Samia Azmay: A little something for everyone

Talking footwear with shoes and handbags designer Azmay Shahzada.

ISLAMABAD:

Azmay Shahzada looks up from behind the counter at her store in Beverley Centre, Islamabad where she is immersed in dealing with her incoming line of shoes, handbags and accessories. Her sister and business counterpart, Samia, is away, leaving Azmay to handle inventory and management.

The duo has been actively designing shoes for the past 15 years and has amassed a wealth of experience in their 12 years of retail. High-grade leather is imported from Italy and is combined with skilled, local assembly to provide quality work and maintain the brand’s prolific sales. As a result, Samia and Azmay are hailed as pioneers of formal footwear in Pakistan (fusing international and local footwear trends), and have branches in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad.

These days the sisters are busy with their upcoming collection. After emerging from the demands of Eid season, the store now prepares for its new arrivals that differ exponentially from the brand’s prior collection.

“For Eid, we did six flats with a lot of silver, gold, off-whites and neutrals appropriate for the season,” explains Azmay. Additionally, the display also had groovy high heels (with bow-detailing) as well as wedges, and shorter heels for the comfort or conservative-minded. A particular standout from the racks was a red creation that was foreshadowing Samia & Azmay’s forthcoming collection. A colourful high heel, encrusted with Swarovski crystals and plied with satin ribbon, this ruby-coloured beauty was for those who wanted to make bold statements on Eid.

“Like you saw with the red shoe,” comments Shahzada, “coloured shoes are in. The collection that’s coming out within the next few days will have a lot of colourful tones and stones. The focus is on jewel tones like emerald, fuchsia, red, navy, etcetera.”

Shahzada also elucidates the store’s take on flats. Although they’ve got a sundry diverse variety ranging from formals to casuals, with a tad bit of bling thrown into the mix, the trend is now leaning towards subtlety and durability for casual flats (flats, that more often than not, tend to get be worn casually). “Bling is going out of style for casual flats,” she adds. Footwear ignoramuses, kindly take note.

At Samia & Azmay Shahzada, there’s a little something for everyone. Apart from adult footwear, the display rack stacks envelope bags (“the latest rage these days”), colourful wallets and the store’s trendsetting and hallmark collection for kids — a hot buy since well-crafted and upscale shoes for children are rare, and it’s not easy finding Red Riding Hood inspired ballet shoes anywhere else in Islamabad. “The reason we started was because we wanted to utilise this gap in the market. No one does children’s footwear like we do.” The line for kids, comparable to the variety available at international stores the like of Next and Mothercare, also boasts cost-effectiveness. The spare, coloured leather that can’t be used for adults gets used in the children’s collection. Again, these sell like hot cakes, with prices ranging from Rs1,200-2,000, depending on the size. The prices for regular shoes range from Rs2,500-9,000 (also depending on size).

“The business in Islamabad has picked up tremendously,” says Shahzada. With wedding season peeking demurely around the corner, she expects a deluge of customers and purchases. “I think my only issue with Islamabad is the retail scene, it needs to develop more in terms of space. Retail here is ridiculously expensive,” the entrepreneur adds.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th,  2011.