Rastah makes its way to the London Fashion Week

It will the first-ever ‘Made-in-Pakistan’ brand to showcase its fashion creations at one of the world’s largest clothing trade shows

Being held from February 17 to February 23, the London Fashion Week (LFW) is going to feature a Pakistan fashion brand Rastah for the first time in the history of one of the world’s largest clothing trade shows.

Rastah, a premier artisanal urban wear Pakistani brand that officially aims to de-contextualize and re-interpret the local artisanship and sartorial heritage of the South Asian region, will be the first-ever ‘Made-in-Pakistan’ fashion brand, which will showcase its creations on February 17, the opening day of the London Fashion Week 2023, which is no doubt the biggest bi-annual fashion weeks of the world.

“It’s taken a lot of planning,” according to Zain Ahmed, creative director, Rastah. “We worked for a long time on creating the kind of collection that would be the right pitch for LFW. Once we did get selected, we were required to pay a hefty participation fee. Luckily, they liked our collection so much that they gave us a concession.”

“At Rastah, we work with a team of craftspeople and this time, we couldn’t just send the fabric to them. All the artisans were gathered in our studio, from the weaver to the hand embroiderer to the tailor. Quality control is always a concern but this time we had to be even more stringent,” Ahmed added.

“We might have sacrificed commercial concerns with this collection, but it is important for us to set Rastah apart as a Pakistani brand which functions outside of the enclosed echo chamber that encompasses Pakistani fashion. There are many brands within Pakistan that are happy with the profits that they are earning from the local market. The world, however, is changing. Fashion has become globalised and if brands don’t think beyond immediate gains, eventually they will end up in hot water,” he stated.

According to Zain Ahmed, “I think it will be amazing in terms of building the brand’s credibility. Hopefully, it will lead to us showcasing on the LFW runway or perhaps, at New York Fashion Week. One day, we hope to have pop-up stores in cities like New York or London and then, open up a flagship store in Pakistan,” he says.

Zain Ahmed believes that their marketing efforts are paying them dividends as over 44 percent of their total sales are generated from the local market. “Honestly, we hadn’t expected this. We knew that eyeballs were drawn to us locally but we weren’t sure that paying customers within Pakistan would be attracted towards streetwear that comes at a high price tag. It turns out that all we needed to do was convince them that the brand was worth their money. The same customers who buy designer formal-wear are very willing to invest into a Rastah hoodie or a jacket if they are convinced that they like the brand.”

“In terms of craft, it is very detailed. Eighty per cent of the collection has been created with hand-woven fabric and the traditional embroideries indigenous to our region are there, translated to the narrative of the brand’s particular signature. You’ll see dabka, zari, gota, stone and bead-work but it might be on a leather jacket in a contemporary abstract composition. We also always employ a lot of hand-printing in our collections,” he concluded.