8/10/2019 Vaneeza Ahmed

1/2

Fast track from V9 to V LawnWhich dedicated follower of fashion can forget the V9 juggernaut when it happened two yearsago? With an exciting new face of lawn that was more vibrant than any that season, V9 wasfronted by Vaneeza, the most coveted face in the country and was manufactured byMohammad aroo! "extiles, one of the most prestigious mills in the country# "hat it happenedwhen Vaneeza and $hehryar $umar were together made it all the more powerful# "heentrepreneur and the supermodel bounced off each other and created a brand thatovershadowed every lawn %designer or otherwise& that came out that year# "hey followed thelaunch of V9 with a trade show that had fashionistas tal'ing for days for which they gotdesigners li'e $onya (attla, )$*, +eepa' erwani, -mar $ayeed and .omi /nsari to ma'ecollections from V9 fabric# 0t was the perfect marriage of fashion and textiles and then, all of asudden, it bro'e up#

11)e shouldn1t have used V9 once 0 had left,11 says Vaneeza who is obviously cut up about thefact that V9 carries on without her# "here is still some tension about the logo that Vaneezasays is a V/ %her initials& and which $hehryar claims is V and inverted V# *et, she can rest easyin the fact that now V 2awn is doing as well as V9 did when they were together and that hercurrent relationship with $itara "extiles is based purely on business#

1101m paying $itara to print the lawn# 0t1s my product,11 she tells 0nstep#

/nd when you probe her about what she got out of Mohammad aroo! "extiles, which is whereshe got a solid grounding into the wor'ings of the textile industry, she1s less forthcoming# 1101vealso wor'ed with 3ul /hmed and /l45aram,11 she says nonchalantly and refuses to elaboratefurther#

)owever, one 'nows that the 'ind of access she would have gotten into the $umar textileempire by virtue of being one day a member of the family would have been unprecedented# 0remember at the first V9 exhibition, Vaneeza was there discussing the finer points of lawn with

aroo! $umar himself# /nd this grounding is clear today when she tal' about machines withthe right width for dupattas, about how she1s decided to ma'e cotton shalwars because lawn

ones are see4through and that doesn1t wor' for the a'istani mar'et and about how most millsin a'istan don1t have the machine that can print a single dupatta they print cloth that fits thewidth of two which is then slashed down the middle# 0t is difficult to see how wor'ing in lawnadvertising campaigns would impart this 'ind of technical 'now how to anybody#

(ut that is the thing with Vaneeza 4 once she brea's with the past, it is a very clean brea' andshe focuses straight onto what lies ahead# "he past is the past, and if you want to move aheadyou shouldn1t waste too much time going down memory lane# far better to let it be###

The Lawn Warsirst it was 5arachi and then 2ahore was buzzing with the lawn wars# "his time, $hehryar

$umar launched V9 first and immediately, posters of Vaneeza V 2awn sprung up, a monthbefore she was supposed to exhibit# 0n an interview with 0nstep, $hehryar $umar openlydistanced himself and V9 from Vaneeza /hmed and wished her the best of luc', saying thatthe mar'et was big enough for both of them# $he refused to spea' then and has never bro'enher silence on their relationship on the record# )owever, there were reports in newspapers ofhow her numerologist believed that the number 9 was unluc'y for her# 0t was remar'ably li'ea story one would read in the 0ndian press with the fascination across the border for luc'ynumbers and alphabets and the celestial alignments within the universe#

/nd so in the mar'et this year, there was V9 and V 2awn, one with the industrial muscle ofMohammad aroo! "extiles and the other f lying on the wings of Vaneeza1s beautiful face and

8/10/2019 Vaneeza Ahmed

2/2

endorsed by her# 6n the surface everything was fine, but than's to being a celebrity, Vinniemade the rounds of various tal' shows on most channels in a'istan to plug her product# 6nthe other hand, Mohsin $ayeed ripped apart V9 prints on a show on a local channel# "he(oulevard in 2ahore bac'trac'ed on an exhibition they had offered V9 saying that he was atextile mill and not a designer when they are all set to show /l 5aram lawn prints too# /t thesame time, V 2awn launched its first line in 5arachi to runaway success# Vaneeza1s posters allover town ensured that women beat the doors down#

7ust a night before her exhibition when tal'ing to 0nstep, Vinnie ac'nowledged that she hadheard about what happened at the (oulevard through designer .omi /nsari but didn1t havetime to delve into it# $he doesn1t have to# )er support system seems to ensure that hercompetition is 'ept away from the close 'nit circle of fashion in 2ahore#

Tycoon in the making?"he lawn exhibitions are on and Vaneeza1s V lawn has been a sensation# "he billboards of themost recognizable face in the country have ensured that the hordes 'eep coming# /nd now,Vaneeza1s plan is to eventually open a flagship store for her lawn and then she plans to getinto pret 4 not as it is understood by our fashion industry in the elitist sense of the word, butclothes for everyday a'istanis, both separates and suits#