Re-Visiting: Asian Designers in a Nutshell!

What can be more appealing to a prospective shopper of South Asian clothing in the UK, than finding authentic Pakistani designers clothes latest with the trends, a strictly NO replica policy, utterly affordable; as in SO affordable that they are sold at the same price they sell in Pakistan, exclusive designers who are only available via Asian Designers website, outfits that are readily available to buy and practically at your doorstep on the next working day, quality that is not compromised despite the lower prices AND almost every outfit sold is a couture piece! Sounds too good to be true right?

Its all about Maria Rao, the Fashion Designer, today!

I, finally, had the pleasure of meeting Maria on a professional level. Maria was actually my junior at school back in Pakistan when I lived there. We've always known each other but I never knew her on a personal or professional level as I do now.
What an inspirational young woman she is and her designs clearly speak on her behalf. Shes always had a flare for designing clothes all the way from a very young age of 11!
Shes a self taught, self-made, young very successful entrepreneur and best of all, shes as pleasant as a lovely summer's breeze on a very hot day!
Maria's first ever clothing exhibition was at the age of 16 and what a turning point it was for her career. There was no going back for her! She invested all her time, money and efforts into her flourishing passion alongside her education which was never put on hold!
I guess that is where I see a hardworking, self-made entrepreneur..
Today, she has ten plus people working for her; from an assistant to embroiderers and tailors to even an accountant and best of all I got to see them live in action.
My visit to Karachi in December held so much importance to me as I scheduled in my visits with each of my designers. I don't just do business with them but I develop a friendship too and its a hundred times easier when the people I work with are genuinely nice; it makes my job just the best!

So after a few frustrating moments with the driver, the traffic and the directions, me and my sister finally made it to Maria's workshop tucked away in quite a central, commercial location. We were given a very warm welcome and were offered the best 'kadak' chai ever (Pakistani authentic cooked tea)!!
Not only did I thoroughly enjoy my tea but I was also ecstatic to hand pick Maria's next collection for Asian Designers from a wide variety of gorgeous contemporary Eastern clothing. Maria's designs are very unique to her; she likes to keep the Eastern touch in her embellishments but ensures that the Western touch is incorporated in her cuts too.

Maria's designs are brought to reality in this workshop; here are the tailors' heads down and just getting on with it!

The embroiderer on the left really fascinated me; he has so many little embellishments, diamante`, myriad threads etc to deal with yet gives a fantastically clean finish to each and every outfit designed by Maria!
The picture on the right is the Ironing room where the outfit is quality checked and ironed ready to be sold.

 

Here I am with the lovely, gorgeous Maria and yes that's some of her collection behind me!

If you haven't already checked out Maria's collection on our website, make sure you do now :)
If you're not already following me on my social networking sites, then please do now:

w w w . a s i a n d e s i g n e r s . c o . u k 

marwa@asiandesigners.co.uk

00447849877528

It's a 'Bin' day morning!

And here I am all tucked up on this cold, windy night with a nice cup of tea..Oops, actually almost finished it now! Clearly I couldn't wait to gulp it down to quench that caffeine thirst I have been craving for, all day.

I am actually wanting to write so much but cant get my words or my thoughts in conjunction. My thoughts usually go at a hundred miles an hour whilst my words are almost always battling to keep up with the thoughts; a bit like umm ..sshhh, xfactor in the background really not helping the writing cause!

Perhaps you could chuckle a little about my morning 'putting the bins out' encounter. So there I am deep in sleep when I suddenly realise, its bin day! I jump out of bed and shove my head scarf on, stumbling down the stairs and actually stand in the hallway thinking I still have a while before the collection but NO! I could hear the truck approaching, the hazard beeps going off, the bin man actually outside my DOOR! Oh dear, I frantically got my keys into the door and call out to the bin man "Please, waiiiittt!!" This is where it goes all wrong; I got two pink bags out safe and sound but on my second trip into the house and into the garage, I first stepped right into some paint cleaning spirit liquid that was very conveniently and strategically positioned by my lovely husband but I had no time to stop and waste so I carried on with my mission! Picked up the next recycling bag and that too was a mission; when did my bloody garage turn into an assault course? Bags, boxes, my Asian Designers packaging material, a bed-side table that my husband no longer wanted to see in the bedroom! All in all, I was well and truly awakened by this trivial yet challenging morning.

Rushing out of the garage had its consequences too; I took my spirit-drenched slippers off and thought now I can make it out of the garage without any further complications. Notice how I am using some very harsh words for 'not-a-very' harsh situation. I guess I was too optimistic to hope for a stress and pain free journey out of the obstacle course.

I banged my right knee straight into the door frame. This was serious! At this point, not only was I in agony but I had to PRETEND that all was OK with spirit-drenched feet and now a battered knee; all that and I still didn't get this last darned pink recycling bag to the bin man outside! Eventually I swallowed the scream from the bang, forced a smile on, limped to the front door and handed over the bin to the man whom I also had to call out to as he had gone past my house already! I know I looked like a character never seen before; a woman with a fake smile and black eyes from the smudged mascara with a distorted looking hijab on her head and pjs! I cannot even begin to fathom what I may have come across as but you know what? I DID it!

I immediately shut the front door and I well and truly needed to scream over that excruciating knee collision I had had only a minute ago and I put on hold! Its important to realise all of the above happened in less than two minutes. Oh my days, I have never been a morning person and I guess almost eleven years later, I still am an incompetent morning person.

My day did get a little bit better to be honest but I have had to succumb to walking with a limp. My husband noticed it too and the children made sure they told their dad about my accident and the cliché` joke was : Is the DOOR OK?! and then more clichéd questions like " What did this morning teach you?" I mean seriously? Am I supposed to sit there and admit " Oh yeah, I should've woken up earlier or perhaps sorted it out the night before". Seriously what is the expected answer? Anyone?
YES, I can still be the biggest, stubborn child in the world despite being married for over a decade and being a mother of two!

Come on, this isn't just a 'normal' morning is it? I actually thought it was worth a blog ;)