Daily Times

Just like Christian Louboutin reinvented the Peshawari chappal’s name as Imran Sandals, it is time to give our lawn worldwide recognition. Lawn is no longer a three-piece jorra with the designer glam quotient attached to it. What if they take the same loose fabric to middle-eastern countries where a seven metre can be turned into a kaftan to cater to the local clientele? And the possibilities are endless.

In recent years, designers have been collaborating with high street retailers to create affordable editions of their own designs. The ready-to wear market is already saturated by brands that are doing fairly well within their specified clientele, but are not too keen on growing. It’s the ones who are willing to explore this untapped market and dare to take a more adventurous route.

Indeed, the rage is lawn and that is where we can see oodles of experimentation.

CrimsonxRepublic has made few bold moves including taking a black model for their teaser campaign set in Thailand. Why opt for a path less travelled? Why not take the safer, tested route to success like a plethora of local celebrities available to fill in the shoes. Anum Akram clarified that, “The whole point of advertising is to recognise one’s potential and the will to stand out-therefore, not precisely the Pakistani stereo typical beauty, but a cool face that made our choice unique. It was really for two reasons. Pakistani fashion has limited itself to a very narrow definition of beauty. We wanted to broaden that and so we decided to use four ethnically diverse models including, for the first time ever, a black model for a Pakistani collection. I think this will further help broaden the notion of beauty here in Pakistan. Secondly, with every lawn collection, we ask ourselves ‘how do we innovate?’ Our buyers love us because we bring techniques and concepts traditionally reserved for luxury wear and couture into unstitched price points. In doing so, we end up creating these beautiful surfaces. Fashion is becoming more globalised than ever before. The lines between western and eastern are blurring. And so we thought why not present our lawn in a way that, of course appeals to our local clientele, but can also be adapted for a global audience. And so we decided to shoot an editorial preamble titled Lawn Street featuring stitched lawn for western high street. We plan on developing Lawn Street into a full-fledged line for a western audience. One would see Interesting amalgamation of global trends and our cultural opulence, contemporary yet feminine silhouettes, fashion forwardness and statement prints. There’re a lot of pieces that you could put together and mix and match or take a cue from the edgy, boho chic editorial shoot unlike the usual we see during lawn season. Refusing to make any comparison with others by saying that her ‘model’ is totally different. The product is powerful enough and we thrive on our dynamic strategies to market our lawn the lawn gives us the budget to experiment and take all these international models we decide to create a campaign which is truly groundbreaking but would also show these textiles in a way that it can go international and be interpreted by international audience. The long hours and the deep research in each collection shows in the use of techniques that are not used by any other for instance the use of mirror is Crimson’s invention. Choosing to highlight our textile heritage is an idea that we are working on especially to go back to one’s roots and revive the crafts that are dying out it’s high time we celebrate our own culture and move forward.”

Meanwhile; the much anticipated first look from the two brands feature a cord embroidered shirt on textured lawn with hand-done mirror work.

This is what exactly Crimson chose to be – breaking boundaries with lawn that can be transformed into costumes that are modern, chic featuring kimonos, jumpsuits, full skirts, layered dresses, slim cut suits and cocktail ensembles or something what other girls should wear ideally on the red carpet or any glamorous evening engagement.

“We are trying to give an international consumer another option. A peek into our specialised embroideries and textiles,” she said. Crimson are a design driven company, creating great fashion and collections that sell like hot cakes.

“We always want to give that element of surprise and going on a ramp could be a great idea in future. Styling as in haute couture and sky could be the limit,” Anam Akram gushed.

It’s difficult to veer away from the mundane that we build around ourselves and takes a mighty heart to indulge into something unique; there is a need to have the finger on the fashion pulse where one can push the envelope and change the ordinary into extraordinary.

The writer is a freelance journalist and blogger. She can be reached at rmoghees@gmail.com