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The adage that there's nothing new under the sun generally holds true - especially for fashion, one of the more quicksilver and incestuous businesses afloat.

It is an industry that is constantly borrowing - not just from designers past, but from all imaginable sources. A season's trends can be born at museums, on stage, architecture, the strength and beauty of a matador or the in the far-flung aerie of a Tibetan monastery. Whatever the inspiration point, the crucial thing is to have one. It becomes glaringly obvious if there is none. In that other things become obvious as well: the knowledge of fashion, international trends, the ability to put together a cohesive collection of work. The inspiration alone acts as an anchor for the entire collection.

It is imperative for a designer to be aware of current trends. The fashion industry here tends to be very insular and needs to become much more global. This does not in any way suggest a deviance from local fashion sensibility but rather to incorporate what is fashionable internationally and thus be able to reach out and become a part of the international fashion scene. By remaining isolated the fashion industry has little chance of growth.

Up until the 1980's there was a definite spill-over of international fashion trends. The 1950's sheath dress became the very tight sheath-like kameez worn over a voluminous shalwar which brought to mind the 'trapeze' introduced by Yves Saint Laurent. In the 1960's, Mary Quant's miniskirt translated easily into the teddy-shirt paired with tight, tapered pants reminiscent of Capri-pants sported by Jacki O' and Audrey Hepburn. The 1970's celebrated hippie look with peasant-like blouses and bell-bottoms. There was the option of mini, midi or maxi lengths and kaftans became popular. The 1980's were known for two main looks - power dressing and punk rock and both were equally popular. Padded shoulders, dolmen sleeves, cowl and 'dhoti'(wrap-around) shalwars and leather bomber jackets were the mainstay of Pakistani fashion at the time.

In the 1990's, designers everywhere unabashedly parroted all the earlier major trends of the twentieth century, from the flappers of the 1920s and the nostalgia of postwar dressing to the flower dressing of the 1960's, and it seemed the industry had lost its way in the fairy-tale landscape of the emperor and his new clothes. The local fashion scene unfortunately remained pretty much stagnant. The only 'innovation' was in the length of the kameez, getting a few inches shorter, and the shalwar losing its volume and becoming an ill-fitting version of the pants. All in all, calling for an insipid, soulless look. There have been some feeble attempts at aping western trends but generally the result has been so literal and unimaginative that the look has just refused to gel. Why is it that some designer's tribute to Christian Dior's New Look of 1947 or his reference to Coco Chanel's tweeds is so successful and another designer's attempt at drawing inspiration from Yves Saint Laurent's Gypsy Fantasy look falls flat? The reason appears to be a lack of knowledge of past trends (which has been the trend in the past decade) and to be able to work with those references. It is just not enough to reproduce a look. The trick is to immerse yourself completely in that period and then to pop out and make your very own personal statement with it. A handful of talented, skilled designers with an understanding of form and fashion have managed to do this and the happy news is that this number is growing as more and more fashion students infiltrate the industry. It is indeed promising to have two fashion schools here devoted to teaching not just the mandatory skills to becoming a fashion designer but also grooming a keen fashion sense.

In the recent past of the local fashion scene, the lines between imitation and inspiration have become so blurred as to be nearly invisible. There are a few designers whose work just cannot be told apart. Whereas each designer has his own way of working in a business that is focused equally on creativity and the bottom line, it's more than appropriate to underscore the word inspiration. While a designer may freely pillage the archives of his icon, it is very important that he recasts it in such a way as to bring something of his own into it. And that might be the most important point to keep in mind while accusations of imitation fly. Internationally, designers today may be referencing each other as opposed to, say, high art, but what really shows is just how evolved and sensitive style has become. Fashion may not always make its way into our closets, but it will always prompt women to express and reinvent themselves.

The good news is that designers seem to be finding their own voice, as opposed to chasing the one trend that leaves women with a uniform way of dressing. It is precisely this sentiment that designers here should take not of and take risks. Fashion is not about being safe and towing the line. It is about being true to the self and inspiration and bringing that into the designs.

(Courtesy: Dawn)