One of the more visible and talked about gadabouts of the Lahore fashion/social scene today is the young model-turned-designer Saim Ali. Armed with a flamboyant personality, devil-may-care attitude and his unabashed lust for the media limelight, this new kid on the fashion block has become the mainstay of the cultural hip and happening city`s style scene.

In this age of media proliferation and its ability to make or break people, Saim`s intelligent manipulation of the media, his hunger for publicity and fearless ambition to be seen at all the `in` dos, has turned him into a perfect example of how being media savvy can give an aspiring debutant instant celebrity status.

After having risen to an elevated status from anonymity within a short span of just three years, Saim is now cleverly using his social clout to promote his impressive portfolio in fashion design.

So how does he manage to pull it off? `People genuinely like me,` he enthuses, `I`m an entertainer, I`m good company and above all I am honest about who I am and where I come from.`

But he did not always want to be a high-profile socialite. While growing up Saim`s obsession was with airplanes and he dreamt of flying one all around the world. Only later on did he develop an interest in his mother`s métier —creating ensembles for family and close friends.

As luck would have it, one day her designs arrived at the legendary Melody Queen Madam Noor Jehan`s house and met with immense appreciation. As his mother further forayed into the fashion world, it was also the beginning of the young lad`s initiation into the glamourous world of stylish, beautiful people and fabulous outfits.

By the time Saim finished school, he was dead sure of what he wanted to be — a fashion model. While his mother had no issues, his father`s response was quite fiery.

When Saim approached him for monetary assistance to get his portfolio made, he was livid and cut off financial support to him and his mom, whom he blamed for his son`s `fall from grace.` Undeterred, Saim got his portfolio done In Lahore by the ever-helpful Khawar Riaz, and the pictures were nothing short of remarkable.

However, Khawar`s feedback was not what Saim expected; the ace photographer told him that he didn`t have what it takes to be a model, in turn advising him to take up fashion designing. Still, he stuck to his guns and plunged headlong into modelling only to realise that it is no bed of roses.

He managed to bag a couple of fashion shows, including one for Nadya Mistry, along with a few shoots but soon realised that Khawar was right. However, his modelling stint was not entirely an exercise in futility as it provided him an opportunity to fulfill a long-cherished dream— `I wanted to be on the ramp and I achieved it.`

When a friend who was studying fashion design in Dubai convinced him to join her, Saim enrolled at the fashion school, doing odd jobs to pay the tuition fee. In Dubai, his gregariousness and friendly nature enabled him to make a lot of friends, and so be began to be invited to a lot of `in` places and parties.

At one such gathering he met the person who was to give him new purpose and direction. The guardian angel had spotted Saim`s talent and through him he landed an internship at the high-end design company, Roopam and Sheetal.

There he got to meet Indian designers Manish Malhotra and Neeta Lulla, as well as Bollywood star, Urmila Matondkar. `If heaven had been a place on earth, I certainly felt like I was in it during that period of my life,` he reminisces.

As fame and stardom beckoned, Saim met Mishi Khan who was then working as an air stewardess and residing in Dubai. When she told him of her plans to return to Pakistan to resume her acting career, Saim too realised that in Dubai he would always play second fiddle to someone and remain in the shadows. In order to make it big and achieve success he had to return home to Pakistan and he promptly did.

Having become friends with designer duo Salina Wardah and socialite Irum Alam in Dubai proved to be his ticket to get into the high society of Lahore. `Irum was the one who launched me and because of her I landed at all the right doorsteps. I started to believe in destiny... that this was the reason why modelling didn`t happen for me. I also met people like Freiha Altaf, Aaminah Haq, Imran Kureishi, etc, who used to look right through me before. Now they made it a point to be photographed with me for the city`s social pages. If this isn`t destiny, then what is... a nobody like me has now become a somebody whom everyone knows and wants to know!`

Saim initially set up shop in City Towers, albeit a modest, unassuming little place. But he found it difficult to make ends meet and at this critical juncture, Wardah came to his rescue, offering him a place in their outlet absolutely free of cost.

As the doors of success opened further for him, it also brought with it a host of trials and tribulations. `A few `it` people became extremely jealous of my success... about how a small fish like me had made it big so quickly.`

`They started spreading vicious rumours and running me down wherever they could. But I have a strong belief in God, unlike these so-called self-styled lesser gods who roam the earth, and who think that they can manipulate people and fate. With His blessings and my well-wishers, I nullified the attempts they made to vilify my reputation and ultimately persevered.`

Saim has now extended his sights on the international market and his first international show was organised by Visions International Events in London, in honour of the then Pakistan`s High Commissioner to the UK, Dr Maliha Lodhi. A string of other hi-fi events followed, including the recently held Sarajevo Fashion Week in Bosnia which Saim has been attending for two consecutive years.

With his design philosophy of incorporating both eastern and western compositions in his designs, he is also hoping to make more inroads overseas with a number of ace international projects that he wants to keep under wraps for now. `I deal in pret and couture both and I think Rizwan Beyg is one of the best designers we have in the country today... I simply adore his work.`

`A designer`s job is to draw out and expose hidden beauty... to make people look glamorous and guide them to dress up in style and in a modern way. A lot of our big names in fashion do not have degrees and yet they call themselves fashionistas. I feel sorry for them. I, on the other hand, have better things to do in life rather than waste my time with such trivial issues.`

The optimist in Saim believes that the future of fashion in Pakistan is very bright. `The current political and economic situation is not good but even then the fashion industry is doing great, which is a positive sign,` he reasons.

When asked to summarise his career status thus far, he reflects, `I`ve proved my critics wrong, and today I am in the B-Plus category of designers, which is a great achievement since the A-Class belongs to legends such as Rizwan Beyg in Karachi and Nilofer Shahid in Lahore.`

Given Saim Ali`s naked determination to forge ahead, his sheer hunger for limelight and his tendency to dream the impossible and make it a reality, rest assured the fashion fraternity will be hearing ever more of this ambitious designer and for a long time to come.