So its been a while since I actually updated you all about my latest happenings, precisely about my flowery, dreamy Asian Designers concept. Well, in fact, its slowly turning into a 'real' reality!! Hoorah!
And here i am thinking of how to describe my exhilarating journey of making Asian Designers into a reality. Hmm shall I start with my rather bizarre flight from Abu Dhabi to Karachi; a 'male dominated' flight, a 'no business-class' flight, the guessing game of 'who will I end up sitting next to?' flight! *Sigh* That seriously needs a blog on its own.
Once I made it safely to 'the' Karachi, my 'meet the designers' journey began and boy was it exciting! I met some extremely inspirational ,successful women who have worked harder than I could imagine to get to where they are today!
Imagine a Pakistani version of 'Britain's got talent' but no Simon, only me as the judge! I almost started getting so sentimental about all this, I wanted to feel the designers' genuine desire to grow, to achieve, to 'woo' me. Once I felt all of the above, I knew who I wanted to work with. I wanted a story behind each one of them and no I would never write a book! Although, I will elaborate each designers' inspirational tales of success at a later stage unless I have already done that below!
Ethos by Nadia Batool:
Although I did not get to meet Nadia in my 3 day excursion, I have personally known Nadia for over five years now. Known her since she lived in the UK whilst doing her masters degree in Fashion Design.
Now Nadia is one of those people that you instantly find amicable, charming, genuine, lovable, cherubic..umm yes I know I have practically used up all the perfect descriptive words in the English dictionary on one person, but she really is and you have got to believe me! Her designs speak of her personality and character, she wanted to portray fashion in the same sense that she would like to see herself wearing. Style and modesty put together became her ultimate vision! She promised that as soon as her masters was over, she was going to launch Ethos and her signature statement became 'Less skin more You'.
I even took part in a video interview conducted by Nadia at the time to help her out with her dissertation. I wish I had never seen it; I looked no less than a whale, just not in the sea ! Alright, I am exaggerating but I resembled one during my late pregnancy days!
On a serious note going back to Nadia and her urban chic collection, I just knew that me and Nadia will end up working together even though we had a few futile attempts before I stopped being lazy and shook business to business hands with this wonderfully talented woman :)
Agha Noor:
Hira;This 24 year old young, extremely motivated, 'sky is the limit' entrepreneur blew me away with her humility, simplicity and at the same time her business shrewdness.
All this in a span of two hours that I got to meet with her; first at her store then a business meeting over lunch. She is the true meaning of a business woman who does not see as launching her own brand's four stores in an astonishing two years as enough! Shes on fire and she will achieve it. She designs her own range, shops for her ranges' material, mentors her workers, keeps an eye on every piece produced, does her own accounts and all this with a placid, mellow attitude. Her business model is simple; you pay consistently reasonable prices for a high quality product. In turn using this strategy to her benefit; profits are based on volume and shes done it.
People admire her designs, love her unbeatable prices and cannot keep their hands off her collection as soon as it hits the shops!
Infact, the day I arrived in Karachi, a few hours later I ventured into Zamzama to meet this soft-spoken, extremely polite human being that I had been conversing with over the phone. I arrive outside her newly opened second shop on the same lane as her first shop and as soon as I stepped inside, or just about, I had to squeeze past the 'Agha Noor kurta-hungered' masses inside the store! Trying to catch the attention of the shop-keepers was another story..'ex..' 'exccuuse' 'excuseeee me, can you please inform Hira that Marwa is here to see her?' Shop-keeper: 'She's not here and I am busy'. Anyhow, after a few attempts of enforcing the matter, Hira finally emerges from her office and what a meet and greet that was! She greeted me with arms-wide open as though we had been friends for decades; delightful :) . Agha Noor's collection falls in the Smart-Casual Kurta category and its already proving quite successful!
Nadia Hussain:
Need I say no more. She is Pakistan's super-model, shes elegant, shes intelligent and as they say shes got the beauty as well as the brains. Shes an exceptionally busy mum of three and a wife alongside running multiple careers simultaneously; a modelling career, a salon (soon to open), a stunning clothing range, a skin clinic but actually a dentist by profession! Phew, that list was exhaustive. Despite, this intensely busy lifestyle, Nadia welcomed me into her home and we talked business for hours! She was receptive to all my ideas and in turn I accommodated her requirements too and, there, a business relationship was born.
If you want to do business, then base it on honesty. There is absolutely no point in going into business when your fundamentals are unstable; you might as well not go down that route in the first place!
I found Nadia inspirational to me because of the number of things she juggles in her life and yet makes the most of all the opportunities that come her way. I am due to receive her first collection next week and I'm so feeling the excitement, oh yes!
Nadia's collection is more Western influenced cuts with an Eastern touch for party and semi-formal occasions.
Contempo:
Akbar and Saira; a heart warming couple that felt they just couldn't do enough for me. If there is a new friendship that has truly flourished then it has got to be with this gracious couple.
I have known them for over a year. It was when I decided to sell western clothing in Pakistan through their shop.
Since then we developed a very accommodating working relationship as well as a good friendship. Before my visit to Karachi, I decided Contempo would be my supplier for their newly launched casual Eastern wear range and so we were in talks about how this would work for the both of us. Saira is the main designer of this new venture for Contempo; she is a teacher during the day and a mother, a wife and a designer in the evening. I am currently awaiting the arrival of their stock in the near future; this collection will fill my casual Kurta corner!
So that is it for now but upcoming networking events for me are:
Asiana Exhibition in London on the 26th of Jan
Asian Bridal event in Manchester on the 16th of March (Fashion Show and Stall)
If you are around, come and say hello!!
And here i am thinking of how to describe my exhilarating journey of making Asian Designers into a reality. Hmm shall I start with my rather bizarre flight from Abu Dhabi to Karachi; a 'male dominated' flight, a 'no business-class' flight, the guessing game of 'who will I end up sitting next to?' flight! *Sigh* That seriously needs a blog on its own.
Once I made it safely to 'the' Karachi, my 'meet the designers' journey began and boy was it exciting! I met some extremely inspirational ,successful women who have worked harder than I could imagine to get to where they are today!
Imagine a Pakistani version of 'Britain's got talent' but no Simon, only me as the judge! I almost started getting so sentimental about all this, I wanted to feel the designers' genuine desire to grow, to achieve, to 'woo' me. Once I felt all of the above, I knew who I wanted to work with. I wanted a story behind each one of them and no I would never write a book! Although, I will elaborate each designers' inspirational tales of success at a later stage unless I have already done that below!
Ethos by Nadia Batool:
Although I did not get to meet Nadia in my 3 day excursion, I have personally known Nadia for over five years now. Known her since she lived in the UK whilst doing her masters degree in Fashion Design.
Now Nadia is one of those people that you instantly find amicable, charming, genuine, lovable, cherubic..umm yes I know I have practically used up all the perfect descriptive words in the English dictionary on one person, but she really is and you have got to believe me! Her designs speak of her personality and character, she wanted to portray fashion in the same sense that she would like to see herself wearing. Style and modesty put together became her ultimate vision! She promised that as soon as her masters was over, she was going to launch Ethos and her signature statement became 'Less skin more You'.
I even took part in a video interview conducted by Nadia at the time to help her out with her dissertation. I wish I had never seen it; I looked no less than a whale, just not in the sea ! Alright, I am exaggerating but I resembled one during my late pregnancy days!
On a serious note going back to Nadia and her urban chic collection, I just knew that me and Nadia will end up working together even though we had a few futile attempts before I stopped being lazy and shook business to business hands with this wonderfully talented woman :)
Agha Noor:
Hira;This 24 year old young, extremely motivated, 'sky is the limit' entrepreneur blew me away with her humility, simplicity and at the same time her business shrewdness.
All this in a span of two hours that I got to meet with her; first at her store then a business meeting over lunch. She is the true meaning of a business woman who does not see as launching her own brand's four stores in an astonishing two years as enough! Shes on fire and she will achieve it. She designs her own range, shops for her ranges' material, mentors her workers, keeps an eye on every piece produced, does her own accounts and all this with a placid, mellow attitude. Her business model is simple; you pay consistently reasonable prices for a high quality product. In turn using this strategy to her benefit; profits are based on volume and shes done it.
People admire her designs, love her unbeatable prices and cannot keep their hands off her collection as soon as it hits the shops!
Infact, the day I arrived in Karachi, a few hours later I ventured into Zamzama to meet this soft-spoken, extremely polite human being that I had been conversing with over the phone. I arrive outside her newly opened second shop on the same lane as her first shop and as soon as I stepped inside, or just about, I had to squeeze past the 'Agha Noor kurta-hungered' masses inside the store! Trying to catch the attention of the shop-keepers was another story..'ex..' 'exccuuse' 'excuseeee me, can you please inform Hira that Marwa is here to see her?' Shop-keeper: 'She's not here and I am busy'. Anyhow, after a few attempts of enforcing the matter, Hira finally emerges from her office and what a meet and greet that was! She greeted me with arms-wide open as though we had been friends for decades; delightful :) . Agha Noor's collection falls in the Smart-Casual Kurta category and its already proving quite successful!
Nadia Hussain:
Need I say no more. She is Pakistan's super-model, shes elegant, shes intelligent and as they say shes got the beauty as well as the brains. Shes an exceptionally busy mum of three and a wife alongside running multiple careers simultaneously; a modelling career, a salon (soon to open), a stunning clothing range, a skin clinic but actually a dentist by profession! Phew, that list was exhaustive. Despite, this intensely busy lifestyle, Nadia welcomed me into her home and we talked business for hours! She was receptive to all my ideas and in turn I accommodated her requirements too and, there, a business relationship was born.
If you want to do business, then base it on honesty. There is absolutely no point in going into business when your fundamentals are unstable; you might as well not go down that route in the first place!
I found Nadia inspirational to me because of the number of things she juggles in her life and yet makes the most of all the opportunities that come her way. I am due to receive her first collection next week and I'm so feeling the excitement, oh yes!
Nadia's collection is more Western influenced cuts with an Eastern touch for party and semi-formal occasions.
Contempo:
Akbar and Saira; a heart warming couple that felt they just couldn't do enough for me. If there is a new friendship that has truly flourished then it has got to be with this gracious couple.
I have known them for over a year. It was when I decided to sell western clothing in Pakistan through their shop.
Since then we developed a very accommodating working relationship as well as a good friendship. Before my visit to Karachi, I decided Contempo would be my supplier for their newly launched casual Eastern wear range and so we were in talks about how this would work for the both of us. Saira is the main designer of this new venture for Contempo; she is a teacher during the day and a mother, a wife and a designer in the evening. I am currently awaiting the arrival of their stock in the near future; this collection will fill my casual Kurta corner!
So that is it for now but upcoming networking events for me are:
Asiana Exhibition in London on the 26th of Jan
Asian Bridal event in Manchester on the 16th of March (Fashion Show and Stall)
If you are around, come and say hello!!
