Instep:
How much longer do you think it'll take?
AM: If somebody pushes it, students can be enrolled by end of the
year in Karachi. The school will start off in a rented building,
as PSFD Lahore did and the faculty is already there. Incidentally
the keenest city has been Quetta. The governor called us up and
said he had sanctioned 75 acres of land to build a fashion school.
We told them there were no teachers. Plus they need to have some
sort of fashion base, which they don't.
Instep:
When do you feel the fashion graduates will begin having an impact
on the market?
AM: You know, I asked exactly the same question of Mr Broca, who
is the Dean of the Le Chambre School in Paris. It's a very prestigious
school, which you can judge by the fact that last year Louis Vuitton's
chief designer was taking some classes there. I asked him when our
school would impact the market in Pakistan. He asked how many students
had graduated so far. So far only 148 have. He said, "What
do you expect? It's an ambience, an aura of creativity you have
to create and that aura has to gather some critical mass for it
to have an impact."
The Pakistani industry, until and unless it blends into fashion,
will always remain a spinning or commodity producing industry -
no more, no less.
Instep:
Karachi designers often complain that there are hardly any fashion
students at PSFD from Karachi.
AM: Admissions are advertised everywhere in Pakistan. Enrollment
depends on applicants. Most students are females and honestly, how
many parents would allow their daughters to move to a fashion school
in another city?
There is still reluctance.
Instep:
Tell us about the overall progress of PSFD.
AM: The school took off well but then there was a dip that came
with an acute deficiency of qualified faculty. It was difficult
to get professionals. Initially the French helped out and there
was foreign faculty but they left because of the political situation.
The school took a nosedive.
PSFD's progress depends a lot upon the Ministry of Commerce and
how concerned it is. If you have a supportive minister, it works.
All funding comes from the export development funds. We're very
lucky right now and I feel the school is going to go places. At
this point fresh PSFD graduates are the highest paid in Pakistan
and that includes Agha Khan and IBA grads. Their starting salary
is anything between 35 to 50 thousand rupees. Even those who don't
qualify get employed; employment is 100 per cent.
Instep:
Do you think the government has an understanding of fashion?
AM: No. It takes time to synthesize bureaucrats into fashion. They
are somewhat indifferent to the school and its needs. It takes them
a while to get a hang of it. Their initial reaction is "why
waste money?" The government is not very sensitive but we are
lucky to have a good, understanding minister these days.
Instep:
Tell us about the new PSFD campus.
AM: We have started a four year program on fashion merchandising
and marketing. The new campus will also have a school of Gems and
Jewelry and we have teachers from Thailand and Italy. There will
be a furniture school and then textiles and fabrics for furnishing
and apparels, accessories and shoes and technical training. We will
bring in textile chemistry: dyeing and finishing and we have managed
to call in SDC, UK (Society of Dyers and Colourists) for that. We're
also looking for collaboration for a technical garment institute
for which we are in talks with a German university. Our design and
manufacturing capability has to be at par with international standards.
Form has to follow function. We cannot continue designing in a vacuum.
Design has to be used by people. It must be economical, stylish
and appealing. For this there must be synergy. We're late but things
are rolling.
Instep:
How long will it take for an integrated industry to emerge?
AM: Integration will take time; not less than 10 years. A school
in Karachi is crucial. Karachi is the financial centre of the country
as well as being the largest city. If Karachi does not come along,
things will take 20 even 30 years. Lahore alone will not be able
to pull it off. Schools are a must. Without them there is no way
forward. Karachi has some outstanding designers like Maheen and
Deepak Perwani who are also on the board of PSFD. There are others
who are extremely talented. A fashion school in Karachi would do
wonders. NIFT in India produces 700 graduates per year. There are
many more institutes in India. Their growth mushroomed in 1986,
which is why India is making a mark in women's wear today. It will
also happen for us over a period of time.
Instep:
Won't an alliance of cities be necessary for PSFD Karachi?
AM: Not necessarily. Let them develop and emerge separately. Synergy
will come naturally.
Instep:
What is the role of the councils in this dream? Doesn't this require
a united body of designers at least?
AM: When I agreed to join PFDC, it was on the precondition that
there would be one council and for a day or two there was one council
but on the third day I was told it had split up. Right now the idea
is that the PSFD is constituted of designers, industrialists like
myself and then NGO representatives who come with a lot of experience.
People like Roshaney Zafar, Seema Aziz and Azfer Hasan all have
tons of experience. Mobilizing the industry for ready-to-wear will
not only involve designing but also producing and marketing those
designs on a large scale. PFDC will be a forum to facilitate synergy
between designers and manufacturers.
Instep:
Most designers focus on bridals. Won't this hamper the progression
of pret?
AM: PSFD has been focusing on haute couture but that focus has to
shift to pret a porter now. Until and unless the education and orientation
of the designers does not move towards ready to wear, they will
not make a mark on the local market let alone the global market.
There are no two ways about it. Karachi is ahead of Lahore in those
terms. It's a bigger city. There is more demand for ready-to-wear.
Lahore will move that way with the passage of time.
Instep:
Being the largest textile center, it shouldn't be so hard.
AM: The market will dictate the change. The bridal market will not
be able to absorb the graduates once the numbers start increasing.
And yes, Lahore has been the centre for manufacturing global brands,
especially knits. There are no labels short of Armani and Versace
that aren't manufactured here: Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein
Jeans, Ralph Lauren et al.
Instep:
Your own Angora Textiles operates on quite a large scale. Why did
you not think of launching your own brand?
AM: We have the manufacturing expertise but when we started we did
not have the design expertise, which is required to begin a brand.
Plus, the going was so good being a contract manufacturer for huge
labels that nobody looked in that direction. Had we invested money
then, we would have been better off. But today it is the need of
the industry to move in that direction and here is where the PFDC
can play a significant role.
Another role would be reviving traditional indigenous crafts that
are dying away. These people will provide design components to villagers.
SMEDA (Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority) took an
exhibition to Thailand recently and a buyer wanted to place an order
of 50,000 dollars but the manufacturers said they could not handle
it. They took an order for 10,000 only. The AHAN (Aik Hunar Aik
Nazar) scheme has done some commendable work by mapping out crafts
and roping in designers to see where they can assist. Certain designers
are already involved.
Instep:
The market is so aggressively competitive that many new designers
feel that opportunities are being monopolized by older designers.
AM: The methodology we have adapted at PFDC is that there are no
senior and no junior designers. So if IMG wants to hold a fashion
week in Lahore, we will not send them a list of recommendations
but will let them select designers. The fact that one designer has
been in the game for 30 years and another for three does not qualify
one nor disqualify another. The council also had fashion forecasting
done by Lutz Keller and everyone was invited. Then SMEDA gave a
presentation and we invited all members. Crafts from all over the
county were presented and designers were asked to acknowledge their
areas of interest and expertise. We do realize it's competitive
and they're all vying for a piece of the same pie but we have made
it open. Let them compete.
Instep:
The collaboration between PSFD and PFDC is also an advantage to
the council.
AM: There is no collaboration.
Instep:
Wasn't the council brought in for the lecture delivered by Lutz
Keller on fashion forecasting at the school?
AM: No. What happens is that the school invites these people for
two or four days. They carry out their assignments and if either
council wants to invite him they can pay and do so. People from
Karachi are on the school board. Abu Shamim Arif is. Maheen Khan
is key to everything that happens at the school. She could have
arranged for Keller to fly to Karachi.
The school will never get involved in either council. It is up to
the councils to approach the school for their own interest. That
goes for both Karachi and Lahore. There are very clear instructions
from the ministry that the school and council have nothing to do
with each other. The government wants nothing to do with the councils.
I'm a great one to raise funds from the government or even the private
sector but I've got to be careful what I ask for. Whatever I request
for the school I get, because we have a level of trust.
Ideally both councils should collaborate. If not, cross memberships
should be allowed; PFDC permits it, Fashion Pakistan does not. Even
if members want it, it will not happen because there is a clash
of Directors. Unfortunately as a result the government does not
want to get involved with either council.
Instep:
IMG will be organizing Pakistan Fashion Week. Fashion Pakistan is
talking about Karachi Couture Week. Is PFDC also thinking of organizing
a week?
AM: I can't say at the moment. IMG coming to Pakistan is a very
big deal. October will be a great start and it must happen. What
I liked about IMG was that the first thing they said is that bridal
is out, out, out. If you utter this word we will walk out. Pakistan
Fashion Week will give designers perfect orientation into ready-to-wear.
IMG comes in with a global perspective and great organizational
skills. I would really want fashion schools to get involved in this
exercise. Students would learn so much by association with it. The
sole objective initially should be that this is a learning process.
Instep:
Designers are interested but will it be an easy transition to restructure
and re-orient themselves?
AM: My suggestion to them would be the earlier they do it the better.
Today they have cash flows. They can take the chance to restructure
their businesses. When the competition gets tougher, and it will,
they may not have the time or the money. We're starting a new entrepreneurship
module at the school this year to orient students on how to start
a business. Fashion businesses cannot be one-man shows anymore.
There will be competition and they must learn to live with it and
deal with it in a positive manner. But this behaviour is not exclusive
to Pakistan. Broca tells me that whenever five fashion students
get together in a room all they do is fight. In my own experience,
and I have dealt with many different kinds of people, they (fashion
designers) are the most difficult group to deal with.
Instep:
What opinion do the French have of Pakistani fashion, the school
and now Pakistan Fashion Week?
AM: I'm in touch with the Le Chambre school. Broca is very upbeat.
He was here last year and this year again. He says we cannot compare
ourselves to Paris. Students there are doing internships with Christian
Dior, Louis Vuitton and Chanel. There are so many things. But despite
the handicaps, he said, the creativity enthusiasm and dynamism they
see here are very encouraging. Once we move to the new campus and
the ambience changes for the better, once we have a critical mass
of at least a thousand students, we'll see a new level of energy.
We will produce the designers that the industry needs.
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