Ready, steady, shop

Ensemble launches its in-house collection as designers start stocking autumn/winter 2010 collections.

KARACHI: As wedding season rolls around, and fashionistas start preparing their wardrobes for fashion week, the usual question of ‘but what shall we wear’ arises. Multi-label retail stores such as Melange, L’Atelier, Fashion Pakistan Lounge, The Boulevard, Labels and Ensemble have helped with that dilemma.

Ensemble launched its in-house collection this week, as well as the Autumn/Winter 2010 collections by 16 designers who stock at the store.

Ensemble’s own collection is based on a peacock theme. Ensemble’s Shehrnaz Husain says that the “colour theme, motif, embroidery and the print has been inspired by the peacock. It is a beautiful bird and in the history of the Indian, Iranian and Chinese cultures, this bird is significant as far as design history is concerned be it embroidery or carpet weaving.”

The collection features 29 designs with both an ethnic and western influence, which Husain said was targeted to their contemporary clientele that can style the clothes based on where they’re travelling to, and ranges between Rs1,800 and Rs42,000.

Writer Mohsin Sayeed, who was at the event, said, “The Husains are the guardians of good taste, otherwise what people are doing is plain mediocrity. Even these blockprints in the peacock collection are different from the traditional stuff.” Praise for the collection also came in from stylist Saba Ansari (who said she was “in  love” with it) and Tehmina Khaled.

While collections by designers such as Umar Sayeed, HSY and Maheen Karim appear targeted to those buying outfits exclusively for weddings, others have stocked casual cotton designs, including Kamiar Rokni and Faiza Samee. Rokni told The Express Tribune, “I’ve done a lot of dark colours. It is efficient ready-to-wear.”

The Indian contingent has stocked new designs as well. Ritu Kumar’s bridal collection of lehengas - priced between Rs75,000 and Rs220,000 - as well as kaftan style shirts by Tarun Tahiliani and anarkalis by Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Anamika Khanna are available at the store.

The Indian collection is pricier than designs by Pakistani labels such as, Nomi Ansari, Umar Batool, Nida Azwer, Sanya Muneer, Muse and Hunar. Ansari said his collection was a luxury pret one, which “anyone can afford”.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2010.