Enchanted Palace: Stories from the past

Designer Omar Mansoor on his inspiration for the London Fashion Week.

ISLAMABAD:

Given Pakistan’s current reputation, it’s always a relief when the country produces ambassadors of an image that goes beyond what is immediately broadcasted to the global media. These are our men and women of the arts, the creative minds who send waves all across the world.

Twenty-nine-year-old Omar Mansoor belongs to this select coterie of Pakistanis abroad. Operating from London, he carved a place for himself in Europe’s fashion scene — recently concluding his fifth London Fashion Week (LFW). Some other designers he shared the runway space with included international names like John Rocha, PPQ and Felder Felder.

Admiring theatricality, Mansoor often opts for strong themes (as suggested by previous collections) in homage to British theatre and John Milton’s epic “Paradise Lost”. Sticking with his penchant for local interest and history, Mansoor pulled out the big guns for LFW Spring/Summer 2012 with his ‘Enchanted Palace’ line that used rosepink tones to communicate the rebelliousness of Princess Charlotte and black for the tragedies of Queen Mary II, who suffered 14 miscarriages. However, despite that, nothing from Mansoor’s collection can be written off as ‘antiquated’. He certainly gets props for relevance: his line was in total accordance with the loose silhouettes and rosepink, ivory and black palettes that dominated LFW this year.

In an interview with The Express Tribune, the designer not only discusses his experience at the LFW, but also shares his opinion on the Pakistani fashion scene.

This has been your fifth LFW, how was it this time around? Was there any drama/backstage politics?

The drama is something which we live with during the fashion week (laughs). No, no major drama this year. The models were very professional and did their best to carry the clothes well.

Tell us about working with that specific theme?

Communicating the princess and queen was a challenge. Luckily I got special support from Historic Royal Palaces  and their curators helped me throughout my visits to collect research on the history of each character and the props related to them. This helped me sense the aura of these characters, which trickled into the collection’s pieces.

Your collection boasted a technical aspect as well, in terms of cut, style, fabric and embellishments. What can we expect from this collection?

The silhouette is very feminine and elegant. I worked with satin and silk chiffon for structure and flow. I haven’t worked with heavy embellishments much — except for the showstopper.

Following the show, what are the sales like? How has the response been?

The sales came out way better than expected, with buyers from the Middle East to Bermuda placing orders. And the reviews were amazing.

What are your thoughts on Pakistani designers foraying into the international fashion scene? Do you see Pakistan coming out as a strong competitor in western markets?

I think Maheen Khan, Umar Sayeed and Parwani are known for their signature styles — they’re really opening doors. In terms of western wear, I witnessed Iman Ahmed and Sadaf Malaterre’s collections at the PFDC Fashion Week, which could sell easily at high-end stores. So yes, I think the country is capable of impressing when it comes to making western wear.



Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2011.