Shamaeel: Fashion’s power-house

The designer talks about her plans as Fashion Pakistan’s Chairperson.

LAHORE:

It was utterly embarrassing to witness a Xeroxed version of Shamaeel’s Mughal miniature collection while being seated in the same vicinity as the designer herself at Bridal Couture Week in Karachi last week. As pupils dilated with shock, many scrambled to Shamaeel after the show to ask her what she thought. She just smiled, shrugged, and moved on.

Seated a few days later in Shamaeel’s drawing room, I realised that her love affair with miniatures is embedded far more deeply than that of many who pay lip service to it. From the curtains and upholstery, to the paintings that adorned the walls, one could see a merry group of Mughals in a variety of regal poses.

We spoke of fashion and plagiarism and the no-nonsense designer remarked, “It’s okay if someone copies. A true designer needs to evolve and quickly move on. People who buy originals will continue to do so. As a design house, we have done enough of the Mughal miniatures.”

This season Shamaeel is focusing on Chugtais.

Perhaps the pragmatism stems from her training as a finance and corporate law major, and her business background that has lent her the astute approach she has towards designing. She’s also worked as a buying agent in Pakistan, India and China. Even though she was approached by many fashion bodies such as the Bridal Couture Week (BCW) and Pakistan Fashion Design Council to show at their respective weeks, she declined.

“When will you sell if you keep doing these shows?”  So it’s not just the media then that is getting fashion fatigued — clearly some designers are too.

“Talent will burn out like this,” bemoaned Shamaeel. “All these weeks and shows are getting too much. And now with even the media jumping the bandwagon (with reference to Style 360 and now even the Indus Network wanting to dip their hands in fashion) it’s becoming really crazy, and one is clearly losing audiences as one could tell from the attendance at the BCW.”

So will she, as the Chairperson for the Fashion Pakistan Council, make an effort to consolidate the councils to prevent a fashion over kill?

“Right now we are not looking at a merger and haven’t even discussed it as a possibility. We are just trying to get all our legal paperwork in order to get the council operating.”

I scoff that individuals in both councils would never allow for a mutual alliance. “It’s not about individuals,” responds Shamaeel. “It’s the general dynamics of the industry that will not make it possible to merge.”

Her agenda and approach though, is to get older designers to elevate and primp up the shows and officially counsel the new designer members on the nitty-gritty’s of fashion and the running of an enterprise.

She was one of the very first to get into the lawn game in the early 1990s, along with the veteran designer Rizwan Beyg, but stopped, and has now re-emerged. This year, however, lawn took on a whole new dimension.

“I see the lawn business very positively. I feel that older designers have done very well. But please let’s not call it a war. What this trend has told us is that the textile industry has truly recognised designers and can’t work without them.”

I spoke to her of a trade minister who wants designers to stop focusing on clothes and make towels, an idea that seems to offend many talented designers.

“Why should designing be restricted to just clothes? Designers should go for the whole gamut. Calvin Klein’s best selling item is his underwear, as are Tommy Hilfiger’s towels. Pakistan has a textile based economy and we should exploit all opportunities related to this. Make towels, bed linen, accessories,” expounded Shamaeel. “I also do export consultancy on design and therefore know and have experienced that designers are valuable on the textile export business.”

Of all the design graduates that have entered the market, only one, Maheen Hussain, has braved the hang bag market, something that Shamaeel intends on changing by focusing on accessory design in the council.

“Let’s not restrict our designers. Design is everywhere in our life, even a paper weight has been designed by someone. So let’s get this narrow definition of ‘designer are just for apparel’ out of our head,” urges Shamaeel.

With her heading the refurbished Fashion Pakistan Council, one hopes that Shamaeel, the businesswoman, makes headway.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2011.