Share this story!            

Interview with Shamaeel Ansari

Ahmer Ashraf has shifted from print media to broadcast journalism, mainly writing on entertainment, film and fashion for almost a decade. He currently works in a leading American pharmaceutical firm as the Head of Policy & Public Affairs.

The Czarina of style and a true blue universal designer, Shamaeel, has to her credit 24 years of work in the fashion’s eclectic industry. With grit and chic she not only established her brand but reigned supreme like the quintessential Prima Donna of couture. After a brief hiatus from the arc lights when she took timeout to enhance her skills in International sourcing and distribution, Shamaeel makes a grand comeback to take a bow centre stage, in Pakistan. Shamaeel’s style, which is laced with magnificence and grandeur, is a natural fallback to her background. While her couture is luxuriant and distinctly bordering on the regal, her new prêt is a cluster of price sensitive high fashion that leaves a unique stamp of ingenuity on a mélange of fabrics. Her earlier flamboyance is now replaced with an elegant mellowness, gently imbued with a sense of magic and mystery. Jewel tone jackets, richly worked monochromatic long coats, glam slim pant’s, elegantly cut shifts with constellations of threads, appliqué, sequins, colour, and prints all follow a mood board of their own. But a delicate femininity binds them into a cohesive collection. Shamaeel’s penchant for the exceptional is quite easily her trademark. She deftly plays with elements and imagination to weave vibrant tapestries of colours and textures. East and the West, leisure and decadence, Oriental and the outright contemporary all entwine sensuously in her creations. Vintage consorts with the modern and high glamour boosts the classic. Her treatment of the diverse is skillful and the mastery over techniques, absolute. Shamaeel is every bit the adept storyteller. And while the story changes, the drama remains.

Shamaeel graduated from University of California at Berkley with a major in Finance and Corporate Law. Coming from an industrial family background, she digressed from her initial plans of joining the family business, turning instead to the creative side, indulging her passion for ancient textiles, and research into cultures of ancient civilisations. Creativity and an acute business sense shaped predominantly by her grandfather, Shamaeel found herself in the world of fashion designing. Starting with a bang her debut held at Cafe Royale in London for an Imran Khan Benefit evening in August 1987. And there was no looking back. Shamaeel has to her credit some of the most exotic solo shows held to date in Pakistan. Packaged complete with ensembles, sound and light effects and staged at historical venues such as the Hindu Gymkhana, Ismaili Gymkhana in Karachi and the un-paralleled Orient Express held at the Karachi city station. Her international showings include solo shows in New York, Washington D.C., London, Dubai, Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bahrain, Rome and Delhi. Shamaeel took a bow out of the fashion industry to work in fashion capital of the Americas, New York. This time working as buyer for US based customers, such as Donna Karen Home, Club Monaco, Eddie Bauer, Vonducth Akademiks, procuring textiles from Pakistan and India. Apart from this she has regularly supplied bed linen companies such as Bed Bath and Beyond, Target Stores USA, Wal-Mart and Disney licensee’s. In 2007 Shamaeel returned to her first love - fashion designing. Geared with international experience of a trained buyer’s eye, she takes centre stage. Today she is supplying couture and prêt lines to the UAE, UK, USA, India and Pakistan. Shamaeel will also re-open her “Shamaeel Fabric” nationwide for mass apparel in 2010.

Home | Boss

Share this story!