https://sputniknews.in/20230326/in-vogue-how-lawn-phenomenon-changed-womens-fashion-in-pakistan-1309442.html

In Vogue: How 'Lawn Phenomenon' Changed Women's Fashion in Pakistan

In Vogue: How 'Lawn Phenomenon' Changed Women's Fashion in Pakistan

Sputnik India

In Pakistan the arrival of spring means many things: the Amaltas tree - also known as the Golden Shower tree and known for its Ayurvedic properties - comes into bloom and the streets and parks are alive with food and music festivals, polo tournaments, and a peculiar phenomenon known as "lawn fever".

2023-03-26T22:29+0530

2023-03-26T22:29+0530

2023-03-26T23:32+0530

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Lawn is a fabric which was initially produced in the French town on Laon, using linen. It is a fine, plain weave of sheer cotton fabric. In the past, lawn was used to make blouses, dresses and handkerchiefs and it was also known as Batiste.Over the years, it made its way to the Indian subcontinent and with the region's abundance of good cotton, it soon became a hub of lawn production. This natural, breathable fabric started to gain popularity as it was the perfect choice of attire in the extremely hot summer months.Furthermore, it is easy to dye lawn, or print something on it, so the fabric became a part of Pakistan’s heritage and culture as women enjoyed wearing bright, vibrant colors and prints on hot summer days.A couple of decades ago, the women of Pakistan used to buy yards of unstitched lawn fabric from souks and bazaars. It came to the bazaars from textile mills and the textile industry was the largest manufacturing industry in Pakistan.The country is the eighth-largest exporter of textile commodities in Asia and the textile sector contributes 8.5 percent to Pakistan's GDP. There are also more than 460 textile mills across Pakistan and there is a supply base for almost all man-made and natural yarns and fabrics, including cotton, rayon and others.For women summer lawn outfits stitched by their local tailors have mostly been 'shalwar kameez' - a loose fitted tunic paired with baggy trousers and a long scarf worn around the neck called a dupatta.Good tailors were much sought after and in every neighborhood of the city one could find a tailor shop with workers stitching away on noisy machines, listening to melodious songs on the radio or television.Often women would come with a design they saw in a magazine or a newspaper and ask the tailor if he could stitch a similar shalwar kameez for them. Usually the cost of such lawn dresses - fabric and stitching included - was around Rs3,000 ($10).However, about 15 years ago an exciting thing happened in the lawn industry: Pakistan's renowned fashion designers such as Hassan Sheheryar Yasin, Kamiar Rokni and Maheen Kardar from Karma were approached by the owners of the textile mills to come up with a "designer lawn" for them. These "limited edition" lawn fabrics created by top designers became an item that every fashionista wanted to wear. Each year, more designers got on board to work together with the textile mills to create a unique collection.Grandeur and LuxuryWith the rise of fashion houses in Pakistan and the constant innovation taking place in the fashion industry, lawn took on a new meaning. Catapulted to luxury status, designer lawn has now become the most sought-after fabric every spring.The designers try to stay ahead of the trends and each season lawn outfits become more elaborate and gorgeous. Some specialize in the embroidery of flora and fauna, and others depict Mughal-era grandeur with buildings and elephants designed on the fabric. Some like polka dots and others use techniques such as tie-dye to stand out.The fashion houses have also introduced a Pret a Porter line - ready-to-wear lawn outfits - which has rendered the old-school tailors in the neighborhood somewhat obsolete. Many Pakistani women now prefer to buy designer lawn fabric and get it stitched at the designer's studio or buy Pret a Porter.Designers such as Farah Talib Aziz (FTA), Elan, Misha Lakhani and Nida Azwer are renowned for their limited edition, "luxury lawn" collections each season, catering for the rich. If you visit their website there is an option to "pre-order" item which have not yet been released and women book their orders ages in advance as the designs get sold out within hours of launching. The average price for an unstitched lawn fabric by FTA is Rs17,000 ($62) and the average price for unstitched lawn fabric by Elan is Rs20,000 ($70).Then there are the second-tier brands which mass produce lawn collections. These include names such as Maria B, Khaadi, Sana Safinaz, Sapphire, Gul Ahmed and Bareeze. These brands are big names for a larger tranche of Pakistanis because they are a little less expensive but still "designer".A few years ago, these brands attracted crazed crowds of buyers. The customers were thrilled that designer labels were trickling down to the mass market with affordable lawn collections. They would wake up at 7am and queue happily outside lawn exhibition halls. Occasionally fights would break out between women over a favorite piece of lawn.Every year, the designers went a little bit extra to compete with each other and provide customers with something new. Lawn shirts were beautifully embroidered, the trouser fabric was textured, dupattas were dabbed with chiffon, cotton-net and silk and additional borders were included with the suit, for lining a hem, a neckline or a sleeve.Although a lawn suit first has to have great fabric and be pretty, there were innovations such as entire swathes of fabric with applique worked on them and laser-cut embroideries on shirts.These days, many Pakistani brands are well known outside the country in such countries as the UAE, the United States, Canada, the UK and Europe. Each season these brands hold annual exhibitions in fancy hotels attracting South Asians and even Europeans to their stalls. It is no secret that the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, wore Elan's shalwar kameez when she toured Pakistan a few years ago and recently she was seen wearing an Elan dupatta (scarf) during a visit to a Muslim center in the UK.Obsession With Lawn?Each year these brands spend tens of thousands of dollars on their lawn campaigns that are often shot in exotic locations such as the Maldives, Turkey and Bali. The Pakistani and international models swathed in the new lawn designs are accoutered with designer bags and jewelry from Chanel, Dior and Louis Vuitton to complete the look. These campaigns are seen all over Pakistan on giant billboards, in the malls and on all the television channels.Local fashionistas try to replicate the exact looks seen on the models by buying the latest lawn dresses, together with the bags and jewelry seen in the lawn campaign!Thanks to the mania for lawn, Pakistan's modeling industry has flourished. With the advent of social media and the ever-rising number of brands, many young women and men have been discovered by modeling agencies to promote lawn.The fashion shows held in five-star hotels around Lahore and Karachi have become very elaborate and attract hundreds of top designers, models, magazine editors, celebrities and businessmen.No doubt luxury lawn got Pakistani women very excited and based on this, more and more brands enter the market each year. Every season there is a rush to wear the latest lawn outfit and one soon sees the really popular designs everywhere - cafes, the mall, at work, even at parent-teacher meetings in schools!Over the past couple of years, because of the economic slump and political turmoil in the country, the lawn craze has somewhat abated since shoppers' purchasing power has shrunk. But the prices of lawn dresses remain the same and in some cases have even risen.These days customers may be taking longer to decide on what they want to buy but the exclusive designer tagline is still deeply coveted and will remain so for years to come.

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