For all you budding designers looking to establish a career in fashion designing and losing sleep over where to stock or how to kick off your career, here is an answer to your prayers. Ellemint Pret. Its owner Afreen Shiraz is a strong supporter of young talent, and believes in giving them the opportunity to showcase their abilities, hence stocks budding designers in her store.

Afreen began by looking up young, inexperienced designers at various fashion shows and the social networking site, Facebook. She approached these girls personally and offered to stock their designs at her outlet.

The love and pride Afreen has for her designers is evident. “I am very passionate about my designers and I am very, very proud of them,” Afreen says, adding that she provides them with guidance and advice all the time and helps them to improve their work further. “I also encourage them to participate in fashion shows, display their products and market them in the best way possible.”

At the moment Ellemint Pret houses the works of 25 designers who have a rotation in the outlet where each of the girls is given a prominent display in turn. And that is not all. It is also good news for the young buyers and shopoholics! Unlike most pret lines which usually start from Rs5000 and above for good quality, comfortable wear, the clothes start from a humble Rs2,200 and above at Ellemint pret.

Keeping in mind that these are designed by women within the age group of 25-35, the clothes are tasteful and exactly how a girl in her late teens or twenties would want them to be. So all you girls in Karachi, who are keen on quality wear and like to flash the back collar designer labels, its time you paid a visit to Ellemint Pret. 

Quick look at some of the designers

Sara Yasir has been with Ellemint Pret for four months. She had her work put up on Facebook where Afreen saw her designs and approached her. Sara has an MBA and post graduate diploma in fashion designing. Her signature is traditional wear with mirror work and designs on ajrak. Sara believes that bold colours are in trend at the moment and are here to stay this season. She stocks about 20 pieces per month. Sara believes that Ellemint is an amazing platform for young designers and is proud to be associated with it.

Sofia Naveed Lari has been stocking with Ellemint Pret for three months now. She also had her designs put up on Facebook from where Afreen emailed her and now stocks her. She believes that the demand for her designs went high after she began stocking at Ellemint and her Facebook page also hit off on the right note after that. Sofia’s signature is floral designs. “Whatever dress of mine that you will wear will have either a floral pattern on it or at least a flower, be it on the neckline or the belt. I love flowers and I think they bring out the best side of femininity with them,” she says. Sofia also believes that bold colours are in demand right now, in sync with the summers, and colour blocks are the future. She stocks around 40-45 pieces with Ellemint Pret.

Sana and Leena are a designer duo. Afreen came across them during their various fashion shows. “She was always there at our fashion shows, bought a few designs from us,” said Sana. “And eventually contacted us to stock with her.” The two designers say that the decision to move into Ellemint Pret was great and they have had much more exposure since then. Sana and Leena believe that vibrant colours and embroidery never go out of fashion and that is their signature mark. The duo stock 40-45 pieces at Ellemint Pret.