Wardha Saleem: from blocks to prints

Wardha Saleem marks her sixth year in fashion with her first-ever summer lawn collection.


Saadia Qamar March 13, 2011

KARACHI:


Wardha Saleem is a known name in the fashion industry. Famous for vibrant block prints the  designer has now joined the lawn industry with her first ever summer lawn collection, in which she reclaims the brand’s exclusive style.


Wardha Saleem Lawn Spring Collection 2011, is currently exhibited at The Palm near Beach Park. Launched on Friday, March 11. With 11 prints, each available in two colour wayes, the spring collection is priced between Rs1,800 and Rs3,500.

At the event, Saleem was busy with her clients and equally occupied with the guests was the designer’s photographer friend Tapu Javeri whom she calls: “A great, great friend.”

Among the guest was Imrana Shahryar of Handmade, a new designer craft shop. Talking to The Express Tribune about Saleem’s latest experimentation, Shahryar said: “It’s amazing. She is my former student from Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture, I personally think her collection is one of the best amongst the exhibitions so far.”

Saleem’s project has the technical support of Amin Lakha — a veteran of the textile industry. Sharing the reason for roping in Lakha, Saleem said: “When you enter a field, you need to have the support of a professional, who knows the tricks of the trade. Hence, we opted for Amin Lakha, who has the experiance of working Al Karam for the past two decades.”

Saleem’s collection has six different sources of inspiration, talking about which she said: “ The sozani collection is inspired by Uzbek embroidery; the Mughal collection is inspired by the royal era; the Moroccan is inspired from Moroccan embroidery; the Sixties collection is inspired from the 60’s era in Pakistan; the collection Tree of Life is inspired from the concept of fertility and finally of course there is a collection on block-prints.”

When contacted on the second day of the exhibition to get details of the customer response, Saleem said: “It was so overwhelming! The crowd loved it! We ran out of stock and got some stuff out that we were supposed to exhibit in Lahore.”

For the catalogues, Saleem roped in models Aamina Sheikh and Uzma Khan. “As we had two colour wayes per design, we thought to have two models for the catalogue,” said Saleem.

Final word comes from Aamina Sheikh who was also spotted at the launch: “I was thrilled at the time the shoot was going on. Everything was nicely done and was completely professional. As far as the collection is concerned, it is something that really appeals to me on a very personal level.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2011.

COMMENTS (1)

Ghazala | 13 years ago | Reply Hi I want to buy Dresses of Wardha Saleem, Please let me know the name of outlets fo Wardha Saleem and at where I can visit her outlet becuase I can not visi her Exhibition.
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