The House of Kamiar Rokni introduced their haute couture, bridal collection during PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week, Pakistan last month. You can understand our excitement when we heard this collection was named ‘The Orientalist’. A collection inspired by Orientalism; the West captivated by the exotic East.
The debate about fashion and orientalism always excites me. Orientalism…the ‘orient’ (east) shown from the point of view of a person from the west, someone who romanticizes the east as ‘exotic’. When used in fashion, at times people can go over the top and create kitschy, stereotypical designs, while other designers actually dive into the orient to experience the different cultures it possesses to display a realistic view. At the end of the day, it is a very subjective term. I like the idea of this collection because it is an ‘oriental’ label dealing with the topic of orientalism. It is always best when the orient is representing their selves instead of a western label giving their interpretation of the orient. The designers have used their different cultural backgrounds as a way to interpret the orient. This resulted in a mix of Punjabi, Tajik, English, Memon, Rajput, Persian and Kashmiri influences and traditions.
What I like about this collection is that every piece of clothing from this collection tells a story and has a different cultural background. When you review this collection you constantly wonder, where did the inspiration for this piece come from? What are the names of the different styles of embroidery? I feel curious and intrigued to know more. They should actually select some of the pieces from this collection and create an exhibition about orientalism and fashion. Personally I feel this collection is very experimental and artistic, you want to know more about every detail and are captivated by the different colors, fabrics and embroidery styles. Which is why in the gallery I have featured some of the pieces that in my opinion stood out because of the intricate embroidery and fine detailing. A celebration of oriental influences and true craftsmanship!
The House of Kamiar Rokni
Designer trio Kamiar Rokni, Tia Noon and Rehan Bashir are the creative minds behind luxury fashion label The House of Kamiar Rokni. The Houses’ core philosophy is to embrace art, culture and imagination in their fashion designs. Their Haute Couture and Prêt-à-porter collections can be seen at the major fashion shows in Pakistan.
For more information about this brand you can visit them on Facebook: TheHouseOfKamiarRokni
More about orientalism: https://thefashionorientalist.com/orientalism/
Runway images by Faisal Farooqui and his team at Dragonfly