The Trade Development Authority Pakistan (TDAP) is all-set to board a double-decker bus swathed with truck art and roam the roads of London desi style. It was India last year and this June, the TDAP has ‘Aalishan’ designs on London. According to plan, the four-day long Expo exhibit will take place at the Olympia’s glass-domed Grand Hall, featuring everything export-worthy that Pakistan has to offer. With Secretary Rabiya Javeri at the helm, there will, of course, be plenty of spurts of fashion.

TDAP’s endeavors for fashion have increased since Rabiya stepped into the picture. Some ventures may have been successful, such as ‘Aalishan Pakistan’ in Delhi where local high-street labels swept in sales at the exhibit and the associated fashion show generated plenty of media mileage. Other efforts may have boiled down to the desultory, a case in point being the recent TDAP fashion presentation in Karachi, with its mish-mash of designer line-ups. Nevertheless, it’s good to see the government take notice of the export potential lying dormant within local fashion.

As someone from the ‘inside’ — Rabiya is Tapu Javeri’s sister and has plenty of friends from within the fashion fraternity — She says that fashion export is a long-term goal. “One can’t expect it to take place overnight. The TDAP’s fashion endeavors both within Pakistan as well as abroad generate publicity for local fashion. Eventually, through word-of-mouth, we hope to draw in the international fashion element.”

As it prepares to launch into a London thumukda, the TDAP’s plans for fashion this year look promising, but will they materialise?

As it prepares to launch into a London thumukda, the TDAP’s plans for fashion this year look promising. As always, an area of the Expo exhibit will be dedicated to fashion retail. Winding about the expansive Grand Hall, to be set up as the G.T. Road coursing through the provinces, one will encounter rickshaws, handicraft stalls and spontaneous short fashion showcases. The Expo itself will be preceded by a Pakistani musical evening at the Southbank Centre’s Alchemy Festival and a fashion show, held at the grandiose Lancaster House.

Grand Hall at the Olympia

For those who don’t know, Lancaster House rubs shoulders with St. James’s Palace, home to British royalty. It’s a coveted venue, resplendent with palatial décor. Used previously by Tom Ford for a fashion show in 2013, it comes with all the trappings of an ornate English mansion — gilded walls, a sweeping staircase and dramatic paintings bordering the walls. It’s an impressive setting for Aalishan Pakistan’s couture show; certain to make people sit up and take notice and a far cry from the shoddy rented venues used for the host of ‘Pakistan Fashion Weeks’ staged abroad. The line-up of couturiers, tentatively, includes some of fashion’s most powerful veterans: Maheen Khan, Nilofer Shahid, Faiza Samee, Shehla Chatoor and Rizwan Beyg.

It all looks great on paper. What is imperative now is that the TDAP makes sure that it turns out to be just as fabulous in reality.

Lancaster House is an impressive setting for Aalishan Pakistan’s couture show; certain to make people sit up and take notice and a far cry from the shoddy rented venues used to host ‘Pakistan Fashion Weeks’ staged abroad. The line-up of couturiers, tentatively, includes some of fashion’s most powerful veterans: Maheen Khan, Nilofer Shahid, Faiza Samee, Shehla Chatoor and Rizwan Beyg.

In the past, the TDAP has sometimes erred by putting out shows with stellar designer line-ups that end up showcasing jumbled-up capsules and old collections. Designers have been known to complain that they were told about the show just a few weeks in advance. Had they been given enough time, they would have loved to benefit from the TDAP platform — it is provided to them free of cost, the media is in full attendance and while export orders are yet to come, the mileage is enough to draw in affluent local buyers.

Rabiya Javeri (R) with Olivier Lapidus

With a grandiose London show in the offing, perhaps it’s time that both the TDAP and designers focus on getting the ball rolling. If fashion export is the driving ambition behind the TDAP’s ventures, then it needs to feature retail-savvy brands on its catwalks. Perhaps the fashion presentation can be divided into two segments; one dedicated to couture that wows the audience and the other, to ateliers with the production capacity and business acumen required to fulfill export requirements, should they come our way.

And where are the lookbooks and catalogues that are a necessary part of any trade show taking place abroad? The TDAP needs to do more than orchestrate fashion shows; it needs to educate designers on what is required of them and give them time to devise new collections. Most importantly, it needs to resist borrowing three to four outfits from each atelier, strutting it out on the ramp and calling it a ‘fashion show’.

The British Council has expressed its interest in supporting local fashion and Managing Director of Malone Souliers, Roy Lowult, visited the Expo this year and discussed brand strategies for fashion. In the future, Roy, with his experience, could act as an important liaison. Talks have also been stirring with French designer Olivier Lapidus of the infamous Ted Lapidus clothing brand, who tentatively hopes to build a consortium of production houses and designers in Pakistan.

Models walk the ramp during the Delphi segment on Day 2 of the TDAP show in Karachi

The glass appears half-empty but it may just be half-full. Fashion weeks define trends but the TDAP wields the political clout to create ripples that could result in furthering trade beyond Pakistan. The Lancaster Hall show will feature Shehla Chatoor’s trousseau and bridal designs, Rizwan Beyg spinning fusion-wear with resham embroideries, Maheen Khan creating couture with indigenous fabric from her ‘Virsa’ project, Faiza Samee traversing the Silk Route for inspiration and the quintessential artistry of Nilofer Shahid.

Like we said, it looks great on paper.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, March 22nd, 2015

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