candlish referenced twin studies and research on narrative: People who can form a coherent story about trauma often “have much better outcomes,” she explained.
“Both things will end up being super, super neat,” she said of genes and upbringing, before turning to the redemptive power of storytelling: “When we can make sense of what happened to us, we cope better.”
As the session closed, McGinley steered the panel away from tidy answers. Villainy, the authors agreed, is rarely the product of an immutable core; more often, it is assembled from ordinary impulses, missteps and circumstances. For writers like Kantaria, Candlish and Ware, the task is not to excuse cruelty but “to understand the fragile architecture that holds it together,” and to ask readers to inhabit uncomfortable but necessary perspectives.
