STYLE: EXPORTING FASHION
We live in the age of hashtags and the Trade Development Authority Pakistan (TDAP) pitched two of them during their recent trade expo: ‘Emerging Pakistan’ and ‘Made In Pakistan’. The former was announced at an inaugural dinner before the Expo with a fashion show by Nomi Ansari, Faiza Samee and Sherezad Rahimtoola and a concert by Strings and Momina Mustehsan. The latter was driven home by means of a three-day fashion show organised in collaboration with the Karachi-based Fashion Pakistan Council (FP). As always, the aim was to place focus on our ‘soft’ image. But it’s about time that this soft image yielded some hardcore business.
There have been far too many times that the TDAP has put forward fashion shows viewed by foreign delegates who hail from non-fashion backgrounds. After a long hard day at the Expo where they may have struck deals in their particular fields of pharmacy, engineering and the like, the foreigners have settled down to a fashion show that has in the past merely provided them with entertainment. The fashion purists amongst us have tsk-ed at the irrelevance of it all. Why should our bona fide designer creations be put forward as recreation for the visitors?
Saeed Tamimi, the Fashion Head at the TDAP, looks at it differently. “How much longer will we only be exporting T-shirts? We need to make efforts to move towards value-added export and this can only be done through successive shows.”
While TDAP’s Made in Pakistan Fashion Showcase hinted at a positive future for local fashion, the question remains: what future do they want exactly?
This year, for once, the efforts seemed relevant. Unlike past events, the collaborative shows by TDAP and FP were planned with an eye on export. Designers were paid by the TDAP to create export-friendly collections that would not reach beyond a price ceiling of 150 dollars. It was emphasised that they should try to use fabric that was made in Pakistan to create their apparel. All collections showcased on the catwalk were made available at a ‘Fashion Pakistan’ booth the next day so that visitors could examine the designs up-close and make purchases. Meetings with potential customers were organised and certain brands — the export-centric Nova Leathers, for instance — brought in orders. Following the Expo, the TDAP has carte blanche to take the collections from the designers whenever it participates in an exhibit abroad.