Karachi-based designer Yasmeen Jiwa, who’s been in the business of fashion for quite some time now, recently debuted at the prestigious Paris Fashion Week Fall 2018.
Karachi-based designer Yasmeen Jiwa, who’s been in the business of fashion for quite some time now, recently debuted at the prestigious Paris Fashion Week Fall 2018. She showcased her collection Qous-e-Qazah, which literally means rainbow, in association with the Oxford Fashion Studio, that offers this collaborative opportunity to a number of designers each season.
“We were invited last year in June to participate in New York Fashion Week September 2017 by Oxford Fashion Studio (an independent organization based in London who scout upcoming designers from around the world to participate in fashion weeks in London, New York, Milan, and Paris), but we realized that we would not be ready for the September season so we opted for February in Paris and were luckily granted it,” Jiwa explained, in a recent interview.
The Qous-e-Qazah collection featured avant-garde silhouettes including gowns, skirts and trousers along with hand-embroidery to create designs that juxtapose Pakistani culture with elements of European high-fashion.
Regarding her collection, the designer stated, “Our collection was a mix of modern, edgy silhouettes with traditional embroideries such as mirror, thread, lace, cut work, and sequence. The brand Yasmeen Jiwa has always believed in weightless glamour which is not very common in our industry. We wanted our colour palette to be as original as possible. Hence, our inspiration was Qous-e-Qazah in which we worked with sky blues, silver grays, and blue grays with bursts of rich reds and citruses. The collection was given a great deal of praise by the media and buyers present at the show. It really opened the door to new international opportunities. It definitely exceeded our expectations tenfold!”
According to Yasmeen Jiwa, this was their first ever show (she has not yet showcased in Pakistan) so they wanted to take baby steps and opted to go for a group show. She added, “We shared our show with other international designers from Indonesia, India, Norway and Canada.”
To witness our Pakistani designers showcase their collection at such coveted platforms certainly makes us proud. It would be even better if Jiwa took the plunge and showcased on home turf.
