Nilofer Shahid – ‘Dior of Pakistan’ rides the high tide

UNLIKE MOST in the fashion designer fraternity who dress to “look” their profession, Nilofer Shahid comes across as a surprise. A pleasant one indeed. Dressed in a simple white kurta-pajama matched with a blue stole, this Lahore-based designer does not feel the need to visually announce that she is riding the high tide.

But riding the high tide she is. One of the first few Asians to showcase her stuff at the Paris Fashion Week as far back as 1997, this “Dior of Pakistan” has Jemina Goldsmith, popular singer Madonna, Beatles guitarist George Harrison’s wife and the royal families of Saudi Arabia and West Asia on her client list. And if you think it doesn’t get bigger than this, Nilofer also designed a dress for the beautiful Princess Diana when she visited Pakistan.

or someone who just “dabbled” her way into the world of fashion, designing has come to mean more than just clothes. “My label is called `Meeras’ which means heritage. I see myself as something of a traditionalist or revivalist of the old culture. I feel my clothes are a voice for my culture, for my people. I have always done my own thing. I hated it when …