- Indian multi-designer fashion house Karmik to open on Friday
Indian multi-designer fashion house Karmik will open its first store on Friday.
Karmik Chief Managing Director Pradeep Hirani said that it was not tough to open the store as Indian designs are much appreciated in Pakistan. “Like music, fashion does not adhere to political or geographical boundaries,” said the Mumbai-based Hirani.
He said that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were once one nation and the culture is still common. “In view of the high demand for Indian designer wear, opening a store in Pakistan was not so challenging,” he added.
Karmik will give fashionistas in Pakistan a chance to flaunt Indian creations by top designers like Rohit Bal, JJ Valaya, Anamika Khanna and Neeta Lulla.
An agreement for the store was signed between Hirani and Shaikh Aftab Arshad, Asad Amin Shaikh, Asif Amin Shaikh of the Lahore based fashion retailer Arshadsons. As part of the franchise deal, Karmik plans to open six stores in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad over the next three years. “The Lahore store will be followed by Karachi in December this year,” said Hirani.
The collection at Karmik store will showcase Indian designer wear including shalwar kameez, churidar suits, stiched saris and tunics apart from bags and shoes. All designs will range from $100 to $175. “We did detailed research in terms of acceptability of tastes and preferences, especially in the silhouette, colour and texture department,” said Hirani.
He remarked that the sizing and the preferred fit of garments of a particular city plays a strong role during designing. “The major eye-opener was that Indian designers are household names in Pakistan,” he added.
