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It was the last day of PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week and Nomi Ansari
was going to open the show. "Watch for Nomi's collection,"
was the buzz coming from fashion insiders, mostly those who had
come from Karachi. On the red carpet, the turnout was slow. "Where
is everyone? Nomi Ansari is opening?" one wondered out loud.
"Maybe that's why, he's not really that well known in Lahore.
He's considered more of a Karachi designer," said a member
of the Lahore fashion community.
Of course, Nomi wowed everyone at PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week with
his fun-filled Circus collection which saw him rise to another level
of craftsmanship and vision. Unlike most of the collections, it
wasn't an easy sell. There were dresses upon dresses; fun, flirty
OTT ones with models being sent out in pink and blue hair, a myriad
of colours all shocking and electric combined seamlessly in his
clothes and he made it work.
And what makes Nomi Ansari such a unique part of the fashion milieu,
apart from his obvious talent, is the way he straddles the Karachi-Lahore
divide. And because he straddles it, he's perceived as a part of
the Lahore camp in Karachi, and a Karachi designer in Lahore. A
student of the Pakistan School of Fashion Design, Nomi Ansari's
loyalties were obviously with the Lahore-based Pakistan Fashion
Design Council. After all his PSFD colleagues were all there: HSY,
Kamiar Rokni, Maria B, Maheen Kardar and Saman Arif. So despite
being a Karachi based designer, in that tumultuous period when two
fashion councils came into being, he opted for the PFDC. Now, he's
a member of the Karachi based council, Fashion Pakistan.
"It's purely a city thing. It suits me more to belong to Fashion
Pakistan because they are based here," say Nomi, ensconced
in his cheery, colour coordinated studio in Karachi's commercial
centre. "I've grown up with the designers in Lahore, Sheru,
Kami, Maheen, Saman and over a period of time, I've developed a
rapport with designers in Karachi, Deepak, Rizwan, Maheen. They're
all my friends. It was a business decision more than anything else."
There are obviously no hard feelings because he showed at PFDC Sunsilk
Fashion Week. "I wanted to show there," he says, "and
I told Tammy (Ayesha Tammy Haq), Deepak (Perwani) and other Karachi
designers about it. They never told me not to go. There was no pressure."
So which fashion week did he prefer?
"Fashion Pakistan Week, I found was a lot more organized. And
it was fairer in the sense that every designer showed twenty outfits.
It was the same set format for everyone. In Lahore, some designers
showed more clothes then others, some had theatrical performances.
I'm not sure that the midgets in my show in Lahore were a good idea,"
he laughs.
Yes, they were Nomi, the show worked. It went with the Circus theme.
"You know, one thing I believe in is that packaging is important
as long as your product in solid," says the young but hugely
capable designer. "Many designers package things well, but
the product is sub-standard. It doesn't work that way. At a show,
you can use theatrics like music performances and showstoppers but
then your product needs to stand up on it's own when you strip all
the drama away."
And Nomi Ansari's collection truly held its own. The dresses were
crazy fun yet so intricately constructed, the highlight being a
pom pom dress worn by Sabina Pasha, made of the little phundnas
you see hanging off horses and decorating buses, tracks and grills
in mazaars. Nomi used 8000 of them for that delectable concoction
and 80 yards of net to whip up the frothy frills that Vaneeza Ahmed
carried off. With his collection at PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week he
built on the all black collection of Fashion Pakistan Week, which
took everyone by surprise when it was presented.
 "I
hate black and beige and white," says Nomi. "I can't deal
with them at all. It's a phobia, but what happened was that when
Fashion Pakistan Week was coming up someone said to me, 'But you
can only make shaadi clothes, what do you want to show at fashion
week for?' You known how it is. These things get to you. So I decided
to do an all black collection with different fabrics and textures
just to prove something to them and I suppose to myself."
And so he got a lot of black together, quilted it, layered different
fabrics, concentrating on silhouette and construction. It's reminiscent
of the trip Rizwan Beyg went on after his brilliant Carnival collection;
all white, no embellishment and white on white embroidery only.
It is the pinnacle of construction to just stick to a colour and
play with form. It helps a designer figure out what they can do.
Eventually Nomi Ansari's collection forFPW gave way to his colourful,
crazy Circus collection for PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week. Did he get
orders?
"I got orders for 16 jackets after showing in Lahore. In Karachi
not so many," he answers honestly. "These dresses are
something my friends will borrow for a party. Not many will buy
them. They're too expensive, plus how often can anyone wear them
here? This was just to see what I can do."
Ask Nomi about doing a line of dresses that are more wearable and
affordable; after all, there is a party circuit in both cities and
people are becoming more experimental with the clothes they wear,
and you figure out that you are talking to a designer who knows
exactly what he is doing.
"All that is planned for my store which I will open in Karachi
this year and I'll revamp the one I already have in Lahore,"
he smiles. "I want to do separates and basics and do them well.
I'm working on a classic silhouette that works."
What does he mean by that?
"Look at what I'm wearing," he gestures to his black shalwar
kameez. "I can wear it to work. I can wear it to a wedding,
a dinner or even to a soyem. It works everywhere. This is what people
really need; a nice top, pants, shalwars, in different colours.
All the basics sold separately. So you can team a white outfit up
with a colourful scarf and make it work. That's what I'm aiming
to do with prêt. It's all about getting the product and the
pricing right."
 While
his savviness may come as a surprise to those who still think of
Nomi Ansari as a bridal and Eastern wear designer, one must remember
that he worked with Maheen Khan, the godmother of Pakistani pret
before striking out on his own. He is very familiar with coming
up with regular collections and delivering stock. Sure, he launched
into bridal wear that brought in the money he needed to establish
himself, but then he also launched a pret line which is available
at The Designers in Karachi and at his store in Lahore. Soon, he
will also do a separate prêt line for Ensemble. Nomi Ansari
is also available at Kimaya in Dubai and that retail chain's luxury
prêt wear outlet Ayamik in Delhi. And he has been doing so
consistently for years, unlike designers who stock at a store, sell
out and then are unable to restock.
And now, that he has established himself as a name, he has made
creative collections for fashion weeks to push the design envelope.
And now that he's proved himself to those who had written him off
as just another bridal wear designer. Nomi plans on showing Eastern
wear at the Fashion Pakistan Week that's coming up in April.
"I've done two fashion weeks to prove that I can do Western.
Now I think I'll show what sells," he laughs.
And will he show at the next PFDC Fashion Week that will be held
in Karachi?
"I don't know. If it suits me I will," he shrugs. "You
see, I stock in both cities. I have friends in the PFDC and I have
friends in Fashion Pakistan. I'm comfortable in both places, so
I don't mind doing both."
Does he wish there was unity in the councils and one fashion week?
"Of course," says Nomi decisively. "Right now, fashion
is in such formative stages. All of us designers have contacts abroad.
This is where we need to come together, pull in everyone that we
know from around the world to set the ball rolling. If that were
to happen, then fashion would really take off. Also, with the best
in both cities showing, it would make for a strong fashion week
with better designs and the ability to deliver orders. I do wish
everyone would look beyond their ego and realize what needs to be
done."
"Also, I wish that the Export Promotion Bureau would get more
involved with fashion and buying. They should be marketing us out
of the country. The problem in Pakistan is that as a designer I
want to do so much, but I do what I can and then come to a point
where there is no one to help me one step further. That is what
fashion weeks can accomplish and the government should realise this
and do what they can to market us around the world."
Nomi Ansari is truly on a roll. He has figured the fashion game
out and come into his own systematically. He's also a great example
of the contemporary designer who realizes that the fashion game
is not about two cities. The picture is way bigger than that. He'll
take opportunities presented by both fashion weeks and make the
best of them. He has a presence in Delhi and Dubai and knows that
apart from a large untapped market in Pakistan, there is also the
world waiting… for black and white and all the colours of
the rainbow that he holds dear.
Nomi
Ansari's collection at PFDC Fashion Week truly held its own. The
dresses were crazy fun yet so intricately constructed, the highlight
being a pom pom dress worn by Sabina Pasha, made of the little phundnas
you see hanging off horses and decorating buses, tracks and grills
in mazaars. Nomi used 8000 of them for that delectable concoction
and 80 yards of net to whip up the frothy frills that Vaneeza Ahmed
carried off. With this collection at he built on the all black collection
of Fashion Pakistan Week, which took everyone by surprise.
"When
FPW was coming up someone said to me, 'But you can only make shaadi
clothes, what do you want to show?' You known how it is. These things
get to you. So I decided to do an all black collection with different
fabrics and textures just to prove something to them and I suppose
to myself."
– Nomi Ansari
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