You give lawn a bad name | Fashion

#give #lawn #bad #Fashion

Fashion focus

Maybe an economic recession is around and it’s no secret to anyone. The economy is slowing down, the rupee has depreciated, purchasing power has decreased and inflation has increased. It is worth noting that our textile industry contributes 57% of total exports which is 8.5% of Pakistan’s GDP and the annual export volume in the last financial year closed at $25 billion of which $13.53 billion were from textiles.

And what is Pakistan’s most successful textile in terms of volume used locally? This is what has given rise to the fifth season in the country, where it is summer for almost nine months of the year.

Overtime, lawns have gotten a bad name because of the way the “lawn wars” have gripped the country and how new designs are short-lived because they are copied within months and Others sell at cheaper prices.

In Pakistan, every year brands compete with great enthusiasm and fashion enthusiasts cringe at the energy expended trying to reinvent the wheel. However, the truth is that lawn is a special Pakistani product and as such is not produced anywhere else. If China is recognized for its silk, Pakistan is known to the world for its print-based lawns. Given its immense popularity, one wonders if Pakistani lawn fabric can be repackaged as a major export item on the back of its strong domestic consumption.

Given the disposable nature of most summer lawns, especially for urban women who buy designer varieties, lawn production can be used as a growth engine for Pakistani textiles internationally as that Japan did with electronics to promote its economic establishment. By exporting this popular product, textile manufacturers can also expand the market for their other products.

How lawn fabric can be developed as a major export depends primarily on its place in the world market. First, lawn should be established for what it is, a uniquely Pakistani product. Pakistani lawns should be promoted in the international trade and are important players in the market and the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) should contribute to a research and development fund to be set up to look at consumer tastes.

Both raw products of unstitched goods as well as value added products of stitched goods should be made for export. If the collaboration between designer and lawn can change from simply designing print to designing silhouettes for lawn, they can easily be sold overseas as ready-to-wear. We’ve already seen printed kurtis, ala Sana Safinaz’s IT Girls Souris, being taken abroad and worn with western wear, but making the finished product more universal could be to everyone’s advantage. .

Another important factor in exporting lawn is to ensure that it remains price competitive in the global market. Shahid Sattar, Adviser to Aptma, told The News, “If the price is higher than other countries, one cannot export it because the cost of doing business in Pakistan is high at the moment. Raw material yarn for lawn is imported. The final The price also depends on the import duty.”

If we want to shine this particular product in the global arena, the government needs to revise the policies.

Trade fairs and exhibitions showcasing the fabric should be organized in target countries that have sales potential. It will also be a big help to the industry if summer clothes are looked at in other parts of the world, for which lawn can be substituted.

Because it is a fine cotton-based material, which is sleek, absorbent and easy to carry, it will work well in tropical countries where it is warm throughout the year. Finding these markets for exports will ensure continued economic activity for lawn manufacturers in Pakistan whose products are currently only a summer focus.

These measures will enhance the government’s ability to reduce the trade deficit. So-called turf wars capturing local markets can therefore be used as an effective means of earning foreign exchange. which Pakistan desperately needs to balance its import bill, especially with respect to oil and other energy related products. Along with its new budget, the government has also decided that exports of goods to Afghanistan and Central Asian states will be zero-duty to explore those places as well.

One place where there is no need to create a market for lawn because it already exists is India. The country has a shared culture and knowledge about our local lawns. Due to trade complications, it cannot reach India through official channels, but this does not mean that Pakistani lawn does not reach India. Many people who come here go back with lawn designs and it also enters India via other countries. While trade with neighbors depends on socio-political factors, the textile industry is meanwhile making products more global.

Value added lawn production through innovation, modernization, diversification and maintaining product quality as per international standards is the need of the hour. Industrial export growth will not happen in the short term, it requires strategic decisions by buyers which is a gradual process and commitment from both the government and exporters to keep costs down. Currently, overseas sales of lawns make a small contribution to textile companies due to their limited access to potential customers… but this could change.

In short, Pakistan lawn exports can change its reputation if the policies are implemented properly.