With 18 years of designer lawn under his belt, Yahsir Waheed is a name to reckon with in the fashion and textile fraternity. Waheed pioneered the concept of designer lawn back when buying swiss voile from small-scale vendors was still the norm for most women. In recent years, with an influx of bespoke lawn collections featuring collaborations between textile giants and designers, the novelty and uniqueness of Waheed’s lawn has dulled a little, though a discerning and loyal clientele still flocks to his stores each summer.
Yahsir Waheed is all set to introduce a new linefor his lawn collection called Amaltas, catering to the average Pakistani women.
Decades after pioneering designer lawn in Pakistan, Yahsir Waheed is branching out. Instep catches up with the designer.
With 18 years of designer lawn under his belt, Yahsir Waheed is a name to reckon with in the fashion and textile fraternity. Waheed pioneered the concept of designer lawn back when buying swiss voile from small-scale vendors was still the norm for most women. In recent years, with an influx of bespoke lawn collections featuring collaborations between textile giants and designers, the novelty and uniqueness of Waheed’s lawn has dulled a little, though a discerning and loyal clientele still flocks to his stores each summer.
To remain commercially relevant the brand is finally introducing a supplementary line to their primary collection; Amaltas is fruit of Waheed’s updated design ethos.
Named after the yellow flower that blooms in profusion, early summer, the line will be distinctly more feminine in its aesthetic. Featuring 12 different prints that range from pastel hues to brighter colours, Amaltas’ floral frivolity aims to add diversity to Waheed’s unconventional and geometric patterns. Though still falling under the category of every day lawn as opposed to being marketed as a semi-formal collection, the line also boasts of improved fabric quality and chiffon dupattas which can be paired with lawn shirts to complete the quintessential summer ensemble.
Remaining true to their brand philosophy of being accessible to the average woman, Amaltas is priced competitively, if not cheaper than most of the designer options inundating the market.
The collection will also offer embroideries that can be added on for additional price, though the choice remains entirely with the consumer to ensure that they have greater control of the amount they want to pay.
“We’ve never priced our lawn to compete with the Rs.5000-6000 price range. It is designer lawn that is designed in-house and sold by the brand itself instead of being outsourced to retailers, as is the case with most brands now, and this is perhaps why we’ve had greater control over the price range and the prints we produce,” explains Waheed.
Weighing in on the brand’s social media shy image, the lawn pioneer claims that each brand has a different identity and way of approaching the market. “Zara doesn’t have massive advertising budgets internationally, something you’ll realise if you study their brand philosophy,” he notes. “They have social media presence but definitely don’t push their product as vehemently as other brands, even compared to luxury designers. It doesn’t stop people from shopping at Zara – their clothing and design is testament to itself.”
Despite Zara’s unequivocal success and the consistent response of consumers to his lawn, Waheed admits that the brand is finally revising its social media strategy. “We have a Facebook page where our community of followers is growing daily and we do have an Instagram account but it’s not very active. We’ve just recently started engaging with bloggers on a personal level and pushing the brand in a manner that’s never been done before,” the lawn maven divulges.
In a market where designer and textile affiliations change almost yearly, Waheed deserves an accolade for consistency, if not original concept and design. Yahsir Waheed lawn is finally revamping both, its design and image to keep abreast of the dotcom generation that is changing the traditional structures of fashion. His new collection will showcase in Karachi at the Pearl Continental from the 20th to 23rd of February and will be available for sale at his outlets in Lahore, the city by the sea and Islamabad.
