Risk-taker Sanam Chaudhri steps into retail

Sanam will design prêt wear for textile house Bonanza and feels high-street fashion needs to be promoted in Pakistan.

KARACHI:

A textile graduate of the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and winner of the Best Dressed Female on the Red Carpet at the Lux Style Awards 2012, Sanam Chaudhri is no stranger to style. And with her edgy, neon, in-your-face collection Kage at Fashion Pakistan Week (FPW) 4 last year, she proved she is not afraid to take risks. Chaudhri has now sealed the deal with textile house Bonanza and will be making clothes in mass production.

“I have wanted to do retail for a very long time now,” says Chaudhri, thrilled about her new endeavour. “When Bonanza’s flagship store opened at Dolmen City Mall, Frieha Altaf introduced me to Hanif Bilwani [of Bonanza] and the next thing I know, voila! The label approached me to design their prêt collection.”

Chaudhri will be working on 10 designs with two colourways; out of 10, eight will fall in the casual clothing line and the remaining will be formal wear. With a price ceiling of Rs4,000 on casuals, the entire collection will be out in stores by the end of March or beginning of April.

“I’m doing a prêt line for Bonanza in order to reach a broader and larger audience,” she continues, talking about why she took the step to work with the label. “I’ll be using bright colours such as corals, greens, pinks, blues as well as black and white for the sake of relief.” She admits her hemlines went up over a year ago and she will stick to shorter shirts with this collection as well; some will have volume and some structure. “The designs would mostly be solid but some will be printed as well,” she adds.

Apart from prêt wear, Chaudhri says she would love to do lawn. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” she says. “But to be honest, no one ever approached me. And secondly, I need a financier.” Excited with the idea, she says she wouldn’t stick to the conventional three-piece suit when she enters the lawn industry and would take it to another level.



In her career, Chaudhri has worked with numerous designers. Starting her career off as an intern for Shamaeel Ansari to becoming a young interior designer at Asad Tareen and Naheed Mashooqullah; with mentors Zahir Rahimtoola and Maheen Khan, she entered the realms of retailing as well.

High-street fashion

Chaudhri says high-street fashion needs to be promoted in Pakistan. “High-street fashion is so well-groomed internationally but not in Pakistan,” she says regretfully. “Clothes are supposed to be fun and I want to keep it that way — there should be no fuss. That is my style philosophy.” She feels her prêt wear collection is all about having a distinct style. “People are always fussing about something or the other and then they start doing it with clothes as well,” she says.

She believes the concept of such clothing lines in the country needs to be remodeled. “Fashion needs to be affordable as well,” she continues. “Everyone should have variety in their wardrobes.”

Recalling the controversy that arose at the showcasing of her collection Bitten at FPW3, Chaudhri –when Mathira had a wardrobe malfunction that revealed a little more than was planned — Chaudhri says, “Mathira turned it into a fuss— no one is racier than her.”

“A malfunction happened on the ramp which was not intended and was greatly unfortunate. Having said that, the collection still received a good response.”

Speaking about Kage, which she describes as a collection meant for a woman who is “powerful and a warrior”, Chaudhri says, “I just cannot resist tie-and-dye fabric. I’ve had a long love affair with this art.”

She currently stocks her collections at Labels and Fashion Pakistan Lounge (FPL). The future seems bright for this designer as she has interior design projects in the pipeline and is also planning to start a luxury prêt wear collection under her own label.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th, 2013.            

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