A rainbow of colours at Brands Just Prêt

Designer Moiz Mujtaba launches a clothing collection named after daughter Ashal, meaning rainbow in Hebrew.

KARACHI: Moiz Mujtaba is a designer and more importantly, a father. Putting together his flair for fashion design and love for his three-year-old daughter, he recently launched a clothing collection named after his daughter Ashal Mujtaba, at the multi-brand store Brands Just Prêt, Dolmen Mall, Karachi.



Moiz has introduced this line, “so that when she [his daughter] grows up, she gets to wear outfits of a line” named after her. He tells The Experss Tribune that Ashal means rainbow in Hebrew. His first design was a pink embroidered maxi, which he made for his daughter’s second birthday. Since then, he has been involved in designing clothes for his daughter, wife and sister.

But for the young designer, the sky is the limit. His aims are “enhancing Pakistani embroidery globally,” and to this end, he has brought on board his sister Masuma Hassan Zaidi, who is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Designing, as the brand’s head designer. “I always had a passion for designing,” says Zaidi. Saif Malik, who is managing the brand’s marketing, says that the label will “create a fusion of Pakistani embroidery with western cuts.”



Zaidi tells us that for the outfits at the store, she drew inspiration from the Mughal era, but for the fashion show that took place at the launch, she made Egyptian-inspired pieces. “We have made pieces inspired by Cleopatra,” she says, who “reigned over the hearts of men like Mark Antony and Julius Caesar,” adds Malik. He asserts that today’s women can be bolder and need to express themselves more.



The collection comprises both formal and semi-formal clothes, embellished with kora, dabka and gota with a dash of sequins on fabrics like chiffon and silk. The colour palette of the outfits includes hues of green and blue. On the question of who the brand’s prime competitors are, Moiz responds diplomatically, saying, “We don’t know as yet, but we should know soon.”

The Ashal Mujtaba collection ranges between Rs8,000 and Rs60,000, including both formal and semi-formal outfits.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2013.

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