INSTEP Magzine


Hotstepper of the week Shehryar Sumar

Shehryar Sumar still has 'Argentina' as the country he belongs to on his Facebook profile and sure enough, he's spent most of his adult life in Argentina - Buenos Aires to be exact. But from being a virtual outsider in Pakistan, this young industrialist has easily adapted to the role of textile entrepreneur this year. Not only did he supervise a successful lawn collection under the V9 banner for his family business (Mohammad Farooq Textiles) but even better is the fact that he has taken on the challenge of promoting new designers via his lawn. This year has seen V9 launching the names of Fahad Hussayn and Tara Mehmood, both of whom are delighted with the response they have gotten and are raring to go further. Shehryar promoted the ready to wear they designed at all his lawn exhibitions and sure enough, they picked up a substantial number of orders.

As an industrialist, Shehryar could afford to invest in this kind of venture but as a newcomer to the industry himself, this was a huge accomplishment and encouragement for others. He is Hotstepper for rising as a strong player in an industry that hasn't really put out the welcome mat for him and more so, for rising and taking new talent up with him.

It certainly was entertaining but what had one's interest up was having Tariq Amin back in the driving seat. Though the event had been conceptualized by Shakeel Jaffer (Resource Marketing Consultants), Tariq had the art direction and styling of the show well in his control. He's always been one for individuality as opposed to dressing models up with cookie cutters and likewise, he had given each of the girls and boys (of Oops Inc) a unique look. From wild and blazing hair dos to bold and rocking body art, these 'machines' were dressed to kill. Tariq has been out of the picture for quite some time - two years to be exact - and it has to be said that he has been missed. Eccentric to the core, it is stylists like him (and there aren't many like him in Pakistan) who bring that certain oomph to fashion. "This show is to tell people I'm back," he declared quite happily backstage, "and now I will be doing a lot of work with Tapu Javeri." Tapu, of course, provided the thumping music to the show which went with the theme of the evening with tracks like Prodigy's Firestarter that were chosen so well that they fit the show like a glove.

Which brings us to the unveiling of Yousuf Bashir Qureshi, design whiz who owns the Art Commune in Karachi and has been designing lines for Barney's and Nordstrom for the past six years but hasn't designed for the Pakistani market yet. "I wouldn't put my name to these costumes as this isn't what I usually design," he clarified after the show. "We just tried to put the costumes together to suit the theme and all." Nevertheless, his creative genes did infiltrate onto the trousers and cat-suits that had been jazzed up with mechanical paraphernalia. This show did unveil the designer and one hopes that he will decide to unearth his collections here as soon as possible too. If what he designs has even a percentage of the attitude he carries in his quintessential dhotis and bowler hats, it will be a delight for every fashionista's eyes. Overall, the evening was delightful. It may have been somewhat wasted on the gathering that consisted of corporate types in their suits (petroleum company execs) and quite a few transporters in their shallus but one hopes that Tariq Amin and Yousuf Bashir Qureshi will return, in element, to scintillate a more broadband audience. So here's to a show that pushed the boundaries of entertainment, fashionably, futuristically, The Fifth Element style! Event Concept and Management : Shakeel Jaffer – Resource Marketing Consultants Show art direction and production: Tariq Amin Music: Tapu Javeri Mime choreography Oops Inc and Joshinder Chaggar Costumes: Yousuf Basir and Meher Sheikh from YBQ Studios Models/Dancers: Iraj, Annie, Ayesha Toor, Sanam, Sanam Agha, Tatmain. Josh, Wasif, Nadeem, Danish & Nasir Photos by Tapu Javeri