KARACHI: Fashion designer Shamaeel Ansari’s Tughra collection is now being stocked at multi-designer store Labels. Tughra means ‘Royal Seal’ in Persian.
The collection consists of three volumes: designs inspired from Central Asia, the Ottoman Empire and lastly Turkish Iznik tiles and ceramics.
At Fashion Pakistan Week 6 (FPW6), Shamaeel only showed the Turkish Iznik collection on the ramp. However, at Labels, the entire Tughra collection is available.
The fashion designer says, “Tughra is geared for exhibition and retailers. I had a lot of fun designing it.”
The outfits are fairly priced, they are not too steep and the quality is consistent. “Even if it is a sub-brand of Shamaeel, it must carry the flavour associated with it. It is certainly not supposed to lose the Shamaeel flavour,” says the designer.
The collection includes tops, some in Kimono cuts, and some in straight-shirt structure.
The different volumes have different colour themes. The Central Asian ones are rust in colour, the Ottomans are cream and brown coloured and in pure cotton, and the Turkish ones are in royal blue and shades of purple on silken fabrics. The collection doesn’t only comprise tops, but also has a variety of shawls, scarves and clutches.
It’s a big step for a designer who has mostly been inspired by Kashmiri designs to move towards a place once termed ‘Asia Minor’ and take inspiration from there. “The world is my oyster for inspiration. From Kashmir to Central Asia — a designer can’t be stuck in one place,” says Shamaeel.
“Designers keep on asserting and promising that their collection will come from the ramp to the rack. Once fashion week is done, nobody keeps up their promises. But with Shamaeel Ansari, it was different. She brought her FPW6 collection to Labels within three days after fashion week ended,” says Zahir Rahimtoola, the CEO of Labels.
Shamaeel adds, “I promised and it is here. I have brought royalty to retail and at good prices.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2014.
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