Firdous Lawn 2012: Two thumbs down

This year’s collection cannot compare to other lawn powerhouses.

KARACHI:

Firdous Summer Carnival 2012 held at Zevar Hall, Pearl Continental Hotel on Saturday showcased the first volume of summer designs from the house of Firdous. The price of this year’s collection ranges from Rs3,000 to Rs5,000, unlike last year, when it went as high as Rs8,000.

Ironically, last year’s collection got a more enthusiastic response from the customers, despite its steep price range. Considering the fact that the bigger chunk of Firdous’ profits came from their high-priced pret that was hugely popular last year, one assumes that the absence of a separate pret collection is the reason behind a low turnout this year.

When inquired about the change in the choice pattern, director at Firdous Cloth, Omer Saleem explained, “This time our lawn collection consists of two ranges only. One of our ranges offers embroidered lawn designs and the other offers a variety of floral prints without the embroidery. We chose not to present a pret collection this time around.”

Firdous’ embroidered lawn has 16 designs and each design is available in two colours ways, while the floral print collection consists of 14 designs in single colour way only.

Customer Lubna Khan, who labelled the collection as “incomparable” probably failed to notice that Firdous’ lawn was trying too hard to look like Sana & Safinaz last year’s collection — from panels to colour scheming.

Another customer Fatima Niazi, compared it to Asim Jofa’s collection and said, “Firdous designs are not even close to the refined material and extensive embroidery and velvet borders that Jofa Lawn offers. Yes, Firdous is cheaper, but Jofa is on a different level altogether.”

Saleem, however, took the feedback lightly and went on to highlight the issue of gas supply that caused a problem in the production process. “The problem was the worst in Punjab and unfortunately most of our mills are in Faisalabad.” Despite the technical hindrances, the director asserted they were able to launch their collection on time, and that three more lawn collections are expected to come out this season.

When asked about the kind of response Sonam Kapoor’s endorsement fetched for Firdous Summer Collection 2012, Saleem explained, “With the youth as our target market and Sonam Kapoor as a fashion icon, we thought that she will serve as the best brand ambassador for our customers in Pakistan and abroad. And, according to our expectations, the response has been satisfactory.”

The exhibition will continue till Monday.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2012.