Maheen Khan is the new Chairperson of Fashion Pakistan Council
“Fashion should be exciting,” Maheen Khan tells me. Yes, it should I concur.
“We are at the cusp of a new decade. We just can’t continue plodding about in complacency,” she adds.
But right now, fashion in Pakistan isn’t exciting and no one knows this better than Maheen herself. As a pioneer in the industry, Maheen lay some of the first few building blocks to the local fashion industry. She has seen the ebb and flow of aesthetics, the crests and the troughs, the exciting times when every show hinted at a rosy future, and the current dismal ones where clothes drone in in a mundane, forgettable procession.
Of course, fashion has always remained exciting within Maheen’s own atelier — a haven where she easily waltzes around the fine line between creating original design and ensuring commercial viability. But not all designers are able to figure out a way to create trend-setting design which will also generate business for them by appealing to the country’s predominantly conventional (and often boring) sartorial tastes. Right now, Maheen’s turned her discerning eye towards these others.
As the newly appointed Chairperson of the Fashion Pakistan Council (FPC), Maheen Khan will be helming two seasonal editions of Fashion Pakistan Week (FPW) every year, where many of these designers will be showcasing their work. Maheen may also showcase her own collection and up the ante at fashion weeks. A smattering of others may also present shows that win rave reviews and manage to push that elusive fashion envelope. But Maheen knows — as does any fashion critic — that there will be those who will be thinking far too commercially. And she can’t exactly jostle them into thinking otherwise. There is only so much that a chairperson can do.
But Maheen begs to differ. She says that it’s about time to do so much more. “As senior designers, we are to blame for promoting mediocrity by giving people merely what they want to buy as opposed to telling them that there are other options that they could also wear! We need to work towards changing the perception of fashion for the average woman.”
Maheen Khan is no stranger to organising fashion weeks. But is she ready to ride the fast-paced Fashion Pakistan Week whirlwind in 2020 as the newly-elected Chairperson of the Fashion Pakistan Council?
How will FPC and, moreover, FPW manage to achieve this? “It will take time and we will be taking baby steps,” says Maheen, proceeding to describe how new boards have been appointed to facilitate the different responsibilities of the fashion council. Policy decisions and the business end will be managed by a ‘Board of Governors’, which includes filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, designer Shamaeel Ansari and entrepreneurs Ronak Lakhani, Ziad Bashir and Yasin Peracha. A separate Executive Board will be creating and handling the events. This board will include individuals from different genres, including event management and styling.
“I have appointed three key stylists: Alishay Adnan, Samiya Ansari and Amal Qadri. Designers taking part in FPW will have the choice to work with any one of these,” says Maheen.