Here comes the bride, all dressed in lawn

Will the fabric’s increasing popularity make it a top choice for brides?

KARACHI:

With fashion designers launching their own line and with many textile mills bringing forth their lawn collections, there is no doubt that the fabric is becoming increasingly popular in Pakistan. This year saw lawn forge a new trend in Pakistan’s fashion scene. Having taken the form of a more sophisticated option of clothing laced with embroideries, chiffon dupattas and pattis, lawn is gradually changing the perceptions and choices of fashion-conscious women.

The shift in the use of lawn makes one wonder if the fabric will ever be used as bridal wear. The Express Tribune caught up with some designers to get their opinion on whether this lightweight, sheer cloth will ever make it to bridal dresses and whether brides, in turn, would like it as part of their trousseau.

A few months ago, fashion designer Maheen Khan, who recently did a collection called Mint for Nisha Summer Collection, said, “I’d love to see a bride in a complete lawn ka jora.”

Meanwhile, Kamiar Rokni from The House of Kamiar Rokni, who has not yet toyed with lawn at all, said; “I don’t think lawn will ever catch on as a wedding fabric as no one is really wearing lawn to weddings these days.”

However, acknowledging that the fabric has already moved to evening wear, Rokni added that, in a few years, it may progress to weddings as well. “One could make a fabulous nikkah gharara for a summer wedding.”

If given an option of designing a bridal dress, Rokni says he would go for traditional embellishments. “If I was to use lawn, it would definitely have elements of chikan kari, gota, and zardozi embellishments.”

Maria Butt, popularly known as Maria B, who was the only designer who did stitched lawn this year apart from doing unstitched lawn, believes the use of the fabric in bridal outfits will never be accepted. While a number of people might be willing to wear it to others’ weddings in the summer, the designer feels that a bride will never be satisfied with receiving a lawn trousseau.

“Lawn is increasingly used for formal wear due to the value additions. It’s already being used for evening and dinner wear and thanks to our weather; it is even acceptable to wear it at summer weddings. But a bridal outfit in lawn is something that will not be accepted as it defies the essence of the bridal jora.”

Huma Adnan of FnkAsia joins the list of designers who are critical of lawn’s progress to bridal wear. “Lawn is part of pret wear and will always remain so. It can never be treated as a formal wear. Formals and value-added fabrics have the richness which lawn doesn’t have,” said Adnan, dismissing the speculation that the fabric will one day reach weddings.

“Wedding wear requires  a certain flounce and richness and value-addition. A lawn print cannot be worn at weddings. It can, at most, be worn as evening tea-party-wear but it’s unacceptable even at a dinner!”

Meanwhile, designers vary in their opinion on how the prices of bridal wear will be affected should lawn take over. “The price will decrease a little but there will be a lot of use of hand embroideries and value-additions so the difference won’t be too noticeable.”

Whereas, Rokni, who also agrees that the price of the trousseau will decrease if it’s made out of lawn, believes, “The cost difference will not be enough for people to consider it as a viable option.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2011.