After Lahore and Peshawar, Pasho brings a digital treat to Karachi

Prints are inspired from floral landscapes, Shakespearean quotes and famous international buildings.

KARACHI:

A new designer label has stepped into the busy world of digital prints. Pasho held an Eid exhibition at Grandeur Gallery on October 12 and 13, showcasing some refreshing and edgy digital prints. Run by a team of friends — Palwasha Zubair, Sarah Nadir, Amna Shah and Maliha Ameen — the brand is just a few months old and has thrived on exhibitions in Lahore, and Peshawar other than Karachi.

Apart from a few embroidered pieces, the collection featured around 28 digital prints inspired from floral landscapes, quotes from Shakespeare and Rumi, as well as some of world’s renowned buildings. The label played with Egyptian cotton, chiffon and crepe silk to conjure a fun collection that offers some relief from the assortments of digital prints on offer. “Photoshop is awesome and is not restricted by colour. You can make anything and in any form or texture,” says Amna Shah, the head designer for the label. Although the work depicts the label’s young and hip artistic sensibility, Shah highlights that at times it’s not commercially viable.

We wonder if four cooks spoil the broth when it comes to Pasho. But Shah asserts that each member contributes to the best of their abilities. Currently, the four of them are based in Lahore and work from a small office space.

Shah, a self-confessed Tumblr junkie, has a huge number of reference folders that she delves into for inspiration. She is confident that while the collection may not be meant for everyone, it will find space in wardrobes of young fashionistas in Karachi.

Zubair looks mostly into production and cuts, and promises that the collection will be “exclusive” in the sense that “no three girls will be wearing the same print”. This aspect may appeal to shoppers who are tired of showing up to tea parties looking like the Bobbsey Twins.

While Shah and Zubair make up the creative team, Nadir and Ameen are more the business-handlers with Nadir handling the marketing and Ameen dealing with the capital. “I never saw fashion as an art, but was truly inspired by Elie Saab and D&G. It’s a tough call for us to bring forward fun, funky and eclectic stuff but I am learning the technical things about it,” says Nadir.

Pasho’s exhibitions in Peshawar and Lahore were well-received and profitable. However, it seemed that Karachiites were not too enthusiastic, with only a few customers visiting on and off. Hence, the label is still evaluating its viability in the city, according to Zubair.

For every fashion label, the biggest decision is to step into retail. Yet, that is not something on their minds for now. “For now we are involved in creating a new line every two or three months and also planning to take this exhibition to Islamabad,” says Shah.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2013.

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