Missoni Home prepares to launch in Pakistan
The Express Tribune speaks to Fiona Lyda, Director Asia for Missoni Home, as the brand prepares to launch.
LAHORE:
Missoni is a designer textile house known for its eclectic colour blocking and layering to create a textured and ‘casual cool’ look. The Italian brand is well known world over for its high fashion and recently for its home furnishings. The Express Tribune speaks to Fiona Lyda, Director Asia for Missoni Home, as the brand prepares to launch its home furnishings line in alliance with Men’s Store in Pakistan.
Do you see Pakistan as an emerging market for something as niche as designer home furnishings?
I do see Pakistan as an emerging market and that is why we have partnered with Buksh Group because they have amazing ideas to educate and build the brand. Home furnishings is a market that is moving forward very rapidly. Missoni Home seeks to encourage people to live life with the beautiful things around them and not just place them on glass shelves, but to enjoy them with their kids and dogs, and all those elements that make life worth living.
It is a niche but definitely an area that we can fill here. There is a real market for textiles in Pakistan, and a well established one, but we offer something very different to what is currently being produced
What products are you introducing?
We are staring off with our exclusive bath towels, bedding and sheets, textiles and upholstery, rugs and soft furnishings in our signature “put together” style, and will gradually expand our product line.
What have been the challenges so far in bringing the brand to Pakistan?
Getting here has been the hardest. It has been exciting for me as an Australian, we sort of avoid whatever is immediately up and near our borders and just head straight to Europe. So I had never visited this region before.
Do you feel that there is sufficient awareness about the Missoni brand for you to be able to launch it here?
Missoni has very strong visuals and a distinct pattern so it is easy to build the brand in any market. But we do understand that Missoni has a relatively sophisticated design sense, something that is not meant for everyone or will not appeal to everyone. In Pakistan perhaps there isn’t a great deal of awareness yet, but our client base is one that is well travelled so they would be aware of the brand from their travels abroad. We have a significant presence in Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, India, New Zealand, Jeddah and Dubai.
Do you think the Pakistani market is ready for such an esoteric brand then?
The market is certainly ready from what I have gauged in the last two days of being here. It now just needs to be provided for.
Is there any possibility of local manufacturing?
No, absolutely not since Missoni is an Italian brand and Italians take great pride in their origins and their own craftsmanship.
How has your brief encounter with Pakistan been?
Lahore is a beautiful city and is very clean (compared to Delhi where I was a few days ago). The people here are extraordinary in their hospitality and their vibrancy towards life. I guess it is probably because you live under constant pressure, you make most of all the initiatives that come your way otherwise it would be tough. I have noticed that Pakistanis really make sure that life is worth living in every little thing that they do.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 27th, 2010.
Missoni is a designer textile house known for its eclectic colour blocking and layering to create a textured and ‘casual cool’ look. The Italian brand is well known world over for its high fashion and recently for its home furnishings. The Express Tribune speaks to Fiona Lyda, Director Asia for Missoni Home, as the brand prepares to launch its home furnishings line in alliance with Men’s Store in Pakistan.
Do you see Pakistan as an emerging market for something as niche as designer home furnishings?
I do see Pakistan as an emerging market and that is why we have partnered with Buksh Group because they have amazing ideas to educate and build the brand. Home furnishings is a market that is moving forward very rapidly. Missoni Home seeks to encourage people to live life with the beautiful things around them and not just place them on glass shelves, but to enjoy them with their kids and dogs, and all those elements that make life worth living.
It is a niche but definitely an area that we can fill here. There is a real market for textiles in Pakistan, and a well established one, but we offer something very different to what is currently being produced
What products are you introducing?
We are staring off with our exclusive bath towels, bedding and sheets, textiles and upholstery, rugs and soft furnishings in our signature “put together” style, and will gradually expand our product line.
What have been the challenges so far in bringing the brand to Pakistan?
Getting here has been the hardest. It has been exciting for me as an Australian, we sort of avoid whatever is immediately up and near our borders and just head straight to Europe. So I had never visited this region before.
Do you feel that there is sufficient awareness about the Missoni brand for you to be able to launch it here?
Missoni has very strong visuals and a distinct pattern so it is easy to build the brand in any market. But we do understand that Missoni has a relatively sophisticated design sense, something that is not meant for everyone or will not appeal to everyone. In Pakistan perhaps there isn’t a great deal of awareness yet, but our client base is one that is well travelled so they would be aware of the brand from their travels abroad. We have a significant presence in Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, India, New Zealand, Jeddah and Dubai.
Do you think the Pakistani market is ready for such an esoteric brand then?
The market is certainly ready from what I have gauged in the last two days of being here. It now just needs to be provided for.
Is there any possibility of local manufacturing?
No, absolutely not since Missoni is an Italian brand and Italians take great pride in their origins and their own craftsmanship.
How has your brief encounter with Pakistan been?
Lahore is a beautiful city and is very clean (compared to Delhi where I was a few days ago). The people here are extraordinary in their hospitality and their vibrancy towards life. I guess it is probably because you live under constant pressure, you make most of all the initiatives that come your way otherwise it would be tough. I have noticed that Pakistanis really make sure that life is worth living in every little thing that they do.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 27th, 2010.