In order to promote vocational institutes in Pakistan, it is essential to provide trainees from these institutes with a platform to showcase their talent. This is exactly what the International Labor Organisation’s (ILO) Gender Equality for Decent Employment (GE4DE) fashion show provided.
“Synchronising ILO — GE4DE’s efforts with the emerging fashion industry of Pakistan is a huge breakthrough, and a dream come true for me. Almost everything you have seen here today has been put together by the trainees of GE4DE skills development projects,” says Hiba Siddiqui, the Programme Officer promoting GE4DE.
The show consisted of four segments, each of which aimed to highlight the creative work coming out from the rural landscape of Pakistan.
“The most unique aspect of this talent exhibition was that for the first time in Pakistan, the marginalised class of worker was directly linked with the international and national buyers without the traditional middleman. This has only been made possible purely due to the high standard of training and post-training efforts of GE4DE,” she adds.
The title of each segment was taken from the acronym GE4DE, and was backed by a mini documentary detailing the process of creating the work shown on the ramp.
Glamour
The ‘Glamour’ segment, representing the first letter of GE4DE, comprised elements inspired by the Mongol tribles of the region. From Pakistan Readymade Garments Technical Training Institute (PRGTTI) came a solely denim based collection on Western lines for both men and women. From a floral landscape, to taking cue from Kashmiri shawl designs there was slight goota and kiran work in this collection.
Key Inspiration: Beaded bangles and rings
The Look: Surreal and urban
Dreams
Designer Shaiyanne Malik’s collection titled ‘Ancient Knots for Have-Nots’ depicted the ‘Dreams’ segment (representing the third letter ‘D’ of GE4DE). In collaboration with GE4DE, the designer trained 100 girls from Dera Jutta, whose work was put forth at the show. This was the only segment helmed by an established designer.
Trend Report: Malik’s bridal collection on net and jamawaar had a very royal feel to it. From the whites to the reds and the maroons, the collection depicted a traditional bride on the lines of an Eastern façade. The front of the outfit was as different from the back as night is from day.
Key Inspiration: Lungi and Paghaar for men, Gharara collection for women.
The Look: Traditional bridal
Empowerment
Taken from the second letter ‘E’ of GE4DE, the ‘Empowerment’ segment aimed to communicate to the audience strength and perseverance.From the graduates of Fashion Apparel Design and Training institute came the use of crinkles, georgettes, velvet, net and khaddar fabric on Western silhouettes. The line on vibrant colours of purple, orange etc, was meant only for women’s wear. Though the press statement cited a lingerie collection in this segment, it was effectively missing.
Key inspiration: Women’s headgear inspired from the Kalash region and cross stitches from Gilgit-Baltistan
The Look: Bohemian chic
Elements
The ‘Elements’ segment, representing the fourth letter ‘E’ of GE4DE, came from the Pakistan Knitwear Training Institute.
Trend Report: The collection consisted of digitised prints inspired by truck art, floral landscapes, digitised written work, and animal figures of Ibex from the north and whale-sharks from the south of the country. The primarily Eastern collection showed off long kurtas for men and women adorning saris.
Key Inspiration: Handcrafted embroidered mirrored clutches
The Look: Digitalised Pakistan
Published in The Express Tribune, June 26th, 2014.
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