RAWALPINDI: From opting for limited production to going plastic- and waste-free and creating and using biodegradable materials, Pakistani designers are on a quest to transform the fashion industry and send out the message that fashion, too, can be respectful of the planet.
Globally, the fashion business is responsible for 10 percent of global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined during the pre-pandemic period, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said in a report last year.
Fashion houses around the world are thus now seeking to improve their green credentials to appeal to increasingly environmentally conscious consumers by reducing waste, cutting chemical use and producing biodegradable garments.
Many Pakistani fashion houses are also following suit.
In 2020, Islamabad-based designer Javeria Haroon launched Bridge & Ciel, a direct-to-consumer contemporary western-wear line, which she said represented a “conscious and green route” to fashion.
“Every article is made to order with minimum wastage patterns, choosing synthetic-free fabrics that will not abuse the earth, using environment friendly materials that can be recycled,” Haroon told Arab News in an interview. “And if and when these garments end up in landfill, they will biodegrade.”
She said there was room for “conscious fashion” in the Pakistani market, and designers needed to be aware of their climate effects from the “studio to the creation of the fabric, to the hands that stitched it, and lastly, the wearer.”
Haroon’s own company, she said, was 100 percent plastic-free even in its shipping and packaging and scraps left over from designs were reused as a commitment to a “zero waste” philosophy.
This year, one of Pakistan’s top designers, Zara Shahjahan, also launched sustainable fashion brand Jehan, which was “born out of the intention to create a forward movement toward careful consumption that is respectful of the planet,” its Styling Director Azka Shahid told Arab News: “Sustainability is the most significant design challenge that clothing is currently facing, and it is absolutely essential to engage with it if the art form is to survive.”
Jehan, which employs local craftspeople, has a philosophy of producing everything — from clothes, accessories and homeware — in small batches, has manufactured a type of cotton called kora that is completely untreated and free of chemicals, and aims for zero-waste, with some signature cotton pieces dyed using left-over vegetables from the local market that would otherwise be trashed.
“Though this is more time-consuming and costly than regular dyeing, we believe it is worth it,” Shahid said.
Another Islamabad-based fashion designer, Anuje Farhung, has taken her brand in a similar direction. Throughout the pandemic, she researched how she could transform herself into a conscious producer of fashion and replace existing materials with more eco-conscious options.
“I grew interested in symbiosis and the idea of materials doing more than just existing,” she said, saying she had asked herself multiple questions like, “What if they could have regenerative qualities? Or what if they were formed from a natural process as a bioproduct?”
Farhung thus teamed up with biologist Sarah Khan and produced a biodegradable solution to one of fashion’s most recognizable products: the sequin. Instead of the plastic that sequins are typically made of, the duo created a prototype made of red algae. They are now in the testing phase of dyeing the sequin using microbial processes to make it completely zero-waste.
Another brand, Repeat by Izza Fayyaz and Amna Mishal, features shalwar kameez and kurta designs using traditional craftsmanship to make modern cuts with biodegradable materials.
“Consumers are aware of environmentally damaging practices and they now want fashion that is sustainable, fair and circular,” Fayyaz told Arab News.
Jehan’s Creative Director Zara Shahjahan agreed, saying sustainable fashion was the future.
“Brand owners feel they can’t make money in sustainable fashion,” she said. “We have a chance to make a real change by being one of the first sustainable Pakistani brands and show the rest that it can be done. It’s a slow process but we are heading in the right direction.”
For next generation of Pakistani fashion designers, ‘green’ is the new black
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For next generation of Pakistani fashion designers, ‘green’ is the new black
- Brands around the world are seeking to improve their green credentials by reducing waste, cutting chemicals, producing biodegradable garments
- In Pakistan also, many fashion houses are on a quest to transform the industry and ensure their designs have a more positive effect on climate
Pakistani, US officials discuss ways to enhance bilateral trade and investment
- Pakistani, American officials hold inter-sessional meeting under Trade and Investment Framework Agreement
- Both sides discussed regulatory practices, digital trade, textiles and investments, says US Embassy in Pakistan
KARACHI: Pakistani and American officials held an inter-sessional meeting under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) on Thursday, with both sides discussing options to enhance bilateral trade and investment, the US Embassy in Islamabad said in a statement.
TIFA serves as a platform for Pakistan and the US to improve market access, promote bilateral trade and investment, resolve trade disputes, and work on trade-related issues between the two countries.
Pakistan and the US took part in high-level trade talks in Feb. 2023 when both countries participated in the 9th Pakistan-United States Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council meeting. That meeting took place after seven years.
As per a statement by Acting US Mission Spokesperson Thomas Montgomery, both sides discussed a “broad range of areas” to enhance bilateral trade and investment on Thursday.
“The dialogue focused on good regulatory practices, digital trade, the protection of intellectual property, women’s economic empowerment, labor, textiles, investment, and agricultural issues,” Montgomery said.
He added the discussions also included progress on access for US biotechnology products and beef.
The US official said that the meeting was key for both countries to move forward on shared goals of deepening their economic relationship.
“The United States has long been Pakistan’s largest export market, with potential for further growth,” he said, adding that the US has been a leading investor in Pakistan for the past 20 years.
Pakistan’s relationship with Washington has experienced fluctuations over the decades, characterized by periods of close partnership and notable estrangement.
Despite Islamabad’s recent initiatives to enhance and deepen its ties with Washington, until recently, President Joe Biden’s administration had remained reluctant to engage with Pakistan’s top leadership.
Ties between the two countries have improved since former prime minister Imran Khan’s government was ousted via a parliamentary vote on Apr. 2022. Khan had accused Washington of colluding with his political rivals to oust him from power via a “foreign conspiracy.” Washington has consistently denied the allegations.
Pakistan’s defense minister rejects claim ex-PM Khan being pressurized to accept ‘deal’
- Chairman of Khan’s party this week said cricketer-turned-politician was being kept in jail so he would agree to a “deal” with the government
- Khan, who has been in jail since August last year after multiple convictions, has vowed not to agree to a “deal” with his political adversaries
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Thursday rejected claims that former prime minister Imran Khan was being pressurized to accept a “deal” and come to the negotiating table with the government.
Khan, who was prime minister from 2018-2022, remains jailed in multiple cases, including a 14-year jail sentence for him and his wife for the illegal sale of state gifts. Khan fell out with Pakistan’s powerful military after he was ousted from office via a parliamentary vote in Apr. 2022.
Asif was responding to PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan’s interaction with reporters on Tuesday when he said that the way the former prime minister and his wife were being kept in jail, “these are all [forms of] pressure that Khan somehow agrees to a deal.”
Speaking exclusively to Independent Urdu, Asif rejected claims Khan was being pressurized to come to the negotiating table.
“There is no such thing,” Asif said, claiming that PTI leaders were issuing such statements to stay relevant. “That is why these statements are being issued. There is no truth to them.”
Asif said senior members of the PTI had given statements recently rejecting the possibility of a deal with the government.
“Now if their leadership is issuing contradictory statements themselves, then what comment do we give on it,” he said. “I think their contradictory statements are validating our point.”
Khan’s multiple convictions mean he is banned from holding public office and ruled the 71-year-old out of general elections earlier this year. Arguably Pakistan’s most popular politician, Khan says all cases against him are motivated to keep him out of politics.
Elephant Madhubala to be shifted to Karachi’s Safari Park in May— state media
- Madhubala has been in solitary confinement since April 2023 when her companion, elephant Noor Jehan, died
- International animal rights organization warns solitary confinement has taken a toll on Madhubala’s mental health
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani elephant Madhubala, who has been in solitary confinement at Karachi Zoo since last year, will be shifted to Karachi’s Safari Park in May where she will be in the company of two other elephants, state-run media Associated Press of Pakistan reported on Thursday.
Madhubala, one of only three captive elephants alive in Pakistan, was brought to the South Asian country with three other elephants from Tanzania in 2009. However, has been in solitary confinement at Karachi Zoo since April 2023 after her companion, elephant Noor Jehan passed away from illness.
International animal rights organization FOUR PAWS, which has been involved in efforts to have Madhubala relocated to Karachi Safari Park, said last week the solitary confinement has taken a strong toll on her mental condition, with boredom being her biggest stressor.
Animal rights activists have long campaigned against the plight of animals in Pakistan, especially elephants, and demanded they be shifted to “species-appropriate” locations such as the Safari Park.
“According to Zoo administration, the arrangements for the transfer have been completed,” APP said. “Madhubala will join two other elephants, Sonia and Malika after relocation to Safari Park.”
A FOUR PAWS spokesperson said the organization was thrilled to see Madhubala finally getting the treatment she deserves.
“Her story is a testament to the power of collaboration and the importance of animal welfare,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by APP.
FOUR PAWS says the elephant enclosures at Safari Park would have water elements for bathing, skincare and thermoregulation. Enrichments such as hay nets, varying substrates like soil, sand, clay, and sawdust will be provided for Madhubala to dust bathe while the area is secured by elephant-proof fencing.
Madhubala will be carried from the Karachi Zoo to the Safari Park in a huge transport crate. The elephant is currently being trained to enter and exit the crate by herself and sit inside it.
‘Politically motivated’: Pakistan rejects US State Department report on rights abuses
- Annual assessment identified arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances
- Pakistan government and state agencies deny involvement in missing persons cases, other rights abuses
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday it “categorically” rejected the 2023 country report on human rights practices issued by the US State Department, saying the report was politically motivated, lacking in objective evidence and followed an agenda of “politicization of international human rights.”
The annual human rights assessment released earlier this week identified arbitrary killings, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance, torture and “cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government or its agents” in Pakistan last year.
The report also said the government “rarely took credible steps” to identify and punish officials who may have committed rights abuses.
“The contents of the report are unfair, based on inaccurate information and are completely divorced from the ground reality,” the Pakistani foreign office said in a statement, adding that the assessment used a “domestic social lens to judge human rights in other countries in a politically biased manner.”
“This year’s report is once again conspicuous by its lack of objectivity and politicization of the international human rights agenda. It clearly demonstrates double standards thus undermining the international human rights discourse.”
The foreign office said it was “deeply concerning” that a report purported to highlight human rights issues around the world was ignoring or downplaying the “most urgent hotspots of gross human rights violations” like Gaza and Kashmir. It also called on the US demonstrate the “requisite moral courage” to speak the truth about all situations and play a constructive role in supporting international efforts to end human rights violations.
“In line with its constitutional framework and democratic ethos, Pakistan remains steadfast in its commitment to strengthen its own human rights framework, constructively engage to promote international human rights agenda, and uphold fairness and objectivity in the international human rights discourse,” the FO added.
Political leaders, rights groups and families of victims have long accused the government, the army and intelligence agencies of being behind cases of arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, among other rights abuses. Families say people picked up by security forces on the pretext of fighting militancy or crime often disappear for years, and are sometimes found dead, with no official explanation. Pakistani state agencies deny involvement in such cases.
On Tuesday, Pakistan’s law minister said the government would reconstitute a committee to address enforced disappearances, hours after the release of the US report.
“Now the work is being initiated on this again on the directives of the prime minister. A committee is going to be reconstituted, there will be parliamentary presence in that committee,” Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said.
“There is no lack of seriousness on the government’s part to resolve this issue.”
Pakistani court bars ex-PM Khan, wife from issuing statements against state institutions
- Accountability court directs media personnel to confine reporting to proceedings of the trial only
- Khan widely believed to have fell out with army, leading to ouster from PM office in 2022
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani accountability court judge recently barred former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, from issuing “derogatory” or “inflammatory” statements against state institutions and their officials.
Khan, who was PM from 2018-2022, remains jailed in multiple cases, including a 14-year jail sentence for him and his wife for the illegal sale of state gifts. Khan was first imprisoned after being handed a three-year prison sentence in August 2023 by the Election Commission for not declaring assets earned from selling gifts worth more than 140 million rupees ($501,000) in state possession and received during his premiership. In January, Khan and wife Bushra Bibi were handed 14-year jail terms following a separate investigation by the country’s top anti-graft body into the same charges involving state gifts.
Khan blames Pakistan’s powerful military, which has ruled the country directly for over 30 years, for colluding with his rivals to remove him from office via a parliamentary vote in April 2022 and subsequently cracking down on his supporters. The military denies his accusations and has repeatedly said it does not interfere in political matters.
On Friday, accountability court judge Nasir Javed Rana heard Khan’s petition requesting a fair trial. The PTI founder had sought the removal of glass and wooden structures erected at the Central Prison in Rawalpindi, where an appeal against his conviction is being heard. He had also alleged that reporters were not being allowed to attend proceedings, saying that the actions violated the principles of an open trial ordered by the court.
“The accused persons shall refrain from making any political, inflammatory and/or derogatory statements vis-a-vis state institutions and the officials insinuating anything to them,” a copy of the order, seen by Arab News that emerged on Thursday, read.
“The media personnel shall confine their reporting to the proceedings of the trial and shall not publish/report any statements in the trial proceedings, as witness or as counsel,” it added.
Khan’s convictions mean he is banned from holding public office and ruled the 71-year-old out of general elections earlier this year. Arguably Pakistan’s most popular politician, Khan says all cases against him are motivated to keep him out of politics.
Tensions between Khan and the military escalated in May 2023, when angry supporters of his party took to the streets in response to his brief detention, and torched government buildings and ransacked military installations in many parts of the country.
The army cracked down on Khan’s supporters and leaders following the attacks. Khan denied he had incited his supporters to protest violently, saying he was in detention when they erupted.
