Gul Ahmed changes things up with its Eid collection

G-pret moves away from traditional fitted kameezes to silhouettes.

KARACHI:

After receiving an overwhelming response for their first G-Pret Eid collection last year, textile giant Gul Ahmed has unveiled its second ready-to-wear Eid collection for women this August.

Embellished with Roberto Cavalli-inspired brooches and diamante, this prêt a porter collection contains outfits with sleek cuts and sophisticated flairs.

“G-Pret is a formal line dictated and influenced by various fashion trends and styles — both traditional and modern,” said Assistant Manager Local Markets at Gul Ahmed Textiles, Sheeza Arif. Suitable for Eid and other festive occasions, this collection is priced between Rs6,000 and Rs15,000.

As the trend of ready-to-wear apparel takes retail stores by storm, Gul Ahmed has decided to keep with its prêt wear. The concept is rather new to the brand as it launched its prêt line last year, which focused primarily on traditional cuts and styles. But 2012 has been different; their design team has produced more formal attire with contemporary cuts and creative designs. They have moved away from the traditional fitted kameezes to silhouettes and embellished motifs instead of the regular kaam.

“Things are certainly different this year,” said Arif, clearly excited about the collection. “The response was great last year so we went ahead with the idea this year as well but on a different scale.” She says this line is “a fusion of ethnic designs with Western styles — adding flairs and loose cuts.”

The collection encompasses a wide array of fabrics such as pure chiffon, chiffon silk and raw silk — all tailored to appeal to young women. Including subtle colours such as beige, off-white and baby pink, a total of 14 designs have been created for Eid, whereas the entire G-Pret line includes 25 designs with single colour variations. “We are targeting women who largely want to buy stuff that is high-end and exclusive — it is meant specifically for them,” Arif added further.

When asked why Gul Ahmed felt the need to venture into the ready-to-wear clothing market when it’s already known as one of the best quality lawn providers across the country, Arif responded, “We felt that women today don’t want to go to tailors, because of the issues related to the tailoring business.”

Present at the exhibition launch event was Ziad Bashir, Executive Director at Gul Ahmed, who said: “We are now crossing into the realm of evening and formal wear including occasions like Eid. What we are offering the customers is value for their money.” When asked whether they faced any hardships expanding into this line, Bashir responded strongly, stating that they didn’t. “It’s been a natural progression for us — starting from lawn to semi-formal lawn then formal lawn and now this venture,” he remarked, proud of the advancement. “We built the team together and I think we did it at the right time.”

The team has its fingers crossed with the launch of their second Eid collection, hoping for an optimistic response from consumers.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2012.