On 25th February 2016 The Australian High Commission, Australian Trade Commission partnered with Dawood Global Foundation to hold Australian Fashion Masterclass powered by LADIESFUND and held at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVS), featured trainer Heidi Phillips from RMIT Melbourne, Australia.
Almost 100 fashion designers and students attended including star designers Sania Maskatiya, Teena Durrani, Adnan Pardesy, Nida Azwer and Aamna Aqeel, women SME designers, artisan designers from villages across students and top textile students at IVS, as well as leading fashion journalists including Zurain Imam. Chief Guest was Australian High Commissioner HE Margaret Adamson.
High Commissioner Margaret Adamson stated, “Pakistani fashion design and textile industry are important contributors to Pakistan’s economic growth, and can promote a contemporary and vibrant image of Pakistan around the world. Through this initiative, we are pleased to support Pakistani women entrepreneurs to establish themselves in international markets, including Australia.”
The interactive workshop featured critiques of sample design pieces from an Australian view, with Ms. Philips sharing her thoughts on how to tweak designs to appeal to the Australian market. Heidi Phillips visited different clothing stores in Karachi including Khaadi and Generation. The session was very informative I personally learned a lot about Australian fashion and market.
For Instance: Fashion variate from city to city in in Australia, in Melbourne people mostly or all of their lives wear black while in Northern areas people like wearing different vibrant colors.
“I’m delighted to be able to have such interactive dialogue and discussion with so many Pakistani designers and budding designers,” stated Ms. Philips, who had flown in from Melbourne.
Heidi emphasized on saying that west always adopts inspiration of fashion, designs and cuts while it comes up with a fusion.
Speaking on behalf of LADIESFUND, President Tara Uzra Dawood said, “With #LFAusTrade, together with the Australian High Commission, we have facilitated a fruitful and meaningful dialogue that will enable designers to better understand product extensions, different target markets, sales beyond borders, as well as get ideas for their own future local collections.”
I must say such events will not only give confidence to budding designers but it will also open opportunities for them.
