GulAhmed gives back

Textile giant acknowledges student designers at award ceremony.

KARACHI:


Textile giant GulAhmed acknowledged student designers at an award ceremony held on March 17, at the DHA Golf Club’s Convention Centre in Karachi. The brand invited students from various fashion schools to display their creativity in garments and accessories.


The company took the initiative as a part of its corporate social responsibility. Having earned success from a loyal customer base, the First Annual GulAhmed Fashion Awards 2011 was held with the spirit of giving back to society as a token of appreciation. Sharing the details of the inspiration behind the project, director GulAhmed Ziad Bashir said: “These are some of the best fashion students of Pakistan, and have strong creative talent. It’s time we give back to society, the society whose endless support has made us who we are today. Hence, we are holding the GulAhmed Fashion Awards 2011.”

Speaking on the philosophy of the event, Bashir said: “We don’t give back to the educational sector of our society, we don’t provide a platform to young talent, the event is the first of its kind. The quicker we bridge the gap between educational institutes and business setups, the better it will be for the economy. The way textile and fashion have teamed up [in the recent past], the students should be recognised, credited and become a part of the success.”

Three students from each of the five fashion schools of Pakistan participated at the event. While their designs were donned by models walking the ramp, their creativity in accessories was displayed off the ramp.

The participating schools were Asian Institute of Fashion Design (AIFD) and Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVS) from Karachi; Iqra University from Islamabad; and National College of Art and Architecture (NCA) and Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design (PIFD) from Lahore.

The students of NCA shared their thoughts with The Express Tribune, as they displayed their accessories. The participants said they had little idea about how grand the event would be. They further said that participating in such a large-scale event was a great experience.

The judges for the competition were Muniba Kamal, Aamna Isani, Nabila, Fareshteh Aslam, Ayesha Tammy Haq, Kamiar Rokni, Maheen Khardar, Tariq Amin, and Ayesha Hashwani. The fashion veterans rated the candidates based on their work in both garments and accessories.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Maheen Kardar of Karma said: “Twelve years ago, I was in the same position [with no outlet]. But today this platform provided by GulAhmed surely empowers and encourages the young students.”

Kamiar Rokni of The House of Kamiar Rokni said: “It’s a great idea to give a platform to young students. Leaders have to be visionary. GulAhmed is one such textile leader in the market. This should be something that is held annually and I hope the young student body welcomes it every year.”

The star studded night came to a close with the announcement of the winners in the accessory and fashion competition.It was a great night for the brand all-in-all, ace designers and students both had designed exclusively using their fabric.  We can only hope that like the race of lawn exhibitions, textile mills follow suit by racing to organise such events to help the industry.

The winner takes it all

Here’s a list of students who shone:
Accessory Competition

Winner: Sidra Asim from NCA

Runner up: Ali Yousuf from Indus Valley

Fashion Competition

Winner: Sehar Sadiq from Iqra University

Runner up: Schehrezade Sohail Muzammil from PIFD

Participating schools and students




Asian Institute of Fashion Design, Karachi

Muhammad Annus Abrar

Neil Uchong

Sehrish Butt

Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi

Amna Tariq Moten

Farah Qasim Zaur

Ali Yousuf

National College of Arts, Lahore

Aiman Chughtai

Sania Azhar

Sidra Asim

Iqra University, Islamabad

Sehar Sadiq

Osaf Rehman

Farkhanda Amjad

Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design, Lahore

Hafsa Umar Farooq

Faizan Ahmed Iftikhar

Schehrezade Sohail Muzammil

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19th, 2011.
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