Embroidery is often synonymous with fashion. The two artforms are interlinked but it needs to be remembered that the former is a subsidiary, albeit essential, element working as a means to an end while the latter is an end in itself. Many designers would beg to differ for embroidery provides an easy route. Choose the right colours and a suitably pretty motif and voila, a certain version of ‘fashion’ can be spun out in mass quantities.

But while such clothes may be wearable and suitably attractive, the purist will tell you that by no means are they designer creations. Where is the structure and finesse of a well-cut silhouette? Why are the embroideries so generic to the point of being utterly forgettable? It may sell well, it may haul in long queues at sales that proudly declare being ‘sold out’, it may be great comfort wear, but it can’t be considered fashion.

Beyond Pakistani fashion’s nascent realms, international designer brands tend to have specialised teams devising embroidery patterns for them. The infamous House of Lesage, France’s oldest embroiderer, has an illustrious list of clientele. There are numerous other younger embroidery ateliers that are also committed to creating embroidery designs commissioned to them by fashion brands. Often the embroiderers work in close collaboration with designers. But the embroiderers are not designers, the designers are not embroiderers and the twain go separate ways — except in the Indo-Pak subcontinent.

Would you prefer to wear the same old embroidered outfits or stand out with something unique?

Take our bridal fashion, for instance, which almost always leans completely on labyrinthine flora, fauna and sequins splattered down the entire lengths of outfits. One can see the toil and tears invested into the workmanship, and the craftsmanship is often exquisite, but the clothes fade out from memory very soon, for there is no innovation in silhouette, palette or even in the embroidery patterns. It is no wonder that fashion weeks dedicated to bridal fashion often leave one bleary-eyed by the constant profusion of sequins.

And yet, things can be done differently. Veteran designer Wasim Khan recently exemplified this at the PFDC L’Oreal-Paris Bridal Week where he brought forward wedding wear that was entirely devoid of embroidery. What drew the eye, instead, was the masterful draping, well-fitted cuts and the perfect fall of luxurious fine fabrics. It was unconventional yet stood out as very individualistic.

Certain younger designers are similarly trying to tread distinctive territories of their own. Online brand Lulusar, for one, tries to spurn embroideries altogether, playing instead with prints, colour blocks and silhouette patterns. “We started off about six months ago and are to date operating via our online store and occasional exhibits,” says Fawad Shah, brand director at Lulusar. “From the very onset, we wanted to set ourselves apart by focusing on fabric rather than just embellishment. We import most of our fabric, digitally print it in-house and create colour blocks, patterns and trendy silhouettes. We may add minimal embroideries but they aren’t usually essential to our designs. There’s a new line introduced every eight days and pieces are limited, thereby allowing us to retain our exclusivity. And yes, our unconventional patterns may not appease the typical customer but we don’t want to just be a typical brand,” he says.

Recently at the PFDC L’Oreal-Paris Bridal Week, veteran designer Wasim Khan brought forward wedding wear that was entirely devoid of embroidery. What drew the eye, instead, was the masterful draping, well-fitted cuts and the perfect fall of luxurious fine fabrics.

Designer Hussain Rehar, who just set up shop in Lahore, has a similar take on creating distinctive designs. “It is all right to use embroideries in a garment but why should it always unimaginatively wind around necklines, sleeves and shoulders? I’d rather place embellishment on the back perhaps, or along the waist. The key to my design aesthetic is that the clothes I create need to be wearable but unusual. I dabble with different textile surfaces and merge them together, placing them in blocks or overlaps. I like three-dimensional hand embroideries that have unique patterns. I customise designs for clients who like to wear more conventional clothes but, often, they like my designs just the way that they are.”

In high-street fashion, Maheen Khan’s Gulabo has persistently presented a high-fashion aesthetic, playing not just with embroidery but introducing silhouettes that are new, well-finished and timelessly fashionable. “Designs need to have personality, they need to be unique rather than blend in,” points out Maheen Khan.

Another contender, Daaman, has also long adhered to a philosophy where embellishment may be a design element but silhouette is key.

Most of the local design fraternity, though, doesn’t often understand this. For now, at least, pretty but mundane embroideries generate profits and, as a result, designers and high-street brands churn them out in droves, often on bland kurta-style tunics. But in the long run, wouldn’t it be better to stand out rather than be forgettable?

Embroideries are beautiful and are, in fact, an indigenous part of our heritage, but embroidery overkill cannot be declared fashion. Wouldn’t the discerning fashion customer rather opt for bonafide design than be shrouded in same-looking florals, frills, beads, flotsam, jetsam and the like? Unfortunately, the next slew of local fashion weeks will likely beg to differ.

Published in Dawn, EOS, October 29th, 2017