Hussain believes a fashion designer’s primary concern remains the bridal jora. PHOTOS: PUBLICITY
KARACHI:
Mahin Hussain’s love affair with bags has lasted 10 years, and is still going strong. An IVS grad from the batch of 2002, she speaks earnestly to The Express Tribune about her vision, “It was to be different. A road less travelled, one that has not been taken before.”
It was indeed the one she took, opting to design accessories rather than become a run-of-the-mill apparel designer.
Of her unusual choice, she says, “I wanted to do something missing from the market, something off-beat. I felt I needed to stand out from the crowd.”
Back in 2003, she first started making samples of screen-printed fabric bags out of her house, where she had a tiny workshop. Hussain later attended the London College of Fashion, graduating in 2007 with a diploma in Fashion Accessories. It was here, she recalls, that her understanding of the craft grew.
“It was a very hands-on course, [including] bag making in leather, [ranging] from pouches to belts. It showed me that I could work in a new medium.”
Upon her return to Karachi, Hussain was astonished by current leather trade. “There was a way people would think, and leather at the tanneries was specifically black, brown or beige. There was no supply of bright colours that I could look forward to making a bag in,” she says. However, sometimes lady luck would smile on her, “I would end up getting dark blue and bright orange or deep red sometimes, but these would be one-off pieces.”
In 2008, she launched her label at the Alliance Francaise. “It was supposed to be the first impression,” she says. Since then, she has primarily had an online presence, “I have been posting things on Facebook from day one myself. That is the only way I can interact with my clients.”
She is been best known for her Independence Day collection, which has had the biggest clientele, because of expats. I have priced it such that everyone should be able to buy it.
Currently stocking at Ensemble in Karachi, FP Lounge in Lahore, L’atelier in Islamabad and most recently, FPL here in Karachi, one wonders why doesn’t she have her own store yet. Hussain says, “I am introducing my bridal clutches collection titled An Ode to a Bride at my showroom, which will be located inside my house at Khayaban-e-Janbaz, DHA.”
Recalling her own experiences as a young bride, she says, “When I was getting married, I couldn’t find any special accessory to carry. I want my bride to feel special when she carries her clutch. I wonder why I never thought of doing the bridal clutch earlier, really.”
She is bringing forward two ranges of these bridal clutches; one of heavily embellished velvet printed fabric clutches and the other of lovely embellished jamawaar clutches.
Working with crystals and metallic gold or silver wire, she plans to have eight designs ready for her exhibition on November 29, at her showroom. Believing these clutches will be a special item, she plans to make some customised ones too, for brides “that dare to experiment.”
She says she is not taking the collection to PBCW Lahore 2013, because it’s too late to participate. I have yet to make my debut, perhaps next time.”
An Ode to a Bride collection bags are priced between Rs14,000 and Rs16,000.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2013.
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