any years ago, right after Ehtesham Ans-ari had returned to Pakistan with a post-grad in Surface Manipulation, he expressed his ambition to be a stylist.

“I see a lot of shoots happening here, but there is no concept of styling them properly,” he said. The memory of Ansari seated on the stairs outside the Instep office, smoke swirling in the winter gloom around him, may seem exaggerated, too cinematic; but it is definitely on-brand.

13 odd years later, Ansari, who found his roots in Textile Design at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, is a celebrated stylist, who may not have the high, jet-setting profile of some of his peers, but has a very interesting, and large portfolio of work to his credit.

“My claim to fame would have to be Coke Studio seasons seven to 10,” he says. “But I have done a lot of work locally and internationally; shoots, TVCs, cele-brity styling.”

Ansari recently showed a capsule collection at 82, a space for textile artists. The collection, e-ffect, features breathable cottons, dyed in the Japanese shibori style.

“The 82 philosophy is very one style, one piece,” Ansari says. “And the shibori collection is perfect for that philosophy, because no one design can be rec-reated.”

As far as Ansari is concerned, the fashion landscape has changed drastically over the 18 years he has been part of the
industry. “There isn’t fashion, so to speak,” he says, “there is
retail.

“There has always been a very fine line between couture and retail, and we have blurred that line. Everyone seems to be chasing numbers, be it through sales or social media - and the business aspect of fashion has taken over.”

To Ansari’s sensibilities, the market is “dehydrated”.

“There is too much polyester, silk screen and digital print, and we need to rehydrate with cotton and other natural fabrics,” he says.

Of course, Ansari understands the limitations of this too. “The need of the hour is collaborations. We need established designers to collaborate with younger designers. We also need to start looking at the way collaborations happen internationally.

“Sabyasaachi has collaborated with H&M, Dior outsources embroideries to India, and a lot of design houses buy fabric from Vietnam and Thailand. China has developed a huge production capacity.”

With all this information, how can Pakistan develop its presence on the global fashion stage? Ansari makes a good point regarding both raw material and surface development. Pakistan’s textile industry brings home quite a chunk of the GNP, and our craftsmanship rivals that of India’s, if not bests it. Ansari proposes an, “archive, where we ensure our craft, cultural methods, and design is preserved,” a wish he may soon see materialize with the Pakistan Fashion Museum, but perhaps we need more of is formal organization of all these resources.

It is always shocking to note, regardless of how many times we do, how Pakistan’s lifestyle and entertainment industries suffer as a whole due to a lack of streamlining and direction, and as a result, the economy suffers too.

At this point in time, we should be participating in and attending film festivals regularly, supported by formal structures endorsed and funded by the government, and securing lasting deals in textile/fashion production that will strengthen the economy, not just individuals or standalone businesses.

Perhaps as the fashion and film industries see a physical revival in the form of ramp and theater shows, interest in reinvesting effort and time into stabilizing industries as economic entities will revive too. Till then, we can continue to watch the stars the industries have produced over the decades shine bright on their own.