Recreating the art of Andalusia

The Shamaeel label is over three decades old and the brand, over the years, has managed to create a signature so unmistakable that it can be spotted from a distance.Shamaeel’s creations stand out for their love of art and architecture, for mood boards celebrating a vintage aesthetic, stretched over modern silhouettes; for layering as well as diverse fabric innovation. There is drama and yet the styles stop short of crossing into costume territory.“The eye must travel,” renowned fashion editor Diane Vreeland famously said, and Shamaeel, for one, takes inspiration from many of the exotic locales that she travels to. One of her favourite destinations, over the years, has been Turkey. This summer her creative vision comes from Andalusia, Spain, it’s ethos including hints of nature in patios bursting into blossom and stain glass detailing enhanced with metal elements. We got together to chat about the collection as it was being shot, for Instep, at Rizwan ul Haq’s studio. The versatile Fahmeen Ansari had transformed into a Spanish muse, posing in Rizwan’s studio, which had slipped into the skin of a blossoming patio. In between pictures we spoke in detail about the creation of this particular collection and the overall evolution of Shamaeel’s brand and fashion as an industry.“Yes, my passion is art, architecture and studying history, culture and the anthropological aspects of textiles in a particular region or era,” Shamaeel started explaining. “I was in Spain last year and one of the patios I was sitting in drew my attention. It all stayed in my mind. Creativity comes from within and as far as I was concerned, I wanted to recreate that particular feel.”That particular feel did come, through the brightness of the flowers, the colours of the metal and the very antique look of the stained glass that had set itself into the collection. Shamaeel took her time to nurture the inspiration before effectively recreating the 3D elements of life into clothes. This was a very wearable collection for Eid but it was free-floating occasion wear, which could be worn beyond Eid and beyond Pakistan, internationally. “I wanted to keep it very metropolitan,” Shamaeel reinforced.Have you ever needed to deliberately change anything in your signature over the years, I asked her? Shamaeel has one of the strongest signatures as a designer but many designers over the years had been influenced by the demands of commercialism and I wondered whether she had been affected too.“To be a senior designer you must have a signature and I think it’s a very convoluted world today in which designers keep running after different things,” she explained. “It’s important for any designer to have a signature and there may be variations but the ethos must remain the same. One could turn around and ask why Chanel keeps doing the wafty weave in jackets but that’s their signature, which they’ve been nurturing for 50 years. If you study my work, there’s a strong distinct signature but you’ll never see the same design being repeated. There has to be evolution within a signature.”That necessary evolution also comes with consistency of work and Shamaeel spoke about how she now committed herself to 6-7 luxury collections a year, as well as around four collections of pure luxury tipping into wedding couture. It was a lot of hard work but consistency was key to staying relevant. “If you’ve survived for 34 years, I think it’s good,” she laughed when I asked if she was satisfied with the way her brand had grown.Had the new millennium brought new challenges? “With social media on board the challenges have become less, I feel,” Shamaeel shared. “Our customers have been growing and the brand has grown immensely, especially internationally, in the last two years. You just have to be consistent,” she reiterated. “You should know pricing. You should understand your loyal and new customers.”I pointed out that Shamaeel hadn’t shown since her solo show in 2017. When would we see her back at fashion week?“I’ve shown widely in Pakistan; in fact I’ve shown solo eight times,” she answered. “I’ve shown at fashion weeks in Pakistan and at shows all over the world. But I’ve been concentrating on the business side of things. Collections for the ramp are very different and one has to look at both aspects. A two-year break was needed. I’m happy to be at this stage in life where I have 34 years behind me, I’ve done maximum number of shows and I’ve hit the kind of numbers that I wanted. Sometimes it’s nice to step back and enjoy what you’ve achieved.”||Ali Suhail’s fifth studio album in the pipelineAli Suhail is a key component of the counterculture emerging out of Pakistan. Away from the violent images that go out to the world about this country and in particular Karachi, there are artists who are producing next generation music right here. Ali Suhail is a prime example. He has appeared on Uth Records, Lussun TV and True Brew TV. He emerged with Jumbo Jutt and went on to join bands such as Sikandar Ka Mandar and Takatak. He often plays with Natasha Humera Ejaz, Umair Jaswal and produced Natasha Noorani’s solo EP, Munaasib. The above-mentioned is a reflection of some of his work, not all. In addition to playing various roles in the counter wave, Ali Suhail has a repertoire of solo music that he has been producing since 2013. It began with Words from Boxes (2013) and was followed by Journal Entries (2014), Desolve (2015), Defragment (2015) and Pursuit of Irrelevance (2017). Desolve and Defragment, released “in loving memory of Sabeen Mahmud” – may have released separately but as Ali tells Instep, “I count Desolve and Defragment as two EPs that could form one album.”The breakout music news, therefore, is that Ali Suhail is in the process of working on a new record. It will be his fifth full scale studio album to be precise and one that will feature the prodigal Abdullah Siddiqui on at least one song, who is making a lot of people curious with his song ‘Resistance’ with which he appeared on the latest season of Nescafe Basement 5. Speaking to Instep, Ali confirmed some details. “It’s at its final mixing stages. I’d say about 80 per cent done. It’s a really collaborative record so just getting all the right people and pieces in place takes a little bit of time.”Reticent to share too many details before his solo album comes out, Ali did confirm the rumour of Abdullah Siddiqui being on the album. “Abdullah’s on one song. But there are a lot of people on this one!”I, for one, cannot wait for this song. It’ll be a banger, as history of Ali Suhail and Abdullah Siddiqui reminds us. Throw them together and what will emerge? Answer: a banger of a single. And, given how terrific Ali Suhail’s last album was. Do watch out for his next. –Maheen Sabeeh Khurram Waqar unveils new solo single Who says rock ‘n’ roll is dead? All genres have a space and, in Pakistan, we have many artists who can prove that. In fact, genres are now just labels to make us feel a sense of familiarity. One man doing things his way is Khurram Waqar, colloquially known as ‘kW, while keeping the changing times in mind. The Islamabad-based guitarist, who appeared with his band Qayaas on the country’s most contested and coveted music series, Coke Studio in season five on ‘Charkha Nolakha,’ has not slowed down even as Umair Jaswal, the vocalist of Qayaas, is now a solo artist. Among his many accomplishments is his contribution to the Qayaas debut album on which he played all the guitars minus some solos from the iconic Sarmad Ghafoor. He also played all the bass, he tells Instep. And for rock ‘n’ roll fans, that album is a must-hear. As Umair Jaswal moved on to acting and now a solo album, Khurram Waqar’s music group, kW and The Facedown Movement recently won the Rock Song of the year 2018 at VIMA Music Awards, held in Malaysia. He has been associated with acts like Entity and Co-Ven, making him a veteran member of the music scene. Khurram is back with an instrumental single, ‘I’ll Be With You’ that he recorded in his own studio. It showcases his mastery over the guitar, whether acoustic or electric. And the video is simple enough to complement the track. Inspired from the birth of his eldest son, the song reminds you just how emotive a guitar can be, when played by someone who knows what he is doing. As Khurram tells Instep about the new song, “This, in a nutshell, is me. I recorded all the music in my studio, played the guitar, bass and drums and directed the video as well.” For old school rock and roll fans, this one will make for a good selection. Check it out. – Maheen Sabe

from The News International - Instep Today http://bit.ly/2vOD116