PK Designers Lounge, known to desis in the United States as PKDL, is a multi-brand designer studio boasting racks of outfits by Pakistani designers. Co-owned by Rafia Shah and Samrah Qadri, the one-stop-shop to a gamut of Pakistani designer wear is based in Washington DC but serves clientele all across the US and Canada.
It’s been over two years since they came into business. “It started out as a hobby for both of us. We both love fashion and we realised there is a market in US that loved fashion as much as we do and want to wear trendy and latest designer clothes,” Shah told The Express Tribune.
Born and bred in Pakistan, settled in the states after getting married and headed on to make an entrepreneurship out of a leisure pursuit. “Soon after we opened PKDL, we started getting requests from Pakistani women all across the US to provide them with desi designer wear. We realised we could cater to a much larger clientele if we took our brand to other states too. We started with road shows and in just a little over two years, we travelled to almost all major states that had a heavy Pakistani population,” said Qadri.
Elaborating on the launch of the enterprise, Shah says, “The idea behind PKDL was not only to provide a platform to Pakistani designers to showcase their line of work in the US but also give an opportunity to Pakistani fashion followers to have easy access to these brands. People can always buy clothes online or have their relatives mail them joras but we wanted to create an experience for our clients.”
With over 20 designers to choose from, PKDL is the largest Pakistani designer collection in North America. Its stocks include popular brands like Elan, HSY, Asifa & Nabeel, Faraz Manan, Nickie Nina, Mina Hasan, Zara Shahjahan, Sania Maskatiya, Farida Hasan and Ayesha F. Hashwani among others.
The entrepreneurs also showcased their designer collections in 2012 in England for an exhibit especially organised for them by the High Commission of Pakistan in London.
Vending collections from a cluster of brands, they speak about the sought after designers from Pakistan, “There are so many designers these days doing amazing work. The craftsmanship from Pakistan is outstanding. It’s just about quality control. I would say Faraz Manan, Zara Shahjahan, Sania Maskatiya, Ayesha Farook Hashwani and Mina Hasan make amazing sales. Our top selling brand though is Elan. It is often sold out the same day it hits the rack,” Shah commented.
Adding new designers periodically to broaden the spectrum of brands for buyers to peruse from, they are fussy about the brands they select: “We have to be very picky. We choose the designers that will do well in our targeted market. We are excited to announce that the luxury brand Muse will be stocking at PKDL starting January 2015,” confirmed Qadri.
PKDL co-owners, Rafia Shah and Samrah Qadri
For the future, they have been planning out 2015 road shows with a wide range of exhibitions lined up in San Antonio, Kentucky, Wisconsin and San Francisco Bay Area. “We’re also looking forward to our third anniversary event in February 2015. It’ll be a fun occasion where people not only purchase their favourite designs but also socialise with fellow fashionistas. We have something life-size planned for the affair this year, “Qadri said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2014.
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