His first solo collection that was presented last year at Ensemble took the world of fashion by storm, the collection selling out within a span of a few hours. It has taken him a while to come up with a new full-fledged collection, which by the time this article prints will have been showcased at Ensemble. Instep talks to this talented designer and partner Tia Noon to find out what makes the House of Kamiar Rokni tick.

Instep: What's the inspiration behind this season's collection?
Kamiar: It's a tribute to where we are from. We are Saraiki from the deserts so you see a lot of Cholistan. We are a Bahawalpuri family. So this is homage not only to our family but also the region we come from. All the references in terms of the designs and the motifs are regional; we have used block print, the rali technique, we have used very humble hand woven cottons which come from that area. As a result it is a new kind of ethnic with a modern twist, which is also a real sensibility of the house of Kamiar Rokni. Both Tia and I share this in common that we like folk but at the same time we are very concerned that our clothes are worn by all sorts of people from all sort of cultures. This is always at the back of our heads that somebody abroad should be able to wear it. And everything shouldn't just be very costume-y.

In this collection we have used personal references such as the rose motif. Both our grandfathers were obsessed with roses and had stunning rose gardens. So that is the significance of the rose, which is a major motif that runs through our family. With this collection what we're saying is this is who we are and this is what we are about. So its just homage to where we come from and in the large scheme of things it's a tribute to Pakistan. We have a fantastically rich culture, a lot of which is folk culture. We often talk about the Mughals and the refinement of this and that but when you talk about 'folk' you don't really go beyond truck art. We wanted to explore different folk things and take them out of their regular context and put them into high fashion

Tia: The truth is you won't find so many different forms of embroidery and embellishment (as in Pakistan) anywhere else and we have tried to use as many as them as possible.
Kamiar: Geographically a lot of the craft comes from Northern Punjab and the North of Pakistan. We actually tend to have more refined craft than India. India is just bigger and what they do, they do a lot more of.

Instep: What took you so long to do this collection?
Kamiar: It took us a long while to do this collection because both Tia and I don't believe in showing off. Whatever we do as a company is never motivated by showing to the world. So in the last year and a half we have put in a lot of work in trying to get our business in order. Of growing organically and growing sensibly.

Tia: The collection had to grow. Letting it come to us. Allowing us to explore and develop it to this point. And I really don't think you can push that process.

Kamiar: We were a design house that basically started from nothing and things take a while to come to their natural place. And lo and behold this opportunity comes forth, for which we have Zeba and Shehrnaz Husain to be thankful to. I think stocking at Ensemble has been great for us because let's face it they do the most amazing shows as well.

Instep: You don't own a flagship store unlike other designers but prefer to stock at The Boulevard and Ensemble. Why?
Kamiar: Given the situation of the country and the economy we are happy not to own a flagship store. Tia and I are the kind of people who don't do anything to show to other people, if we get to a place where we own a store - great - but everything is an organic growth and we believe in growing prudently. We would love to own a store in every city of the whole wide world but right now we are happy to grow at the pace at which we are growing.

Tia: We're one year old. And for a year old company we are doing very well.

Instep: Will the House of Kamiar Rokni do solo shows?
Kamiar: Everybody wants to go solo but you see Hassan Sheheryar is a choreographer as well as a designer so he can easily kill two birds with one stone and put on his own show. We're not like that. We are quite honestly very chilled out and relaxed. If the opportunity comes up we would love to do it. But given the current situation we don't see people investing in fashion shows at the moment. Even telecoms like Warid and Wateen are watching what they do. Putting together a fashion show is a very heavy undertaking. I don't see a solo show anytime soon. I'm quite happy to do the group show. Why I am happy to do the Ensemble show or a group show is that you get to do a biannual or seasonal fashion show and put what you have out there. Shows are usually less about fashion and more about entertainment. The group fashion show is very conducive to people who actually buy these clothes and that's what we're interested in. If we do a show it probably won't be grand but it will involve and include all our clients. It could be a very simple show but it will be about fashion.

Instep: Is prêt the more sensible way for designers to go?
Kamiar: Well the retail market is down. But if you're a clever designer, well-priced prêt is a very sensible way to go. But if you have unrealistic expectations and goals then it's probably not the best way to go. But I do not knock down made to order. This country has a big culture of made to order; people like getting things made. So I'd say its pretty half-half. We enjoy doing both.
Tia: I don't say that they are both the same or one is more important or better than the other but they're both very unique and fun and I think if you manage to do your prêt correctly yes it is a very lucrative option.

Instep: What's your business philosophy?
Kamiar: I keep saying organic growth. We tend to grow very organically. We aren't huge risk takers.
Tia: We have been growing slowly because of our employees. Our focus has been to have loyal employees and build a strong relationship with them. We are one company where there is information-sharing, transparency, and there isn't much procedure between the employees and us. It's very much like a happy family, which is very nice because it allows us to function well.

Kamiar: People say that fashion is business. It is business. People talk about the corporatization of fashion. What one tends to forget is that fashion is a very very creative field. We have an artistic approach to what we do and we have creative approach to every single thing that we do also when Tia mentions we like to be a one big happy family it is because our culture is like that. You get loyalty if you give loyalty. You get respect if you give respect. That is the ethos of our business and it is how we function. The most important people to us are those who work for us and who make everything happen. Our main agenda is that people get paid on time even if we don't. That is our most vital business philosophy. And it is also about being debt free, like doing things on credit. We are happy to grow slowly but at the same time everybody that works for us should be doing well.

Instep: What's your design philosophy?
Tia: I think generally we are very influenced by cultures. Different world cultures and heritages, in terms of their crafts and inherent folksiness inspire us.

Kamiar: The House's hallmark would be the use of colour pattern and form and that comes from and through different cultures in the world. But what we love doing is taking a piece of china and making it travel through the subcontinent, then maybe take it for a quick spin around Africa, and fly it again across South America and it can end up as an outfit. So we love mixing different cultures - that is very much our design philosophy. And also to make clothing, even though we have occasional flights of fancy - but clothing that is relevant to women today. Clothing that is covetable because it is wearable and unique, and fun. Because fashion is fun.
Tia: We try not to compromise on quality. We try to be very specific about the quality of our clothing that we give either to a store or to a client, check meticulously on the stitching and the finishing.
Kamiar: And how it flatters the figure.

Instep: Did you go to Bahawalpur before you put together this collection?

Tia: We are a very creative and aesthetic family and have had a very keen aesthetic sense since we were children. Growing up, we were always surrounded by paints, furniture being designed, by people painting around us; we were always given art supplies.

Kamiar: Our family was involved in serious gardening…

Tia: We absorb things as we go along and our sense of remembrance is also very strong.

Kamiar: It may sound pompous, but it really is true, that you are the weakest link in our family if you cannot draw. If you can't put five colours together, then there's something wrong with you. My cousin Rehan, who is our chief design assistant, is a painter, he has just got the Fulbright scholarship and is going to Parsons, my uncle went to Prat, my aunt makes furniture, my grand-uncle was Mohammad Khalid Akhtar who was the greatest satirist in the Urdu language, my mother's a painter, so we have a very strong heritage of creativity. For me that is why personally it has literally been a homecoming after 10 years away from people who didn't quite understand me, I mean they were my friends, but no one understands you like your family. So this sort of symbiosis of us all coming together as a family, also resident muse, Maliha Naipaul, who is also a Bahawalpuri and a childhood friend, really sparks our creativity. We are all a big happy family.

Tia: There isn't a harsher critic than a cousin, aunt or mother.

Kamiar: Everyone loves each other to bits but they'll cut you down to your size in a jiff. We don't suffer fools and certainly don't come from a family where parents think that nothing is wrong with our children… there's no delusion. We're lucky to have such support but we have to work hard. There's no substitute for success but sheer hard work.

The House of Kamiar's new collection can be seen on the Style section.