Pakistani couturier Yasmeen Jiwa debuted on the prestigious Paris Fashion Week Fall 2018 platform this weekend, showcasing the best of local craft.
The designer showcased in association with the Oxford Fashion Studio for her collection Qous-e-Qazah – which simply put, means an arch of colors visible in the sky like a rainbow. Taking place at the luxurious Intercontinental Hotel, Yasmeen’s range of sartorial ensembles uses a palette which includes shades of metallic greys, dusky blues and tones of reds, which make the collection pop.
“We were invited last year in June to participate in New York Fashion Week September 2017 by Oxford Fashion Studio (an independent organization based in London who scout independent/ upcoming designers from around the world to participate in fashion weeks in London, New York, Milan, and Paris) but we realized that we would not be ready for the September season so we opted for February in Paris and were luckily granted it,” Yasmeen spoke to Something Haute from Paris.
Apart from a play with colours on the palette, the collection played on cutting-edge silhouettes showcased gowns and skirts as well as trousers. Each ensemble of the collection has been hand-embroidered in countless hours by artisans to create a range of designs that juxtapose Pakistani culture with elements of European high-fashion.
“As this was our first ever show we wanted to take baby steps in which we opted to go for a group show; we shared our show with other international designers from Indonesia, India, Norway and Canada,” the designer elaborated. “Our collection was a mix of modern, edgy silhouettes with traditional embroideries such as mirror, thread, lace, cut work, and sequence. The brand Yasmeen Jiwa has always believed in weightless glamour which is not very common in our industry.  We wanted our color palette to be as original as possible so hence our inspiration was Qous-e-Qazah in which we worked with sky blues, silver grays, and blue grays with bursts of rich reds and citruses. The collection was given a great deal of praise by the media and buyers present at the show. It really opened the door to new international opportunities. It definitely exceeded our expectations tenfold!
What did it mean to show at such a prestigious platform, we asked her.
With the world opening up and become ever more inclusive when it comes to fashion, it makes us very proud to see Pakistan’s designers spreading their wings are flying to platforms as elevated as Paris Fashion Week. We hope this will mean bigger and better growth for the brand and for the industry at large!
