Ensemble opens in Islamabad

Islamabad

Ensemble,Pakistan’s forerunner top-drawer luxury boutique, just launched its fourth store in Islamabad on Friday, October 29, with a grand celebration that welcomed friends, fashion fraternityand the big enchilada of the capital city amidst flashing lights, media, cocktails and hors d’oeuvre.

Ensemble is essentially housing designer prêt a porter clothing from over 35 of the top Pakistani and Indian designers that are not available anywhere else in Pakistan. The launch triggered and motivated many ideas in the young and aspiring designers of Islamabad, as the launch show cased live models striking mannequin poses in different corners of the store.

A first-of-a-kind store in Islamabad, the launch came well in time to target the market which is still blossoming and isn’t home to standalone designer stores unlike the other two metropolitan centres. The store is the brainchild of Zeba Hussain and Fareeha Hasan, two college friends who established the multi-brand store seven years ago in Karachi, now operating all over Pakistan as well as Dubai. While there are a myriad of designers available up on the racks, both owners also have their own brands by the name of Shehrnaz and F&F that resonate their flair for fashion.

Shehrnaz Hussain, the owner of Ensemble, with Hello! Pakistan’s publisher, Zahra Saifullah, at the store’s launch in Islamabad.

When asked about their vision that was evident in the tasteful and refined settings of the launch event, CEO of the Islamabad store Raisham Ibrahim said, “We believe in setting a predominant standard of fashion in Pakistan. As an individual who adores fashion, I am very enthusiastic to be a part of the fashion revolution that is coming to Islamabad.”

Among the 35 designers is Karachi-based Sania Maskatiya, who doesn’t have a shelf dedicated to her in the store, but a ‘store-within-a-store’. This, however, isn’t the first of its kind collaboration between the label and Ensemble. Sania also has a store-within-a-store in Ensemble’s Dubai outlet. With an enviable diversity of influential personalities from Pakistan seen sporting Sania on various occasions, including the esteemed 84th Annual Academy Award Nominee Luncheon where Oscar-winning Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy wore a custom Sania Maskatiya creation, the label is undoubtedly a welcome addition to the city. The wide range of bridals that take up an entire section of the mini store instantly found customers in a number of brides-to-be.

One of the top Indian brands available in the store is none other than Sabyasachi Mukherjee, a celebrated label among Bollywood’s celebrity clan that includes the likes of Rekha, Vidya Balan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and many more.

Model striking a pose in a Farida Hasan creation.

Also available from across the border are designers Ritu Kumar and Tarun Tahiliani. While a long list of Lahore and Karachi’s popular fashion houses reach out to Islamabad’s relatively niche market with the store’s launch, outfits from the capital’s personal favourites like Ayesha Yousaf and Farida Hasan also sat pretty in the wide variety on offer.