Designer Faraz Manan and Shoaib Shafi were recently invited to Delhi to showcase Crescent’s luxury pret collection. The exhibition was organized by Harmeet Bajaj and Kiran Chaudhry Amlani- a duo that is all set to become a major player in bringing Pakistani fashion to India.

Speaking about the exhibition, Kiran said, “When I moved to India, I realised the incredible demand that is there for all things Pakistani – whether its fashion, music or art. We have a reputation in India for having a highly advanced aesthetic and a sophistication when it comes to the arts. That is a huge strength that Pakistan has and one that must be used to its benefit. Both India and Pakistan also have large textile and fashion industries which are run by influential people in the business community on both sides. It makes sense to create a platform where both sides realise the tremendous benefits that would come from trade in these fields, not only in a commercial sense, but in helping us forge better relationships regionally that are based on the strongest foundation of all – mutual interest.”

Harmeet and Kiran plan to host several exhibitions throughout the year with Pakistani designers whom they feel have the talent, but also the business savvy and production capabilities to be successful in the Indian market. They were in attendance at the most recent PFDC Spring/Summer Fashion Week in order to identify the designers that they would like to work with.

Speaking on why Pakistani designers were not currently making as much of an impact in India as they could, they said, “at the same or similar price point, the Indian customer will always prefer an Indian designer with a solid profile to an unknown Pakistani designer. In order to compete, Pakistani designers will have to be marketed and their brands built through an aggressive PR and marketing effort, which many of them are simply not in a position to manage themselves from Pakistan. We hope to create partnerships with designers which help them in building this profile and organising their marketing and sales strategy in India. Nobody is doing this yet, so we are very hopeful that it will pay off handsomely – for everyone.” The duo also plan to set up their own stores in major cities like Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore and Pune.

The exhibition sold out within hours, and was followed by a celebratory champagne and canapés evening at Riyaaz Amlani’s popular Delhi nightclub “Shroom”, which was well attended by the Delhi social circuit.