Beauty lies in the details, especially when viewing a design by Shamaeel Ansari.

The designer is a pioneer, having once been amongst the few that lay the first building blocks of what later mushroomed into the Pakistani fashion industry. Her career now extends over 37 years and if there was one word that could describe Shamaeel’s aesthetic all through this long span, it would be ‘individualistic’.

There have been many memorable Shamaeel collections over the years — I have had the pleasure of reviewing quite a few of them. Multiple fashion lines have been inspired by the Ottoman dynasty, the tunics and long dresses awash in a sea of magenta, salmon pink and turquoise, plump pomegranates mixed in with images of sea gulls soaring over the Bosporus, their outlines etched out in gold thread work.

There have been collections dedicated to the grandeur of the Mughals — flora, fauna, minarets and domes artfully recreated through prints and embroideries. From the decadence of the Tudors to the fierce beauty of the Ming dynasty, Shamaeel’s nearly four decades in fashion are testament to her love for history and literature, and how she translates these inspirations on to apparel.

Regal, grand and over-the-top sartorial statements have always been Shamaeel Ansari’s hallmark. Her latest fashion show, taking place 37 years after she first entered the industry, serves as a testament to the endurance of her signature style

And over these years, there have been many memorable fashion shows — during fashion weeks where multiple designers shared the stage, and in carefully curated solo outings.

I remember roaming through the ground floor of Shamaeel’s home that had been transformed into a veritable fashion museum for one such show. Mannequins stood at different ends, with spotlights focused on them, wearing regal tunics and jackets cinched at the waist with elaborate motifs. A kaftan stood spread-eagled in one corner, a long elaborate cloak on the other. Long drapes with miniature prints on them and exquisite suzani wall hangings formed the backdrop. The tour through Shamaeel’s home had culminated in her garden, where some more of her designs had been showcased in a live fashion show on a mini ramp.

There had been other shows: a dramatic first time outing at the Hindu Gymkhana and another, back in the 90s, at the Karachi Railway Station, titled The Orient Express. In the latter show, the models had clambered off a halted steam engine, crossed the railroad tracks and then proceeded to walk down the pavement. It was exciting, innovative, an all-out fashion experience rather than just a display of clothes.

Those times were just like that, when Shameel and a few other trailblazers had first introduced notions of fashion and style to Pakistan. Fashion had been a glittering star on the rise — designers often eschewed commercial concerns in favour of creativity. Time, effort and money would be invested into shoots and shows purely for the love of fashion.

Glimpses of this passion were visible — 37 years later — at the designer’s recent solo show, A Symposium of Queens, staged in collaboration with the Hunar Foundation. The 22-piece collection was split into three different segments, dedicated to Elizabeth I of the Tudor realm, Hurrem Sultan (also known as Roxelana) of the Ottoman dynasty, and the Mughal queen Noor Jahan. In retrospect, I feel that the theme provided Shamaeel with a playground that she was very familiar with and one in which she could easily wield her expertise.

Regal, grand, over-the-top sartorial statements have always been a Shamaeel hallmark — and there were plenty of these worn by the motley crew of ‘queens’ that the designer sent down the catwalk.

There were exaggerated sleeves, stiff ruffled collars and capes worked with hand embroideries. The silhouettes varied as the theme shifted from the English terrain to the Byzantine courts and then, the grandeur of the Mughals. Layered skirts were followed by embellished long cloaks, jackets, flared pants and panelled shirts. The well-constructed angarkhas particularly caught the eye, worked with a mix of industrial and hand embroideries over print. The fabric flowed beautifully, the embroideries placed in artistic patterns rather than smothering the fabric in generic, blingy concoctions.  

The traditional bridal reds towards the end of the show, however, were not as exciting. These were elaborate garments, with multiple layers, heavy embroidery and a blend of different textures — but somehow the mind kept going back to the designs that had preceded them. The beauty of viewing a show by a designer like Shamaeel, who has a strong signature, lies in seeing that aesthetic and then connecting it with past collections and observing its evolution. There were many designs that were instantly covetable and euphorically screamed out ‘Shamaeel!’ A few did not.

“Our designs,” Shamaeel told Icon, “are entirely created in-house, from the prints to the embroideries, and we use pure fabrics. Also, I have never compromised on the way that I design just because something is trending. It’s why our designs never go out of fashion. Yes, we do create clothes that cater to our client’s preferences but even in our most commercial, budget-friendly lines, the designer signature is evident. A ‘Shamaeel’ design will always be instantly recognisable.”

Having witnessed Pakistani fashion in its heydays, what is her take on the aesthetics that are prevalent in the industry today? “I think designers are thinking along the lines of commerce, which is great. This is a business after all,” she says. “At the same time, they need to develop their individuality.”

Of course, Shamaeel, with her background in finance and corporate law, had always had a knack for merging her creative streak with business. She agrees. “You have to understand your market and the times that you are living in,” she says. “At present, many people will not be able to buy an exorbitantly priced bridal dress, so it is important to provide them with options that are affordable. Designers are ultimately creating a functional item that needs to sell. I have always understood this, having studied in one of the world’s best business schools. People working with me, especially on the design side, are often unable to understand my ad hoc methodology. My factory follows standardised procedures. I can sit on a laptop and see exactly what something cost me last year, what my inventory is all about and what changes I need to make.”

And so, over time, she has built a trajectory that quite literally tabulates the evolution of Pakistani fashion. Her design house was launched in 1987 and since then she has dabbled in luxury lawn, ready-to-wear, solo fashion shows, local and international exhibits, running a thriving export business and chairing the Karachi-based Fashion Pakistan Council (FPC) for some time.

“Over the years,” she reflects, “I have navigated the ups and downs of my business and overseen every aspect on my own, ranging from production to the advertising to retail, sampling, finance, research and export. It goes to show that with the right education and motivation, a woman can run a business just as well as a man.” 

She adds, “A love for texture and fabric runs in my blood. My great-grandfather had been one of the very first men to manufacture and retail pure silk in Mysore, India. And I wouldn’t have been able to achieve all that I did if it weren’t for my mother. Her name was Hajira Shamim and she was the publisher and editor of one of Pakistan’s very first women’s magazines, Henna. I was divorced with a baby when I started working and she helped me all the way.”

Now, at this point in her career, with fashion councils having bitten the dust, is she similarly helping out young designers? “As chairperson of the FPC, I had always encouraged promising young talent,” she points out, “and I am very willing to mentor designers who come to me for guidance. I also have a long term relationship with the Hunar Foundation. I train girls there to create fabric products.”

It was her alignment with the Foundation that led to her latest solo show. It was perhaps only the second fashion show to take place this year and, ironically, it was a throwback to those long ago times, when, yet again, a solo show by Shamaeel would be one of the very few to take place in a year. Watching the models get ready backstage, I stood next to photographer Tapu Javeri and I was reminded of how, even back then, he would be fashion’s blue-eyed boy — the ‘it’ photographer who was an absolute necessity at every major show. Sitting beyond the photographer’s pit at the end of catwalk was Frieha Altaf — choreographer for Shamaeel’s shows then and also now. A team of stylists lead by Nabila – just about to wrap up four decades in the industry – worked on the hair and makeup.

There were other players who were relatively new: Ehtesham Ansari on board as official stylist, Kohar as official jewellery partners, Sitarey by M supplying the handbags and Abbas Ali Khan having created the music, which should have been less desultory. RAKA had planned out the event and what particularly added great impact were the large digitised screens forming the backdrop, with images of courts displayed on them. The models — except for Fahmeen Ansari and Jaweria Ali — were relatively new and they made one yearn for the models of yore. These girls mostly just walked down the ramp extremely slowly, many of them not being able to do justice to the meticulously created garments that they were wearing. 

There was, ultimately, much that was familiar in Shamaeel’s regal entourage and then, much that was not. Thirty-seven years down the line, Pakistani fashion has changed, often hauling in profits but forsaking creativity. It is fortunate, then, that Pakistan has Shamaeel — a designer who has always stayed true to her signature. She’s still going strong.

Published in Dawn, ICON, September 15th, 2024