Elle’mint Pret presents its Eid collection

25 budding designers showcase their work with 700 pieces.

KARACHI:

With Eid less than two weeks away, the little known and popular fashion designers all over the country have gone into overdrive with one exhibition after the other. In this frenzy, multi-brand store Elle’mint Pret showcased their Eid collection on Monday with 700 pieces by 25 designers, most of whom have not yet established a name for themselves in the industry.

“We are very excited about our Eid Fete,” said owner Afreen Shiraz, who herself was wearing a white Ayesha Khurram kurta bearing a Mughal-inspired print that had Swarovski embellishments on each turban.

“For Eid, our designers have played with bold and festive colours and the fabric used has a lot of shimmer, sequins and beads. The collection that we are offering here is contemporary and not traditional.”

While there were only a handful of designers present at the event, The Express Tribune got the chance to speak to Pinky Durrany, who said her collection ‘Pinx’ is “comfortable and easy-to-wear for the summer with simple cuts and  a lot of layers.” “My collection is for the trendy yet classy woman who likes to experiment with her style.” ‘Pinx’ is priced between Rs5,000 to Rs15,000.

One interesting collection at the exhibition is that of Sofia N Lari, whose label SNL brings forward the ‘Chamak Patti’ collection – priced between Rs6,000 to Rs13,000 —with diamantes, bling and summer colours. Designer Sarah Yasir’s label by the same name presented ‘The colour riot’, a collection primarily based on draped linen fabric, priced between Rs2,000 to Rs5,000.

While the pool of shoppers present was considerably small around 2pm, Shiraz exclaimed: “There is not much rush at this time, but you should have seen it at 11  in the morning – women were standing in a queue to get inside!”

Most of those who were present at the store gathered around designer Ayesha Khurram’s collection, which has recently become popular for its straight, pop-art inspired kurtas. The designer herself was nowhere to be seen, but she told The Express Tribune over the phone: “I always try to do something different and that itself gathers a lot of appreciation. I am not totally amazed by the response I have received and heard about!”

Two customers at the store pledged their faith in Khurram’s designs. Housewife Ayesha Azhar said that she only buys her kurtas “because of their different cut and the fabric.” Another guest Rabia Aqueel said: “I am a big fan of Ayesha Khurram’s creations. Ever since she opened up, I have only bought her collection, which is trendy, pretty and not gaudy at all. It fits me perfectly well.”

Khurram’s designs – priced between Rs7,500 to Rs 13,000 at the exhibition – are also being stocked by Pernia’s Pop-up Shop, a leading Indian webstore that stocks Indian bigwigs like Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla. Being the only Pakistani designer among many Indian names on the online store, it seems that Khurram is gaining popularity at home and abroad.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2012.