Shehla Chatoor completes 20 years in the fashion industry

Designer celebrates milestone with plans to show at FPW Winter/Festive and launch lawn collection

KARACHI:

Two decades down and Shehla Chatoor continues to spread her creative wings into the fashion skies. From finding her way around to establishing signature aesthetics that can make you recognise a Shehla Chatoor outfit from afar, it’s almost as if her evolution from the unknown to the known is tantamount to that of the local fashion industry. Having already gained ground in Pakistan and slowly making her presence known across the border, the designer has much to celebrate. As her business hits 20, The Express Tribune takes a trip down her career and explores what tricks she has up her sleeve for the future.

“Just thinking about the fact that it has been 20 years is surreal. I can’t thank God enough for his blessings. It has been fabulous and exhilarating but above all, it has been a great learning experience,” says Shehla. She shares that nothing excites her more than seeing her creative imagination translate to reality. “This is just the beginning of a profession that has become an irreplaceable part of my life,” she adds.





Competition continues to grow stiffer in the industry and that, according to her, has made her strive harder to achieve great heights. “My time in the field of fashion has been challenging, considering that the industry has become growingly competitive,” she admits. But the road to success has been anything but smooth sailing for the designer.

“It hasn’t been easy but my love for fashion, beauty and art has made my time in the industry worthwhile,” she states. When she first started her career, she had to jump through many hoops, with the main one being lack of human resources. “This problem still exists today but it’s my love for fashion that keeps me going,” she shares.



Starting off at a time when social media hadn’t emerged to the fore, there were limited platforms available to create brand awareness. “There were rarely any fashion shows to showcase my collection either,” she goes on to say about the obstacles she faced in way of establishing her brand. “All this has changed now. But, of course, the developments come with challenges of their own.”

Having designed outfits for many known faces in the industry, Shehla has eventually found her true calling. From Bollywood actor Amy Jackson of Singh Is Bliing sporting her designs to local celebrities, such as Ayesha Omar and Sanam Saeed, being regular visitors at her design studio, she has dressed the crème de la crème of the entertainment world. “In these 20 years, I’ve dressed many talented and gorgeous women. The concept of dressing celebrities for the red carpet didn’t exist when I started off but it has picked up pace in recent times,” she says.



Shehla is gearing up to showcase her offerings at Fashion Pakistan Week Winter/Festive  (FPW) this month, stating that this is the best way to celebrate her brand’s milestone. “The best way to celebrate fashion is by doing what one is best at. I will bring something completely different to the ramp this year. It’ll be an amalgamation of what the brand was and is today,” she shared.

“What have remained constant in my brand’s evolution are its elements of glamour, sophistication and timeless elegance,” she notes. Shehla says her FPW collection will represent her growth as a designer and the skills she has acquired over the years. Her collection will feature bridal-wear, something she has mastered over the past two decades.

After having worked at full throttle towards designing formals, Shehla will soon take a leap into launching her lawn collection for the summer season. As for a collection she deems her favourite, she says her most difficult yet inspiring line so far has been ‘Misaki’. “It was sculptured yet utilitarian, innovative, and structured with a high glamour quotient. It was also one of the most difficult collections because it required a great deal of research to develop new techniques,” she shares. And who does she think is the quintessential ‘Shehla’ woman? “She’s one who is confident, strong and sophisticated. Such is the kind of woman I love to dress.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th, 2015.

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