The Art of Fashion - An Apprentice's Insight

The crux of the budding Fashion Industry lies within the youth striving for formal professional education in the designing arts. These students are to replenish or sustain the state of the industry; determining its progression.

The team at Rejuve brings you insights from Mr. Saqib Shehbaz. He is currently in his second year, pursuing a degree in Textile Designing, from Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design. Saqib is one of the few men who break the status quo, daring to jump into highly gendered professions, willing to stay true to who they are. Saqib was generous enough to take out some time for his bustling routine to answer a few of our questions.

1. What were the factors which motivated you to explore designing at a young age? I’ve always been really driven towards designing outfits. For the past 7 to 8 years, I’ve been designing clothes for my mother and my sister. After my schooling, I went into ACCA. But even though it was a completely unrelated field, I still continued to manage time for designing. I just couldn’t give up.

2. What were the difficulties you faced in gaining the support of people around you to step into this field? I actually didn’t have to face too many issues in convincing, since I always had my mother’s support for this. She would feel really proud in wearing my designs, and telling people I made it. She was a really big support in expanding my customer base, and helping me put up my website as well. Convincing my father was challenging. Being a lawyer himself, he was really apt on having me pursue accounting. That is why I went for ACCA, even though it was really difficult for me. It was only after I cleared all my ACCA Exams that my father let me enrol in a bachelor’s degree at PIFD.

3. You mentioned that you have been practicing designing for several years already. What motivated you to pursue a degree in it? From a business perspective, a degree seems like an essentiality. I aim to run my own fashion label, and I never want to be in a situation where someone can question my qualification. Negative comments are a very major part of our work, so I just wanted to minimize the questions to my extent of knowledge and capacity to be designing.

4. As a student, how do you think your design sense compares to those of the women around you? Do you think there are major differences? Specific to designing, one’s aesthetic sense does change significantly over the course of study. Mine definitely did. Considering the women around me, some of them do have a very good design sense naturally. But designing is a continuously inspiring process. Every new design has new inspiration and motivations, and new outcomes. So that stands true for all designers.

5. Entering the Pakistani Fashion Industry, what are the biggest issues for a man which women do not have to face? Even though some our top designers are men, the Pakistani fashion industry is still conservative to an extent. In my opinion, men do have a more precise aesthetic sense. I don’t say that to challenge women, it is just how I perceive the design process. But for a man to step into the industry, there are issues. But it all comes down to the society and their perceptions. People associate fashion directly with women, so it’s difficult to accept a man taking over. However, this thinking is definitely changing. Over the years, many more men are applying to fashion schools, and emerging into the industry. The trend is changing, but it does take time.

6. Which designers do you look up to, regarding their work and how they deal with the pressure of the industry? The designs that have always attracted me are florals and geometric designs. When I started out, and throughout my journey, my biggest inspiration was HSY. He’s a legend in the Pakistani Fashion industry. Overtime, I found inspiration in the works of Nomi Ansari and Ali Xeeshaan. Oversees, I really love the work of Coco Chanel, Giordano, and Calvin Klein. When starting off, everyone naturally, imitates the art that they love. Growing up, different works started inspiring me, and I started establishing an identity within them. Evaluating them from the fashion shows I’ve attended, the picture we see is very different from the actuality. The pressure and the stress of the situation is unimaginable, having to prepare every single model themselves. The way they stay calm and collected through it is what really inspires me.