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The duo takes off
Asifa & Nabeel, a label formerly associated with evening
wear more than anything else, has begun branching out towards
mainstream fashion.
By Sonya Rehman
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Starting
out in 1997 at a time when the fashion industry in Pakistan was just
about picking up, cousin-duo, Asifa and Nabeel, began fashion designing
on a very small scale in the city of Lahore.
Since Nabeel designed outfits for family members every now and then
and while Asifa had of late completed college, both of the two decided
to put up their very first exhibition at Xinhua - a trendy Chinese
restaurant known as much for fashion exhibitions than food. What followed
was immense consumer feedback and much-needed encouragement to progress
in the fashion industry as a dynamic designer pair. However, it was
only until two years ago that the pair decided to open up their first
studio on Lahore's fashion (and restaurant) frenzied road - MM Alam. |
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Focusing mainly
on Western cuts, the duo's original identification remains their sultry/sexy
'ethnic' line. However Asifa and Nabeel have begun to try their hand
at a line which fuses both Western and Eastern styles as well as cuts.
Their 'Red' Valentines Day line was their most recent - a collection
which consisted of evening, formal wear that comprised of chiffons,
silks and contemporary cuts. "We'll be launching our 'Gold' line
very soon," Asifa says, "It'll be a line which is all about
glitter and gold that is very layered, flowy and graceful. The pants
will either be cropped or capris, whereas the tops will be both short
and long - that can be worn either with jeans or as dresses."
With the current rate of accomplishment, the duo now finds itself
opening a second outlet on Karachi's Zamzama road by early next month
in May. |
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Since
both cities have such a diverse sense of style, Asifa states, "I
find Karachi very subtle in terms of fashion - the women are extremely
professional and consider modern and simple apparel very essential.
Lahori women on the other hand place a lot of emphasis in dressing
up and looking good, so you see in that way it's very different between
both cities. This is why both Nabeel and I have been studying Karachi's
fashion tastes so that we can differentiate our lines between each
city, to an extent, even though we'll have part of our Lahore prêt
line available in Karachi, we're going to keep it smart and simple."
With Lahori designers expanding to Karachi and Karachi designers to
Lahore, the country's fashion industry finds itself in a thriving
position as this 'exchange' culminates into a rise in creative competition
and further consolidation of the flourishing market for fashion. |
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