Fashionably boring: Lacking aesthetic sense or brand concept

Aisha Khurram fails to make an impression during her launch at Melange.

ISLAMABAD:

With a massive eruption of household designers trying to infiltrate the main stream fashion industry it is even more annoying to find a desirable outfit from a pile of riff raff stocked at most outlets around the country.

From housewives-cum-designers to business majors turning to the designing profession, Pakistan has seen it all. What most fail to realize that any fashion house whether high end or high street has a brand concept.

With the exception of a few Pakistani designers such as Khadija Shah, Sana Safinaz, Ali Xeeshan, Mohsin Ali and Ayesha Hashwani to name a few, most designers lack a brand concept. Aisha Khurram remains one of those housewife turned designer whose lack of innovation disappointed.

Launching on June 15 at Melange, Khurram’s collection was nothing special and failed at making a statement. Rather than producing something aesthetically pleasing and different, Khurram’s collection was run of the mill and over done. It was just an effort sell and not one at giving the customer something unique to choose from.

“I have a new design concept every day that’s what sets me apart,” Khurram said, adding that she has a client to client based design concept. However what most designers fail to realize is that in order to make it big even in a relatively small fashion industry it is imperative to be inventive and different. Khurram’s collection might sell but it cannot be considered fashionable styling.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17th, 2011.