Asian Institute of Fashion Design students exhibit thesis collection in Paris

The graduating class of 2022 at the Asian Institute of Fashion Design (AIFD), Iqra University, presented their thesis collection at Hôtel d’Évreux in the Place Vendôme, Paris on Sunday.

The collection was chosen by Fashion Week Studio, a Los Angeles-based firm, and is scheduled to run alongside the official Paris Fashion Week calendar, which will run until March 7, in an off-schedule event.

The company aims to give a platform to emerging designers that it may not otherwise have access to.

AIFD was selected after nearly a year-long application process as part of 10 emerging designers to present 11 designs that closed the show, including showcasing a fashion film titled 'Enchanted Odyssey.'

Maheen Lakhani Ahmar, co-founder and CEO of AIFD, said it was an honour to be selected and showcase Pakistani fashion in Paris, in front of Parisian buyers and the fashion fraternity, in a conversation with Business Recorder prior to the show.

“Radical changes and challenging endeavours in fashion education will only set us apart as a fashion institute. It’s not the degree but the experiences that will be the true measure of success,” she said.

She said it was fantastic for the students to have this exposure early on in their careers, and hoped for valuable partnerships to emerge as a result of the showcase.

"It was a momentous moment to showcase our collection in an iconic city and the fashion capital, Paris. It has opened many doors for Pakistani students for job placements all across the world. We wish to continue this journey and provide such platforms to be part of the global fashion world," she stated after the show.

Faizan Dar, creative director at AIFD, said the three designs within the collection were tribal with strong textile references to the subcontinent including suzani motifs on the cape, chunri pattern on a gharara, and silver work on a lehenga.

"All designs were meant to represent an amalgamation of cultures from the subcontinent," Dar told Business Recorder.

International media in attendance at the show included editors from Elle Magazine Italia, Vogue France, along with Pakistani actors Momal Sheikh and Hasan Rizvi.

AIFD plans to launch a ready-to-wear (RTW) brand next week that will reflect the designs for the local Pakistani market, according to Ahmar. Titled 'AIFD Prints', the brand will feature designs created by the students.