Daily Times

“I feel very lucky. Since last August, I think my life has been really happening. I did an Ideas 2022 show in November and I was featured second time after 2018. But this time my show was very different. I paid tribute to legends of Pakistan who literally influenced our society over the last 70 years and this new generation has a little idea about them. I paid tribute to the people from srt, literature and film industry starting from Ashfaq Ahmed, Ibn-e-Insha, Jamiluddin Aale, Saadequain, Chughtai, Manto, Waheed Murad, Muhammad Ali, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, etc. But two legends who are really close to my heart and thankfully one of them were alive at that time was Zia Mohiuddin. I made a shawl for him and he got to wear that too. Apart from him, another legend Anwar Maqsood. I’m happy that I was able to do something for them. Apart from that show, I have two films coming up this Eid. One is called ‘Dhai Chaal’ and the other is ‘VIP,’ Tayyab Bombal says.

“I have lately been associated with two projects; ‘Dhai Chaal’ is the first movie I did as a costume designer and stylist. It’s about the Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadav. We shot that movie in Quetta for two months and it was an experience of a lifetime. It is a debut film of producer Dr Irfan Ashraf and director Taimoor Shirazi. I had such fun working with Shamoon Abbasi, Ayesha Omar, Taqi Ahmed, Humayun Ashraf and Salim Meraj. It is the first film of its kind; it will tell you the reality of RAW and it will uncover the myths and false propaganda that Indian movies show us. My other film is called ‘VIP’ but I’m not allowed to reveal the cast yet. It’s a debut movie of renowned DOP Rana Kamran. He produced this film and it’s a very entertaining one. I happened to be the costume designer and stylist of this film but I’ll be honest, Rana helped me with styling so much so I would say styling was mainly done by him and I do hope that both of these films do well on box office,” he maintains.

Shedding light on social media, Tayyab Bombal says social media has helped him a lot.

“See, when you start a brand and you start from absolute scratch, you have to be everything. You have to be good in marketing, good in sales, good in PR, good in product, etc. Social media is the one tool that helped us all over the years and it is now the most important tool of brand building. People judge you and your brand by your social media standing more and it’s one of the most important tool to attract customers so it helped me too a lot. I showcased my collection mainly in Pakistan, Dubai and United States. I think Pakistani fashion shows are as professional as shows around the world. We just have to understand the purpose of doing shows. We need to know more about buyers, stores and building a brand on a bigger scale.”

Currently, Bombal is working on his new collection which he’ll be showcasing on Monday in Austin Fashion Week.

“I’m both excited and nervous about it. I have been wanting to showcase on that platform for a long time. So since 2020, I have changed my brand philosophy and my target market. I’m only focusing on custom made and one of a kind designs now. So obviously prices are accordingly. Newest trends men should follow are to stop wearing trainers under shalwar kamiz and also go for solid colours. My all-time favourite fabric is Irish linen. I have been using this fabric from my first collection until now. I like the fabrics with texture and has little bit rawness in it. But I play with solid colours more. The one trend I would like to die is People wearing blazer / coat over shalwar kameez,” he says. “I enrolled in fashion school by accident but I still remember in my second semester, I met Rizwan Beyg, the legend of this country. He really influenced me,” he concludes.