Ali Haider’s first fashion venture is underwhelming

KARACHI: The debut fashion venture by Ali Haider, a store called Qarar, offers nothing new in Karachi’s saturated bridal couture market.

Qarar, named after the former pop singer’s album title, opened at Karachi’s Dolmen Mall recently.

According to a salesperson at the store, “the concept behind the clothing line was bridals”, but the offerings are nothing new. The fabric, embroidery and embellishment are easily available at Rabi Centre  (right next door to Dolmen Mall) and Aashiyana.

The ready-to-wear bridal collection at Qarar is being sold at a 10 per cent discount, and features a variety of shalwar suits, saris and shararas. The shop also stocks a limited collection of shalwar suits for men in dominant shades of brown and beige.

However, the collection is pricey, given that Haider announced it would be ‘reasonably priced’ and the shop’s location is popular with middle-class and lower middle-class buyers.

Ali Haider spoke to The Express Tribune about his new venture.

Who is manufacturing and designing the clothing line?

We have a team based here in Karachi by the name of Shahnaz-Sughra. They are local designers doing locally based designs. As far as the menswear line is concerned, it has been mostly done by me.

Where is the funding coming from?

I have two partners, Agha Dawar and Haji Imran. We are good friends and I am fortunate to be partnering with these people instead of some others.

When you announced the line, you said the clothes would be reasonably priced. However, the saris cost more than Rs25,000 and some even ranged above Rs37,000. How do you believe this caters to the middle class which shops in the area?

Look at the work, the fabric and the material used in making the final product. You can say that even the shararas are expensive … that is correct but then we are specifically doing bridal couture at the moment.

Having said that, we are also stocking kurtis for women which are priced at Rs999.

We have just opened the store and we plan to descrease the prices when we open a second store in Bahadurabad, which should be soon.

How has the response been so far?

The first three days were brilliant. We are primarily doing bridal couture for men and women. The kurtas for men, which feature light embroidery, have also been selling very well.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2010.