Exhibition: Look trendy without going broke

Sarah Raza introduces a line of versatile and affordable outfits.

ISLAMABAD:

Just when stocking up on summer wardrobe was getting trickier, a local designer has offered a solution, particularly for the working women. Sarah Raza exhibited her new apparel line SR collections at L’atelier here on Tuesday. The ensemble featured casual and formal one-piece outfits in fresh summery colours.

Designed in 14 different styles, the clothes have been prepared mainly in cotton, lawn and linen materials. To beat the summer heat, bright yellows, pinks and blues have been topped off with laces here and there, in casuals. For the formal pieces, she has used dark blacks, blues and silver laces and brooches, with chiffon loose-cut sleeves.

A long white dress with white crochet lace as the back with big golden buttons was an instant hit among the girls. For those who dare to dress more boldly, there was a yellow tube top with black lace paired up with a black bolero jacket; “I love the colour contrast, its not over the top”  quipped Sana, a customer as she tried on a black top with an abstract print on the collar.

“This line is purely for the girl on a budget, nothing goes over Rs4,800 including the formal shirts,” Sarah said. All of the outfits are unique. “We change the designs every week, there are no repetitions,” she added.

Earlier, L’atelier held a contest on Facebook where girls were asked to guess the name of the clothing line. The person with the right guess received a free shirt piece from the collection. “The idea was to cater to the everyday girl. Instead of professional models, we had regular working girls to model the clothes for us,” said L’atelier CEO Zahra Raza.

The collection will be available throughout the year and will change trends according the season.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2012.

Correction: In an earlier version of this article, Sarah Raza's apparel line SR collections was incorrectly mentioned as RZ collections. The error has been corrected.