ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s fashion industry is an ever-growing, ever-evolving faction that continues to expand its reach every passing year. Pret, lawn, luxury lawn, and bridal have been joined by contemporary and resort lines that include many Western designs.
A handful of designers have made their mark on the industry by remaining true to their aesthetics, craft, and vision over the years without compromising, and have achieved success on both the Western and Eastern design fronts.
“I set out wanting only to design Western wear, to be honest,” said Adnan Pardesy of the eponymous line that has operated for more than 10 years.
“I was trained at the fashion school in Western wear and then my experience in the export market was also Western. But since I was primarily designing for local women, I had to do both.”
The designers all knew that to cater to both demands of their customers, they would stay true to their design approach.
“I’ve always tried to create a bridge between [East and West designs]. It’s always been fluid. A designer needs to create a point of view, whether it’s Eastern or Western,’ said Khadijah Shah of Elan.
Elan has diversified from being a bridal couture line more than a decade ago to include lawn, resort and high-end Western wear.
Shamaeel Ansari has been operating her line of the same name for more than three decades, and from the beginning decided to blueprint a brand that created pieces with Western leanings but catered to the local demographic.
“My whole idea was to take what was contemporary in our own national context. I would call it cosmopolitan contemporary, not entirely Western. My starting point was to use traditional embroideries/Victorian embroideries, to modernize their placements and even do a mixture of the two and then dress the cuts with it.”
Shah put it simply: “Western wear in Pakistan has massive potential.”
Pardesy acknowledged that the demand is good as long as the offerings remained realistic for their customers. “The future for Western wear is good in Pakistan as long as it is not very expensive. Western wear for occasions like weddings people can buy from Western designers mostly and for others we have brands like Mango.”
Ansari also said the increasing demand matches the way the world has evolved.
“Every generation has its particular demand, particular needs. The younger generation is out there. They’re traveling, they have so much exposure to what’s happening in the West, and their own lifestyle is a synthesis of what the East and the West requires.”
