The designer, who launched her high street brand, Zaha’s debut lawn collection this weekend, recommends ladies to play around with silhouettes, embroideries and textures and not stick to the template given.
The polar vortex may still have most of the world in an icy grip and even northern Pakistan may still be frozen in sub zero or single digit temperatures but things are starting to warm up when it gets to fashion and lawn specifically. Summer and festive are the two major fashion seasons in this part of the world – summer being significantly longer – and to help women prepare for the season, which is around the corner, lawn has made an early entry.
We spoke to Khadijah Shah, who’s been winning awards for Achievement in Fashion Design – Lawn year after year, and while her accolades have been for the highly ranked Élan Lawn, this weekend Khadijah released the first edition of Zaha Lawn, Zaha being her comparatively younger high street brand.
While the designs at Zaha are brighter and more youthful than what we’ve been seeing at Élan, even the price points are lower thus appealing to a younger crowd, I caught up with Khadijah to ask how she managed to separate the identity of the two.
“Zaha is Élan’s diffusion label - a high street brand,” Khadijah began to explain. “It is focused on designing affordable collections that have a strong and distinct design aesthetic, one which people can love and feel pride in wearing. Élan on the other hand is a luxury label, an industry trendsetter that delivers high quality, and offers value-addition. For one, Élan Lawn has experimented a lot more with different kinds of fabrics this year: uniquely woven jacquards, organza dupattas, and schiffli to name a few. Though both have a similar brand ethos and aesthetic, Zaha’s competitive price point allows it to appeal to a much larger audience.
” The collection has 18 designs, available in two colours each, and they are all vibrant and unrestrained, targeting a young and adventurous fashionista. Lawn campaigns also set the mood for the styles and as always, Khadijah Shah is playing with the idea of a highly fashionable, modern woman.
Having worked on the collection for months, which designs were Khadijah’s personal favourites?
“As clichéd as it sounds, it’s really hard to pick a favourite,” she laughed. “We’ve worked tirelessly for many months on designing this collection. From the research phase, to the design and of course the execution phase, this collection has been a labour of hard work and love so it’s really difficult to single out designs. However, since you’re insisting, I have to say Marisol: the bold contrast of red and black, the gold detailing and the red chili imagery really speak to me. My second favourite would be Delia: I love the combination of the busy florals paired with the houndstooth design. The longer, boxy silhouette also accentuate this fabulous print – I will definitely be sporting it this summer. Cyra would be my third choice: for me, this print is the perfect representation of Zaha’s Wonderland: vibrant, bold and surreal all in one!”
We talk about individuality in fashion but women tend to look the same when they wear the same prints. How would you encourage them to wear their lawn prints and yet look unique?
“I can only speak for Zaha,” Khadijah replied. “Our prints are very dramatic and are a statement in themselves but the best part is they’re extremely versatile. For those of you who are more experimental and prefer shorter lengths, I would recommend short shifts with minimal accents. There are beautiful brass buttons available in the market, as well as solid coloured tapes, which really accentuate these designs. One can also make long, loose kaftan-style kurtas of these prints. I would advice the ladies to play around with silhouettes, embroideries, and different kinds of pants – I personally am loving ankle-grazing pants this season.”
