Fashion Pakistan:
FDCI and Fashion Pakistan sign MoU

Last week Instep reported that the directors of Fashion Pakistan (Maheen Khan, Rizwan Beyg, Deepak Perwani and Honey Waqar) had gone to Wills India Fashion Week. A lot happened there and it resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding being signed by Maheen, Chairperson FP and Ritu Kumar, President FDCI.

So what is there to look forward too? Nothing seems to be truly concrete yet. "As of now, it is very general sort of a statement. We will work out the fine print after this event. Finally our efforts are being recognised. We have had offers from other places too - like Russia, Latin America - but if we send our designers as part of exchange programmes, then we need to accept their designers too. Where will they show?" says FDCI Direcor General, Rathi Vinay Jha. She is of course alluding to the fact that the dynamic between the fashion industries in Pakistan and India is along the same lines, so collaboration between them would be easier.

Both India and Pakistan are big markets for each other's products. Indian papers reported that FP member delegates are on a high. "We'll be organising Pakistan's first-ever fashion week in September this year, and we wanted to come here and see how it's all done - the co-ordination required, the logistics involved, and also to sign the memorandum that will help us exchange designers, models, choreographers... the works," said Deepak Perwani.

Indian papers have also reported rumours that FP approached Precept, the company that organises WIFW to do Karachi Couture Week. After two paralell fashion events in India, it seems that history is all set to repeat itself here. Despite the splits in the industry, a lot seems to be happening on the fashion front.

After years of isolation, major designers have decided to take fashion beyond borders with a vengeance. It's an exciting time for the industry. Watch this space for more on how the fashion week saga unfolds.