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WHEN EAST MEETS WEST
Let's face it, how many times can you wear that exclusive designer outfit you bought a week ago ... in a small city like Dubai, the whole party circuit may have 'seen' it if you wear it once. So what's the practical solution to wearing different outfits for parties and casual outings ...
- PUBLISHED: Thu 12 May 2005, 1:25 PM UPDATED: Thu 2 Apr 2015, 6:21 PM
- By:
- Blessing Johnson
without looking as if wearing the same clothes all the time? Tops, Those wonderful things you just slip into and walk out to face the world ... and there are many a combination one could try with them. Pair them with jeans or skirts and you have an instant change with the same basic outfit but looking completely different from the one you wore just the other day.
City Times meets one designer who is going all out to satisfying this need amongst the women of Dubai. Meet Sana Anwar. She is not a qualified fashion designer and this is the first time she is holding an exhibition. With qualifications like bachelors in MIS and in her final year of MBA, and youth on her side, her designs are fresh and bursting with ideas, her tops are traditional kurtas but with western cuts and a lot of embellishments, embroidery, stones and pico work.
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Hailing from Pakistan, the young 'designer' calls her creations "A fusion of Eastern and Western wear". And like all those passion-driven designers with no qualifications to back them, she started designing for friends and family, before giving in to the urge to do something more.
Asked why she narrowed down on the kurta for her first exhibition, she says, "As a student of Business Administration, I saw a market niche that was not tapped and in it I saw that the Western trends were adapting Eastern trends so I thought why not take western trends and merge them into Eastern clothes. All of my collection are the evolution of the traditional kurta."
Her collection called Threads, which she is exhibiting today and tomorrow at the Holiday Centre on Shaikh Zayed Road has almost all the colours of the rainbow, "Since this was my first time I didn't want to restrict myself to one pattern or colour so you see something for everyone," she explains the lack of a coherent design philosophy for her collection ... but where she scores is her tops are quite wearable and fresh in a variety of fabrics - silk, chiffon, georgette, khadi and tie & dye - and possess modern silhouttes combined with traditional brocade embroidery which looks simple yet striking.
So, if you are stuck with those expensive outfits and not many new places to wear them to, you know where to go and have a look at some fresh ideas and designs that look quite different from the others.