This collaboration is not yet underway but here’s my suggestion: it should be!
For the Gulabo show at the TDAP event, Maheen Khan told me that she had picked up white P.T shoes from Servis and her designers spray painted them for the show. So here’s the idea: if Bonanza and Bareeze can join hands with designers for value added clothes, then why can’t local shoe manufacturers also do the same? And not just for shows, shoe manufacturers like Bata and Servis should consider keeping capsule designer collections, much like Manish Malhotra for Reebok or Design house Marimekko for Converse. Bata and Servis both could do with an image makeover and brands like Gulabo, that are intrinsically Pakistani and retail all over Pakistan, could be good for a piggy-back to being trendier.
Wouldn’t we all be interested in buying designer PT shoes, retailing mssively across the country? I know that with a quality check (because the standard of tennis shoes has suffered over the years) in place, these shoes would make a great present for kids and cousins abroad, especially if they have traditional Pakistaniat on them.
Maheen’s tennis shoes may have been painted in-house but we’re rooting for a more formal, professional collaboration here! Bata, Servis, I hope you guys are reading! Those Servis Shoes really can be for everyone!