September Issue 2010

Nida Azwer’s career is on an impressive trajectory. Since graduating from Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture a few years ago, the young designer has been nominated for a Lux Style Award for “Best Emerging Talent” (2008) and won the “Best Designer” award at the Nesvita Women of Strength Awards (2009). Last year, she held her debut solo show in Karachi, featuring both prêt-à-porter and haute couture. She has also participated in Fashion Pakistan Week, where she showcased her collection entitled “Juxtapose,” which set contemporary style against ancient art.

Late in August, the Pakistani fashion designer presented another collection that leveraged tradition and incorporated ancient art. A one-day exhibition (see photo gallery below) for “The Silent Weave” shone a light onto one of the oldest weaves known to the artistic textile world: jamdani. Originated from the Bengali tradition, jamdani is a woven fabric in cotton, traditionally woven in and around Dhaka and created on the loom brocade. “I believe that our regions rich traditions of textiles and design should be kept alive and in a sense reinterpreted to suit the contemporary context,” says Azwer. “Such aesthetics represent our exciting and diverse heritage, from where I often draw my inspiration.”

With “The Silent Weave” collection, Nida is promoting efforts to renew the 2,000-year-old craft and its focus on age-old geometric and floral motifs, which reached its zenith in the Mughal era. This boutique collection will feature solid colours in various shades along with an ensemble of all white pieces. The collection will feature distinctive cuts and flair that complement this silent weave.

At the August exhibition, the fashion house of Nida Azwer committed to donating a percentage of the show’s earnings to Pakistan’s flood-affected denizens through M&JSF, a charitable foundation.

Click on any photo to begin the slide show of Nida and her guests at the August exhibition:

Photos: Courtesy Lotus PR