Khaadi turns 18 and though the brand showed signs of incredible maturity from the very day it was born, I love the youthful feeling of confidence and freedom and success that it is celebrating with its 18th birthday. Instead of going with a tried and tested celebrity, Khaadi has chosen to go with the All Girl Band, founded at the Nescafe Basement, thus sending out a very strong message of women and youth empowerment. I absolutely love the song, composed by the talented Xulfi, and the fact that the video is very subtly shot at the Khaadi factory (by Guddu and Shani), allowing the magnitude of the operations to sink in without stealing the limelight from the girls. Subtlety is key, which I wish other brands would see and understand!
The All Girl Band is a revelation and the girls sound bloody good. It helps that the song, ‘Choo Liya Aasman‘ is super-inspirational, giving the heart a much needed boost after the plummet it suffered last week. But that’s just the thing about being Pakistani. Life becomes a roller coaster ride and there are deadly drops but what keeps us going are the lifts and elevations. Khaddi, as a brand, definitely is one of those elevations and this song just verifies that.
It’s success stories like Khaadi that keep us going. Shamoom Sultan is the brain and brawn behind Khaadi. What keeps him motivated, unaffected by the ebb and flow of this mysterious place that we call Pakistan?
“This very negativity that surrounds us inspires me to keep doing something to bring a change,” he says. “There’s so much sadness and depression all the time that I feel the need to remind people that this is a great country and this is a land of opportunities. Pakistan is who we are. ‘Choo Liya Aasman‘ is all about Khaadi’s journey, the difficulties we had in starting out and then the commitment we had to overcoming all difficulties, and that’s why we wanted the girls and not a renowned name to represent our journey. We wanted to give the girls a platform and we plan to continue giving newcomers a chance.”
I do believe it is brands like Khaadi that will also keep convincing the youth to stay and invest in Pakistan because as Shamoon says, Pakistan is who we are.
