Fashion: Dareecha opens first retail outlet

If you are a fan of pashmina shawls, go and check out Dareecha.

LAHORE:

Pashmina shawls are one of those items that never really go out of style, no matter where in the world you are. Wrap it around your neck to keep yourself warm or simply throw it over your shoulders as an extra accessory – these shawls can be worn both casually and formally. There are various kinds of pashmina shawls available in the market, but Kashmir boasts about manufacturing the most versatile and high quality pashmina in the world.

Dareecha opened its first retail outlet at Vogue Towers in Lahore last weekend. They have been in the business of manufacturing pashmina shawls for about 40 years and decided it’s finally time to meet the customers on more of a personal level.

They sold their products on a wholesale level initially to huge retailers such as Saleem Fabrics at Liberty Market in Lahore. So few people knew what Dareecha actually was. An old customer told The Express Tribune, “I always used to wonder who made the shawls I used to buy from Saleem Fabrics and now I am so happy that there is a store with a wide range of collection available under one roof.”

Arsalan Ahmed, the man organising the night, (from Verve, an event management firm) said: “The most important thing to notice here is the quality of the product and the price they are offering it at. I mean a shawl for PKR15,000 is very reasonable for an item of this quality.” The store, designed by Saad Kureshi of Architects Inc. (a well known construction company in Pakistan) has a modern as well as very traditional touch at the same time.

This novelty store carries motifs, shawls and clothes (hand-made and machine-embroidered with a wide range of colours) designed by the in house team at Dareecha. The designs are both traditional and modern, exactly how the store has been set up. As far as prices are concerned, the range remains somewhere around PKR5,000 for a three-piece suit.

One might question why the store’s owner, Idraak, decided to open the outlet during peak summers but be assured that the store also offers cotton outfits embellished with embroidery fit to wear during this hot weather. He said, “Once the winter hits we plan on bringing a collection of linen and marina outfits.”

Kashmiri embroideries might not be everyone’s piece of cake and not everyone will appreciate them but for those who do, Dareecha is the one stop solution to everything Kashmiri.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12^th, 2012.