Aamir Liaquat introduces his own brand of lawn: “OMG! I can’t stop laughing!”
“I would rather die than buy his lawn.” I wonder why these women have such a negative response towards his new venture
The infamous TV show host Aamir Liaquat Hussain has decided to expand into the fashion world by launching his own lawn brand called ‘Aanchal’, becoming the second religious figure (after Junaid Jamshed) to introduce women’s clothing.
Though it is unsurprising to see public figures from various backgrounds introduce their own clothing brand, the public’s response to his new venture was rather startling. Some of the women whom I shared this news with reacted in the following ways:
And this made me wonder as to why these women – who are Hussain’s target market – have such a negative view towards his new venture. While some found his new project surprising, Hussain himself believes there is nothing surprising about it and that he has always been creative.
Curious to see how his collection looked like, I decided to venture through his product.
Keeping Hussain’s reputation aside, going through his prints made me realise how utterly unimaginative he was. The suits were amateur at best; in fact, a 10-year-old could have done a better job than his designers. From flowers and butterflies to a man playing golf, the whole line was disappointing.
Hussain believes that his line is an ode to ‘life and home’. Well, I don’t think anyone who has seen his prints would agree to that. Odd, yes; ode, not so much.
In Pakistan, there has been a growing trend among celebrities stepping into the field of clothing, introducing their own brands and boutiques. Not to mention, even our fashion designers – who initially would only stick to designing considerably expensive outfits, mostly consisting of bridal, formal and trendy wear – have expanded into the world of lawn.
Nowadays, fashion trends and styles are changing at a pace like never before, and investing in the lawn business has proven to be quite rewarding for most people. That is why we see new designers and celebrities launching their own lawn brand every year, from Sana Safinaz and Umar Sayeed to Deepak Perwani and Nida Azwer.
Interestingly enough, when it comes to celebrities and public figures, it is mostly men who jump into the fashion industry; Shahid Afridi, Ali Haider, Aijaz Aslam, Junaid Jamshed and even Fawad Khan have all been part of this lawn rat-race. Some of the celebrities apparently even venture into the apparel business when their popularity starts to decline or because they decide to retire. The popularity they gain from their respective fields not only helps boost their clothing businesses but also allows them to maintain their popularity amongst admirers.
In the world of marketing, big names always sell. It is not a new concept. That is one reason why many products – especially consumer items – are quite often endorsed by famous public figures as part of advertising and promotional strategies. For example, we see Kareena Kapoor endorsing Faraz Manan’s lawn and Humaima Malick donning Nida Azwer’s line. So celebrities who own their own lawn brands are in fact cashing in their popularity to sell their product.
As long as the trend-setters can succeed in keeping their target market happy by creating demands and exploiting it well, this wave shall keep taking its course towards the boom. We might see even more public figures offering their lines of clothing to the fashion savvies out there.
However, in order for Aanchal to work, Hussain would need to up-his-game significantly. It is too early to decide if a clothing brand carrying his name would be successful or not, but one thing is for sure: The public demands better styles and designs, irrespective of who is selling it to them. So it would do Hussain well to rethink his designs and bring in better people to facilitate his new venture.
Unlike his raw feats of playing with Tahir Shah’s hair and feeding mangoes to people on his TV show, Hussain needs to bring in finesse for Aanchal to sell.
Though it is unsurprising to see public figures from various backgrounds introduce their own clothing brand, the public’s response to his new venture was rather startling. Some of the women whom I shared this news with reacted in the following ways:
“What? No way!”
“OMG! I can’t stop laughing!”
“I will never buy it.”
“I would rather die than buy his lawn.”
And this made me wonder as to why these women – who are Hussain’s target market – have such a negative view towards his new venture. While some found his new project surprising, Hussain himself believes there is nothing surprising about it and that he has always been creative.
“I was already doing the kurta range for men, you must be aware of that. But I have always had a large female following and I have always been a creative man. That’s all there is to it.”
Curious to see how his collection looked like, I decided to venture through his product.
Keeping Hussain’s reputation aside, going through his prints made me realise how utterly unimaginative he was. The suits were amateur at best; in fact, a 10-year-old could have done a better job than his designers. From flowers and butterflies to a man playing golf, the whole line was disappointing.
Hussain believes that his line is an ode to ‘life and home’. Well, I don’t think anyone who has seen his prints would agree to that. Odd, yes; ode, not so much.
In Pakistan, there has been a growing trend among celebrities stepping into the field of clothing, introducing their own brands and boutiques. Not to mention, even our fashion designers – who initially would only stick to designing considerably expensive outfits, mostly consisting of bridal, formal and trendy wear – have expanded into the world of lawn.
Nowadays, fashion trends and styles are changing at a pace like never before, and investing in the lawn business has proven to be quite rewarding for most people. That is why we see new designers and celebrities launching their own lawn brand every year, from Sana Safinaz and Umar Sayeed to Deepak Perwani and Nida Azwer.
Interestingly enough, when it comes to celebrities and public figures, it is mostly men who jump into the fashion industry; Shahid Afridi, Ali Haider, Aijaz Aslam, Junaid Jamshed and even Fawad Khan have all been part of this lawn rat-race. Some of the celebrities apparently even venture into the apparel business when their popularity starts to decline or because they decide to retire. The popularity they gain from their respective fields not only helps boost their clothing businesses but also allows them to maintain their popularity amongst admirers.
In the world of marketing, big names always sell. It is not a new concept. That is one reason why many products – especially consumer items – are quite often endorsed by famous public figures as part of advertising and promotional strategies. For example, we see Kareena Kapoor endorsing Faraz Manan’s lawn and Humaima Malick donning Nida Azwer’s line. So celebrities who own their own lawn brands are in fact cashing in their popularity to sell their product.
As long as the trend-setters can succeed in keeping their target market happy by creating demands and exploiting it well, this wave shall keep taking its course towards the boom. We might see even more public figures offering their lines of clothing to the fashion savvies out there.
However, in order for Aanchal to work, Hussain would need to up-his-game significantly. It is too early to decide if a clothing brand carrying his name would be successful or not, but one thing is for sure: The public demands better styles and designs, irrespective of who is selling it to them. So it would do Hussain well to rethink his designs and bring in better people to facilitate his new venture.
Unlike his raw feats of playing with Tahir Shah’s hair and feeding mangoes to people on his TV show, Hussain needs to bring in finesse for Aanchal to sell.