Other than the fashion shows doing periodic rounds, the biggest newsmaker in the industry was the breakup between two design and/or retail houses.
Perhaps the one industry that has managed to withstand and survive the sociopolitical drama that the country went through in the past year is the fashion industry. The activity within the industry may have suffered a momentary setback due to the imposition of emergency in the country and after Benazir’s assassination, but it bounced right back on track soon after. The fashion shows that were held off were rescheduled and held in both cities - and continue to do so on a somewhat regular basis.
Of these, the most prominent during the past year have been the Giorgio Armani fashion show held in both Lahore and Karachi and the Ensemble Midsummer Night show held earlier this year. Both were corporate-sponsored group shows, showcasing work by designers old and new. More importantly, both of these shows served to highlight the emerging talent that we have budding currently in the fashion industry. These include the likes of Maheen Karim, who comes out with a limited but strong, original line of work every season Sadaf Malaterre who is, technically-speaking, making a comeback in the industry after a hiatus of almost a decade by displaying a more bohemian style in her design philosophy and finally, it marked the launch of Kamiar Rokni as a solo designer and the beginning of his individual stamp on local fashion aesthetics.
With so much happening and more, what really made (and continues to) generate news are the two high-publicised design/fashion house breakups. A Geri Halliwel in fashion was pulled not once but twice - both times seemingly on professional grounds. Kamiar Rokni caused jaws to drop and tongues to wag incessantly when he parted ways with the fashion house he helped establish, Karma.
Both Kami and Maheen Kardar Ali claimed that the breakup was on strictly ‘professional’ grounds. With Kamiar considered as the main driving force behind the design label, Maheen Kardar Ali was hoping to assert her creative input in Karma by launching her Kami-less Karma collection at the Pakistan Fashion Week (which for reasons unknown and disputed never managed to happen).
Kamiar, on the other hand, maintained a low profile, beginning his solo career by taking relatively smaller steps - first by stocking his collection at The Boulevard in Lahore and then at The Ensemble in Karachi, and then he created a bang at the Ensemble Midsummer show. What’s more is that now he’s diversified by hosting his own talk show on Dawn News called No Reservations, ala Koffee with Karan style, but in a very ‘Kamikaz’ manner.
Vendetta, victory, Vaneeza, V9, V-Lawn… who knew the letter V could inspire so much trouble? Right on the onset of this year’s lawn season - the fabric was immensely popular in the design community this year with over eight lawn fabrics being designed by prominent local designers - Vaneeza parted ways with Mohammed Farooq Textile Mills, responsible for taking out her eponymously-titled V9 lawn prints.
What is interesting to note about V9 is that from its very onset it glamorised perhaps the most casually worn fabric in the country’s summer season. Lawn had an ambassador and that ambassador was a local supermodel. It was now officially cool. By and by, Shehryar Sumar, the person reportedly responsible for encouraging Vaneeza’s foray into the business of fashion, also launched his own I (heart) KHI/ISB/LHR t-shirt collection which quickly amassed a cult following.
The parting of ways was a big deal predominantly because even though conceptualised as her being the fabric’s identity, she had no right over the V9 brand name and hence couldn’t use it on her own. But by now, being well-versed in the lawn business itself, she decided to launch V-Lawn. The only question remaining was that with both V9 and V-Lawn doing the rounds at the market, will customers be able to differentiate between the ‘real’ Vaneeza lawn and ex-lawn?
It seems like the issue was also very much on the minds of both these individuals: Both of them launched massive marketing campaigns outlining each others’ fabric territories complete with billboard and print ads and cable-TV advertising. Vaneeza also went on numerous TV shows clearly stating her disassociation with the lawn mill giant and introduced the launch of her own lawn brand, V-Lawn. In short, Vinnie was everywhere.
But just when lawn season seemed to near a close, Shehryar retaliated by going to a section of the press and attacked Vaneeza’s personal life, stating his reason as (to quote from the article): ”She’s had puppets from her fashion camps go on air and trash my designs and fabric…”
It must be mentioned that both these individuals are truly creative and in their own way have infused new blood into the industry. One looks forward to the work that they will produce in the future. Having said that, breakups whether personal or professional, happen all the time and with individuals who have to literally live under the media glare, it becomes difficult to prevent disputes from getting out of hand. Where all is fair in love, war and lawn, dealing with an on-record professional breakup by attacking someone’s personal life is just plain nasty.
