IT’S BRANDED!

Baji to Chouti in hushed, urgent tone, ‘Look! Look! Look for the brand name on her dupatta! She is leaving, quick! Ah, bummer! Missed it…told you to have a closer look.’

Choti, ‘Bajiiii! It wasn’t possible.’

Baji , ‘Now I would never know whose designer lawn it was! Hayeeee, her lawn suit was so beautiful.’

Do I need to say more? This has become a much witnessed scene in our markets; at hotels and workplaces. There is a constant rat race to get the latest designer lawn and outdo the rest.

It is not like lawn or three-piece lawn suits are an addition to a Pakistani woman’s wardrobe but the hype over it is certainly new and invented. Our women have adorned this style, for as long as I remember, with Gul Ahmed and Al Karam being the market toppers. And now with this increasing craze for lawn, everyone; meaning EVERYONE has taken this crucial responsibility for providing similar, average-quality lawn dresses for sky rocketing prices. Presently, our lawn providers (note, providers not designers) compete only on price. Each struggles hard to give a higher price than another to the bhair chaal our society has become.

Unlike previously, when lawn dresses were launched in summers only, we now have collections being introduced for every season and every occasion. To make our summers bright, our winters warm and Eid sweet, all designers, models, entrepreneurs hiring designers have jumped into the trade. So if you happen to drive by Shahra e Faisal, you will find a billboard dedicated to a new lawn range in town by a designer you never heard of but who claims international success and being around for years. Or maybe it is just you and me who are unaware of the designer cult. Coming back to seasonal and occasional lawn collections, the scenario is such that if you have succeeded winning your summer clothes from the tailor, there is the ‘Mid-Summer Lawn Collection’ to grab for your neighbor who does not stop bubbling about being it totally different from the last collection (it is a matter of opinion, maybe the neighbor could not get her hands on the last collection which makes her dress from the latest collection totally unique). And when you have just buttered dear hubby to get you one of those, there is the ‘Eid Collection’. Now how can you not have the pretty dress with the flowing chiffon dupatta, embroidered kameez and satan sleeves for an occasion as special as Eid! It surely is a must have. Dear hubby once again needs to understand how crucial it is.

Over a period of FIVE years, the price of a lawn dress has reached FIVE THOUSAND from FIVE HUNDRED. In a country like ours, where the salary of the masses does not exceed this FIVE THOUSAND note or two such notes, lawn which is a need in the scorching heat of the summers has been taken well out of the reach of an average Pakistani. You may be right to argue that the poor masses do not need or have the taste for such high quality (again, a matter of opinion), high ended designer products but you may find it hard to refuse that all the glorious, glamorous advertisement and showcasing of these lines develop feelings of longing and hence resentment in the population.

We find it below us to question the price range, quality of cloth and weird styles introduced by our designers. Or maybe it is our blind faith in their competency and abilities that we feel blessed to be able to grab anything; anything at all from the rack that has their precious tag. So sure we are of their designs that we do not think about our personal fashion statement, favorites or if the particular style in hand would even suit us or not. Who cares about a humongous bum, at least you were able to wear S&S on Eid. Ah… Truly blessed!

You may think I have something against designers or their lawn collections, but that is far from true. My point is that WE, the customers, should have more sense to judge if our purchase is worth the price we pay for them.  We have great power to force these entrepreneurs to improve their quality and work. We need to save ourselves from becoming the ‘Price Tag’ of ‘3 Idiots’ when we deem our relations worthy by the value of the watch on their wrist or in our case the brand of lawn they adorn. Right now, if there is anything to thank our designers for, it is for adorning our elite and rich in the National dress less the dupatta. And yes, also for providing the Pakistanis living abroad with something to wear on Eid. Epic!