ISLAMABAD: Sania Maskatiya, the Karachi-based eastern and western wear design house for women, has taken Pakistani fashion to the international stage in an unprecedented way in the nine years since the brand’s launch.
The label, which boasts of lawn, pret, resort, luxury and bridal couture collections, catapulted to international fame in 2014 when it was nominated for the prestigious International Woolmark Prize, an award whose past recipients include Karl Lagerfield, a brand that formed the prototype of the modern luxury fashion industry, and Yves Saint Laurent, regarded as among the foremost fashion designers of the twentieth century.
Sania Maskatiya walks the New York Fashion Week F/W 2019 ramp. Her fashion label Sania Maskatiya is the first Pakistani brand to feature at NYFW (Photo courtesy Lotus PR)
Sania Maskatiya, the savvy, eponymous brand, was launched by Sania Maskatiya and her brother, Umair Tabani, in 2010 while third sibling, Sarah Tabani, styles the brand’s cutting edge photo-shoots.
“Like our childhood, we are still each others’ backbones,” Maskatiya, a textile design graduate of the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, told Arab News. “As we grew up, thankfully we were able to convert our passions into our careers.”
Fashion, Maskatiya said, has remained an endless motivation to channel her natural creativity into “something productive.”
“I am motivated seeing my ideas turn into reality... getting that visual in your mind out for the world to see,” she said.
And the world, it seems, really is watching.
First came the Woolmark Prize nomination, for which Sania Maskatiya has been shortlisted twice in two consecutive years for her innovative focus on fabric and prints.
“The experience and exposure of being nominated was phenomenal. We were delighted to be able to represent Pakistan and its fashion design at this global platform,” Maskatiya said.
Since those nominations, Maskatiya and Tabani have quickly expanded globally, taking their brand to the massive Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai, India, the prestigious Swarovski Sparkling Couture Infinity Exhibit in Dubai and in 2017, to Beirut Fashion Week.
But it was in 2018, that Sania Maskatiya represented Pakistan at the holy grail of international catwalks: New York Fashion Week (NYFW).
“It was a total dream,” Maskatiya said. “It was a whole new experience, one I will never forget.”
Down the ramp in New York, Sania Maskatiya walked a capsule western-wear collection in contemporary, kaleidoscopic prints for Spring/Summer 2019. In February of this year, the brand did it again at the NYFW showcase, this time with a line for Fall/Winter 2020.
“My collection for NYFW 2019 is something very close to my heart,” Maskatiya said.
For the young designer, the future looks incredibly promising. Maskatiya plans to continue growing the brand which has already collected a dedicated clientele worldwide, and has a website that caters to shoppers around the globe, as well as has brick-and-mortar stores in Dubai and Europe.
Sania Maskatiya's brand has been featured on runways across the globe but her home base is in Karachi where she grew up and studied fashion design (Photo courtesy Lotus PR)
Maskatiya’s designs are in high demand by celebrities from both Lollywood (Pakistani cinema) and Bollywood, and in one of her most notable moments, she dressed a Pakistani nominee at the Oscars in 2012, documentary film-maker Sharmeen Obaid chinoy, who went on to win the award.
When asked about her motivations, Maskatiya said simply that the learning curve was endless.
“You can never stop learning in this field and you never stop getting inspired,” she said. “Everything and anything inspires me.”
