Why are we Eid shopping already?!

If you’re a shopaholic red-blooded woman, there’s a good chance that you’ve lately been bamboozled quite a bit by nifty marketing.

Even before temperatures soared, billboards popped up within your periphery, urging you to stock up on lightweight lawn fabric in preparation for the sweltering summer that was sure to follow. Off you went, wrapping your shawl around you, shivering in the icy winter wind while you rationed up on your future wardrobe.

Then, as the heat rose, the lawn imagery assailed you full-throttle. On billboards and TV adverts, magazines and social media’s expansive platform, you grew dizzy with the extensive variety on offer. You felt duty-bound to buy a certain collection because it tended to go ‘sold out’ and then there were the prints that were created by your favorite designer and a few more just because they looked so good in those (many) photo shoots with the desert backdrops. They were bound to stand out just as well in the dusty, arid climes of your city – reason enough to crank up the bank account again!

And now, just when you thought you were done with your shopping, out came the advertisements again, pitching an all-new key word to entice you: ‘Eid’!

Eid, already?!

But Eid is more than a month away. The fasting month of Ramadan is yet to begin and you’re still happily gorging on three meals a day (albeit not too much because you want to continue fitting into that summer wardrobe you’ve amassed so diligently). Nevertheless, Eid exhibits and collections are quite the ‘it’ things right now, drawing in crowds and a healthy bit of shoving and pushing all the way to the sales till.

Khaadi launched its both lawn (above) and chiffon collections for Eid

“It takes time for unstitched fabric to get stitched by tailors,” points out CEO of Khaadi, Shamoon Sultan. “This is actually the ideal time to launch an unstitched Eid collection.” He says this while standing in the colossal Khaadi outlet in Karachi’s Dolmen City while masses of women stream through the unstitched fabric section. The Eid line of embroidered chiffon has just launched that morning and it is apparently a huge hit. The price is steeper than Khaadi’s lawn range, teetering at around Rs 8000, but it hasn’t deterred the avid shopper. Most of the designs have already flown off the racks, leaving them bare, to be restocked in a few days’ time. “We’ve delved into an unstitched chiffon line for the first time and it makes sense. Eid-wear tends to be more formal,” says Shamoon.

The other Eid collection of unstitched fabric to have been launched that very day has been by Sana Safinaz and it, too, has strayed away from lawn’s much-hackneyed dominion. Instead, the fabric of choice is poly net and cotton net, worked with heavy embroideries and following a quintessentially sophisticated palette. The prices range between Rs 8000 and Rs 10000 – not a problem for the designer duo’s many fans who have ensured that some of the suits are already ‘out of stock’.

Pieces from Sana Safinaz's Eid collection are already 'sold out'

“The fabric adds in a luxe element,” explains Safinaz, “so that the clothes can be worn in the evening, on Eid, at a big dinner or even at events leading to a wedding.”

It’s a clever marketing decision. Lawn designs, even the most embellished ones, are now nothing new to the market. Eid collections in more formal fabric, meanwhile, manage to immediately catch women’s attention – especially since they are also ideal for the wedding season that immediately follows Eid.

Designer Maria B. can be credited for more or less pioneering this concept. Two and a half years ago, her design house launched the first M-Broidered collection before Eid and observed sales rolling in. “We also have an Eid lawn line which has its own market but there is a definite strata that wants to wear heavier clothing on Eid day or at weddings that follow. Our M-Broidered suits are absolute evening-wear, using luxe fabric like woven jacquard, digitally printed silk, tissue and velvet trimmings, nets, embroideries and Swarovski details. We started off with one collection but it has now become so popular that we have four M-Broidered line-ups, released during key sales periods throughout the course of the year.”

Bought for Eid, treasured all year round - Maria B's M-Broidered are hot-sellers

There are also festive lines that have just been launched by textile bigshots Al-Karam and Gul Ahmed, high-street maverick Sapphire and many more are sure to follow. Oh well, the more the merrier.

Shopping … on a full stomach

But would designers – and textile mills - benefit more were they to release collections a bit later, cashing in on the pre-Eid hype, when the nation at large fasts all day and then treats itself with shopping splurges?

Apparently, the pre-Eid hype has already begun.

Seen here at their private showing of their Eid collection, Farah Talib Aziz's public exhibition was a knockout the next day

Maliha Aziz, brand manager at Farah Talib Aziz, whose brand’s recent Eid exhibit of ready-to-wear in Karachi was quite a success, testifies to this. “Our customers actually prefer shopping right now, when they aren’t fasting,” she observes. “It also makes things easy for us. We aren’t fasting either and have much more energy. Our exhibit also featured evening formals that could be created on order and our craftsmen have started working on them immediately. It’s going to be a hot fasting season and we know that everything will just slow down. Even our workmen’s hours will shrink, ending well before sunset.” Following the Karachi event this past weekend, Farah Talib Aziz will be exhibiting prêt in Dubai, followed by Lahore and then, Islamabad.

And therefore, even though the festival is still more than a month away, it’s Eid shopping season. If you’re the red-blooded shopaholic woman that you claim to be, you’ve probably already stocked on some of those Eid designs that had long been tempting you on Instagram.

Beware, though: as they usually do, more embellished options are likely to crawl out of the woodworks in the next few weeks, luring you, cajoling you, to just spend another 10 grand or so. Off you’ll go, to the mall again. Like we said, the more the merrier – or is it?

As Swarovski picks Khaadi and Maria B for a glam photoshoot, we find out: what's next?

In the sweltering heat of the U.A.E. desert, amidst sand dunes and dry, dusty wind, came the unlikely sparkle of crystals and designer-wear.

Swarovski’s Neo-Arabia shoot was underway, with focus being placed on eight social media mavens. It was an ideal way to make waves on the Internet – when you photograph bloggers, they are very likely to blog about it. Shot at the Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara in Abu Dhabi, the photographs were also set to become a mainstream feature in the fifth edition of Swarovski’s magazine, featuring quite a collection of crystal-encrusted design, of course!

The cover of the fifth edition of Swarovski's magazine

The handpicked lineup of bloggers included women from the Middle East and, in a proud moment, Salima Fareesta from Pakistan.

Also read: A camera, the desert and Beyonce's boots (the story of my high-end Abu Dhabi phootshoot)

Further indicative of Swarovski’s growing strength in Pakistan were two Pakistani brands that were handpicked for the project. Khaadi and Maria B. proudly held their own, rubbing shoulders with some very illustrious international counterparts like Jean Paul Gaultier and Aigner. Maria B.’s hot off the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week design, in fact, is now featured on the cover of this month’s Swarovski’s magazine, worn by Philippina blogger Mariyah Gaspacho.

Maria B's design in the Neo-Arabia shoot

“It’s certainly a high to see my designs on the cover of an international magazine,” says Maria. “The cut-worked pants, jacket and belt were selected by the Swarovski team that was present at PSFW. I didn’t even have to alter it as they told me that most bloggers fit into runway sizes.”

Did Maria’s inclusion in the shoot have anything to do with her husband Tahir Saeed being Market Manager to Swarovski in Pakistan?

Apparently not. “They just zoned in on brands that they do business with the most,” explains Maria. “We use Swarovski crystals very frequently in our bridal-wear, luxury-pret, unstitched embroidered line and lawn. We’re even about to use them as embellishment in our upcoming prêt collection. Customers appreciate the high-end quality association and the Swarovski seal that accompanies their purchases. The PSFW collection had similarly been embellished heavily with Swarovski crystals.”

Similarly, within the magazine, Dubai-based blogger Deema Al-Asadi wore a pink-and-silver Khaadi top intricately crafted with crystals, also from the PSFW runway. “They picked the outfit,” confirms designer Shamoon Sultan, who is now hoping to translate some semblance of the collection to retail racks.

“What we showed at PSFW was pure couture and would be far too expensive for the high street. We’re going to tone down the designs and make them more cost-effective.”

With a Pakistani blogger and two Pakistani brands included in the Neo-Arabia shoot, it is clear the Swarovski has faith in its nascent growth in the local market. Having launched merely in 2014, the brand has been making definite inroads, quite visible at local fashion weeks and latching on to the lucrative realms of designer lawn.

The Neo-Arabia shoot in progress

Nevertheless, it can’t be said that Swarovski is an absolute sensation yet. We are, after all, quite accustomed to bling, with a genealogy entrenched in the shimmer of gota, dabka and myriad other hand embroideries. Faced with these formidable competitors, Swarovski brings to the fore great quality, years of research and development and a brand name that exudes affluence and a high fashion vibe.

Will it remain limited to the occasional fashion week, expensive bridal-wear and luxury-pret and eye-catching fashion shoots? Or will Swarovski manage to last the long haul, complementing – if not overtaking – our vast reservoir of indigenous handwork?

Time will tell; although Neo Arabia with its multi-ethnic bloggers turned models and culturally diverse design shows promise.

Lessons we learned from Pakistani lawn adverts

As one of our staffers was driving to work one day she noticed not one, not two, not three, but seven hoardings sporting lawn adverts at a single roundabout, all featuring women in various iterations of the shalwar-kameez-dupatta that comprises our national dress.

Lawn is everywhere this summer: on our Instagram feeds, in our magazines, in public spaces, on celebrities, in stores, and, most importantly, on our backs.

But have we ever stopped to question how it's sold to us?

A quick glance at the lawn catalogues littering our office revealed some fascinating — and hilarious, if you squint — lessons that lawn adverts apparently want to teach us, and why, next summer, we might want to see something different.

1) A Pakistani woman wearing lawn... must not live in Pakistan

Oh, the irony! This season most lawn campaigns were shot abroad, like Elan, Maria B, Feeha Jamshed and Shehla Chatoor.

While an average Pakistani woman usually poses for a picture in new spanking-new designer lawn jora in her lawn or on her balcony, our lawn ads paint an extravagant picture of the lawn-wearer, showing models defining the lawn experience in a completely opposite environment.

Here's your average lawn-wearer at a beach in Bangkok!

Just chillin' on the beach, in Shehla Chatoor lawn

And here she is wearing lawn in Morocco!

Locals really digging her Elan lawn

Dubai is also a great spot for lawn-wearers.

Tra-la-la-ing in Dubai in Feeha Jamshed lawn

We get that advertisments are meant to be 'aspirational' and that most people aspire to travel for pleasure... but honestly, we don't usually wear lawnjoras outside Pakistan (except to Mimi Aunty's annual Eid dinner in Florida — ugh).

What do we really want to see? How that lawn jora stands out at an eight-year-old's birthday party in Lahore. Or at that important presentation you're scheduled to give next Monday in Karachi. Or how the dupatta would stand up to whipping wind at Islamabad's Monal restaurant.

Now THAT would be helpful.

2) A lawn jora is best enjoyed in deep slumber

We thought this was a trope limited to soap operas on Indian TV. But if people were to take lawn ads seriously, they'd think that women enjoy the sweetest slumber in their best lawn joras, fully made up and hair styled to a tee.

Amo B's sweet repose in Sana Safinaz lawn

Is this a case of lawn marketers pushing the 'ladies of leisure' image too far? We feel it isolates the rest of us, who, you know, don't lounge about and instead work for a living.

Elan lawn would go to waste on the steps of these Marrakech ruins

How hard would it be to plan a photo shoot around women pursuing real-life professions or everyday activities, without compromising on the shoot's glamour appeal? That's a challenge we'd like to see a photographer take.

3) Don't get in the driver's seat. That's a big no-no.

You might ask: are we still talking about transport, or is this a metaphor for life?

We were confused too. These lawn adverts seem to be saying: it's cool to have somewhere to go, but you should struggle to get there. Better yet, don't ever arrive.

Women stand around cars, sit on top of cars, manage to miraculously perch one high-heeled foot on their headlights, but getting in to drive one of those vehicles is out of the question. Why though?

Like, the Orient lawn-clad woman could just turn around

Don't even bother with the luggage. Leave it out. Someone else will get that.

Maybe they can’t see the car, see how confused they look?

Seriously, just turn around (also Orient)

This one baffles us the most because the poor helpless lady is using her dupatta to create shade when she can just… sit in the car?

We're grasping at straws here, ladies. Just. Get. In. The. Car. And drive!

4) Your trusty dupatta must be repurposed as a sail for navigation. Or similar.

In real life, the dupatta is a highly functional element of your wardrobe. It has multiple uses: at different times it's either a guard against lewd stares, a shield from the sun or an improvised jharan that we clean up spilled chai with (guilty!).

But lawn ads beg to differ.

In lawn ads, the dupatta is used in fascinatingly creative ways. All of them rather useless.

According to this ad, you must use your dupatta as a weathervane. What better use for a three-yard piece of cloth than as an instrument with which to gauge the wind's direction?

So, that way is north. Thanks, Maria B!

Should you get lost at sea, it can be your sail. Amo B demonstrates.

Sana Safinaz sails, anyone?

And since you're already feeling nautical, you may use your dupatta to dress as a sexy pirate (in lawn) too.

Fashionable pirate in Maria B

Dupattas can even be your baby hammock. Insert baby here.

Change lawn is good for both mama and baby

Once, just one, we'd like to see a lawn ad display our favourite use of thedupatta: as a handy (no pun intended) cover for my steering wheel when it gets roasted by the summer heat.

5) The no.1 accessory for the modern Pakistani woman is an animal — preferably wild, but pets do too.

Michael Kors says, "I've always thought of accessories as the exclamation point of a woman's outfit." Well, a wild animal is definitely an exclamation point! Oh what’s that? Most of these are domesticated animals? Well we just learnt a lesson.

We're struggling to figure out what the message is here. Perhaps lawn makes one in tune with nature?

Maybe your lawn will attract animals (not sure that's a plus)?

This Sana Safinaz print is camel-approved

Perhaps lawn magically converts you into a dog person... or a bird person?

Orient lawn is pet-friendly

How do the animals feel about this, we wonder?

6) A lawn jora is an all-weather garment and must be respected as such.

Planning a trip to the Artic? No problem, break out that FTA jora!

Crimson lawn for the winter...

Prepping to chill by a tropical lagoon? Shehla Chatoor has you covered!

and Shehla Chatoor's for the summer!

Lawn will always be by your side.

Bridal Couture Week Day 2 kicks off with Indian bling

Day 2 of Bridal Couture Week kicked off with some fashion from across the border!

The Bibi London segment featured high-end Indian couturiers like Tarun Tahiliani and Neeta Lulla.

Their showcase was followed by Deepak & Fahad, Ayesha Ibrahim, Uzma Babar and Kuki Concepts .

Tena Durrani, Fouzia Hammad and Zainab Chottani were to close the show.

Here are the highlights from the night:

We tried to find winning red carpet looks at the Hum TV Awards. We failed

Saturday night saw a bunch of our brightest celebrities strut their stuff down the Hum TV Awards' red carpet.

This year's awards were held in Karachi, not Dubai, unlike last year's shindig. Still, we were sure this change in venue wouldn't let us down, and we were expecting some fine plumage. It's a soon-to-be-televised awards show, and one of our main reasons for tuning in is that we want to see some razzmatazz and glamour, right?

We were disappointed. Not all the red carpet looks we saw were terrible, just most of them. Below, we attempt to decode why these looks fell flat, and what these stars could've worn instead.

1) Uzair Jaswal's indecisive feathers

Now, we love experimental looks on men and women. But as the saying goes, 'go big or go home.'

Though we do offer props to Uzair for trying something outside the birdcage — er, box — if he reaaaally wanted to rock feathered shoulders he should've gone full fabulous and opted for a more exaggerated look. These tiny 'accent' feathers just look... random, and didn't work at all.

2) Humaima Mallick's Alia Bhatt moment

Note to stars: if a very famous person has worn a certain dress on the cover of Filmfare just a little over a month ago, don't wear the same thing or similar to a red carpet event.

Besides, we just don't love the dress in real life. It looks fine in a highly stylised fashion shoot, but in person it's too baby-girl, too flouncy, too... much. Yep, this is one case where going big isn't the best idea. We can't understand why Humaima, lovely as she is, didn't opt for another, more flattering Elan look. Something sleeker would've worked wonders on her. Oh, and no choker. And no updo.

3) Sarwat Gilani's tea cosy cape-let

Let this be your guide: stay away from anything that could reasonably be described as a cape-let, pant-let, short-let... you get the idea. These mini-me items are extremely hard to pull off. Especially when they look like the cape-let Sarwat Gilani is wearing here, decorated as it is with the kind of sad, wilted ribbon roses that wouldn't look out of place in a third-grader's art project.

We were sad to be this elegant stunner dragged down by a not-so-wow outfit. Sigh.

4) Reema's forced cold shoulder

Hmmmm where to start? First, let's all agree that 'cold shoulder' tops are slightly teeny bopper. Even then, a case could be made for the peek-a-boo style if it conforms to certain rules: it shouldn't look forced, it should be unfussy, it should work within the context of your look. Unfortunately the 'cold shoulder' let Reema down.

This gold gown's 'cold shoulders' are so forced it's painful to view. Combined with the gown's many swoops and flounces there's just too much going on. Also, Reema's managed to break yet another simple yet vital rule: a floor-length gown is meant to skim the floor, not your ankles. Stars be warned: when a gown is too short for you, opt for flats. Easy fix.

5) Gohar Rasheed's magic carpet moment

Oh Gohar. We love you for trying something new, but we don't love the outfit. At all.

On their own, the pants could've worked. By that we mean if they were paired with a simple top/kurta (untucked). But the way this look is worn, its just too costume-y for a red carpet appearance.

6) Urwa Hocane's corny cornrows

Urwa Hocane's cute outfit was let down majorly by her unfortunate hair styling. Someone needs to tell her stylist that cornrows are dated and just a little bit inappropriate.

What Urwa could have used is a super-sleek ponytail, so the attention remained on her unconventional outfit choice. This instead was high school hair that makes her look like she's a gutsy girl at the prom.

Special mention: Nomi Ansari's double-breasted decorations and Ali Xeeshan's eye patch.

To Nomi we'd say: chose one or the other, the medals or the pocket square. Rocking accessories on both sides of your sherwani is just not good. To Ali Xeeshan: statement sunnies would've worked better than an eye-patch. And if you were suffering from conjunctivitis, well, then you're forgiven.

However, like we said, the fashion at the Hum Awards wasn't all bad.

While Syra Shehroz played it safe, she did look well turned out in Shehla Chatoor. Rubya Chaudhry's Adnan Pardesy sari gown also worked, and we rather liked Nausheen Shah's sequinned slit skirt.