“Do you have a golden ticket?’ a middle aged woman balancing a pram in one hand and several items of merchandize in another, whispered in my ear. “Will you take some of my items on your ticket? I’ll pay.â€
This was the opening of the Sapphire Concept store in the new and flashy Emporium Mall in Lahore. It would just be another really big store except it has a café replete with a resting area for shoppers who need a coffee break and a kid’s play place so women don’t have to master the balancing act as they’re shopping. And it really is a very, very big store, spreading across 1,300 square feet. Infact, it was a happy cross between Alice’s Wonderland and Charlie’s Chocolate Factory!
Sapphire, under Creative Director Khadija Shah, has been a game changer when it comes to high street fashion. Their fashion offerings have been somewhat safe but with impeccable fabric quality and unmatched prices, they have become a force that other brands find it hard to compete with. Plus, fashion – I always say – is an experience and it’s just as much about the image, the branding and the marketing. Working with the best names in the industry, Sapphire has aced that.
Back at the opening, and half an hour into a store that was gradually getting warmer because of the 2000-plus women who were at it (Yes, that was the number though you couldn’t tell), I had been nudged for my ticket several times and now actually feeling like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory, I decided to step back and observe from a distance.
The store, designed by Yousuf Shahbaz, is a pristine white with exotic wallpaper in muted shades of grey. It plays with Sapphire’s recurring motifs, from birds and wildlife to verandah windows and arches. Giant, larger than life flamingoes placed over the store carry accessories on their backs and executed cheaply this could have looked bad but in the right hands it just looks quite kitsch.
“We wanted a theme that could be transported anywhere in the world,†Yousuf Shahbaz spoke to me. “So it has a touch of Eastern aesthetic but it’s very international at the same time.â€
It’s all but obvious that Sapphire is on a mission to grow and branching out globally will be on the cards. For now, Khadijah Shah and Nabeel Abdullah, Director Sapphire, were all smiles as several dozen of society’s pretty young things, It-girls and media included, flaunted Sapphire designs, making it easy for shoppers to make their selection. And it was a shopping frenzy, set off by the golden tickets that offered 50% off on all purchases that day (The five items I bought cost me a little under PKR 5000 so the offer was fantabulous!).
Nadir Feroz (L) and Adnan Malik (R) strike a pose with the giant white flamingo in the store. Now, if only that bird could walk and talk too. Yousuf Shahbaz, are you listening?
Top model Mehreen is now an institution on her own. She chose not to dress in Sapphire but carried herself in a crisp white shirt with collar cut-outs and camel pants. And she struck a fun pose for us!
Top model Rabia Butt, who’s woking on her films and is wondering whether she wants to participate in fashion week, in Sapphire menswear and Male Model of the year, Hasnain Lehri in white with those funky white sneakers with gold studs!
Iqra Mansha, Meher Bano, Yousuf Shahbaz and Naz Mansha at the opening.
