High-street fashion: Flaunt it runway style

Plush presents pop-up shop featuring tops, scarves and jewellery.

ISLAMABAD:

Life is too short to wear boring clothes, according to the designers at Cushnie et Ochs. However, it is never too late to grab a quirky outfit to brighten up your wardrobe, from a boutique right around the corner.

A week-long exhibition of ready-to-wear clothing for women, titled “The Pop-Up Shop”, concluded here on Monday. Housed at the cozy Plush Boutique, the exhibition featured a plethora of both casual and formal tops, cotton and silk scarves and chunky pieces of jewellery.

Pashmina Ahmed, designer and owner of Plush Boutique, said she wanted to experiment by bringing high-street fashion labels to the local fashion scene, which is how the idea of the pop-up shop was born.



“The exhibition has been a huge success, most of the tops were sold out during the first half of the week,” she said. On the other hand, the scarves did not sell so much, considering people tended to feel warm wearing them in the summer, she added.

While keeping it trendy, the designer ensured all tops were well within the price range of Rs3,000, with the highest-priced item selling for Rs2,800. Similarly, the scarves cost Rs1,000 each.

Lined on a rack, the tops of varying sizes and shapes came in a plethora of colours. There was an emphasis on tangy orange, hot-chili red, cool aqua and neon. “I’ve noticed that many people are getting more experimental with their wardrobe lately, as they are going for a lot of bright colours,” she said.

With the pop-up collection and her own creations, the designer decided to take the edgy route. Whereas the cuts were fairly simple, the choice of fabric and ornamentation spruced up the outfits. The tops came in a multitude of prints including polka dots, animal prints, florals, stripes, high-heels and sails.



Similarly, the jewellery pieces, mostly necklaces, comprised a bold mix of semi-precious gems, colourful beads, metallic ribbons and spikes. Keeping in mind the hottest trends, the designer has made a brave fashion statement with the summer collection and is all set for another round before autumn sets in.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2013.