You can always trust Maheen Kardar, the creative head and team spirit of design giant Karma, to come up with some golden nuggets of inspiration, “I can’t bracket myself into a neat little compartment to smoothen anyone’s perception. I can’t mould to popular opinion and I definitely can’t bear to tie myself down to only one notion of what a woman should be like.”
There isn’t a single person in fashion who doesn’t know who Maheen Kardar is. As brand representative, owner and creative head of design house Karma, she’s pushed perceptions about women in the workplace aside and made the strong, dynamic businesswoman/mum sexy and intriguing. A staple fixture in the fashion arena and a personality that has turned into a brand to boot, Maheen is an icon in indulgence and sophisticated glamour.
Behind the whirlwind parade, the fashion weeks, the flurry of design activity, the mum at home, dynamo in the workplace bit, there are few outward signs that, beneath that glossy, gleaming exterior is a fiercely driven and constantly focused workaholic who takes what she does seriously, in a way hardly seen in the realm of fashion.
As the head of Karma, Maheen Kardar is a woman who dictates trends by default, steers fashion directives in her favour and is head author of a design house that has lasted longer than others who have come and gone. If they were a house of cards, Maheen and her Karma are a re-enforced bridge to a whole new world of style, sophistication and breathable feminity.
Maheen Kardar and her Karma are now so established in our fashion industry that they are almost untouchable. Be it post-modern chic, 20’s jazz-age smokiness, the allure of pink candy, demure elegance or some fun with prêt, there isn’t a trend not endorsed and made better by Karma.
We’ve all seen her as this fun, beaming representative of the industry, a woman’s woman and a man’s equal but have we ever really studied who Maheen actually is once the veneer of Karma has been stripped away and the demands of the job pried from her ever-loving grip? Is she the brand she represents or more? Is she trendy like Karma Pink or done up to the hilt like the binge on bridals that is Karma Red? She’s all that and more and she’s got the looks to prove it.
“I can’t put myself in a niche for the sake of definitions. I’ve been asked to typify which personality I aspire towards or which era I run parallel with and I pinpoint just one word, one frame of aesthetics: beauty. If it isn’t beautiful I don’t know what to do with it, what to call it and what to make of it. I will never dress to be just a part of the regular brigade. It’s another thing entirely that Karma is a label identified with what is a trendsetter but personally I’m a very beauty forward person. That’s why whether it’s at work, play or at home in my pjs, I’m relating my aesthetics with my philosophy. I’ll wear what I see as beautiful whether a vintage piece from my mum’s wardrobe to an ensemble straight off the rack; from closet to Cavalli to Karma, if it’s chic, it’s good to go.”
Maybe that’s why Maheen’s red carpet elegance is flawless in effort, yet Grade-A premium in effect. Found dressed usually in Karma, she’s the perfect poster child for her brand.
“Clothes maketh the man and representation is the first taste of what you’re brand is all about. I choose to wear Karma most of the time because it is a depiction of who I am at that given time and, yes, I have been called a role model for many aspiring designers and young girls looking to charter their own paths.”
If so, she’s hitting her cue dead on with almost everyone who matters, wearing some coveted original Karma pieces on the red carpet. And when it’s time for lights, camera, action, it’s the Karma show that keeps folk anxiously waiting. There are painfully few designers who can boast being able to put on show stopping ramp displays and Karma is probably at the top of that list. Whether it’s a fashion week for prêt or one for bridals, Maheen has touched the heart of what is required: a spectacle spectacular, with clothes that awe, inspire, indulge and exude a luxury that is all her own.
She’s done it all: from Gatsby to Dr Seuss, flowers to vintage, she’s taken Karma leaps and bounds, fused passion with performance and made her brand stronger than those belonging to many industry insiders. And she’s been doing it all for a while.
“I was three years old when I’d wear my mum’s dupatta on my head and pretend I was Meena Kumari. Now, from that pursuit of adult beauty and perfection, I design from an inspiration given to me by my own kids.” She’s got two little jellybeans and she merits all her inspiration and drive to them.
Maheen stays true to her beliefs. She believes in the ability of fashion to change and make beautiful the lives of all those associated with it via real interaction or distant observation. She is never unprepared what with an outfit change in her car, a pair of high heels at her beck and call and red lipstick in her purse. She’s a style icon alright and she’s made a lot happen in the industry; whether Karma or kismet, Maheen sells her own brand of magic.
“I fantasize, I aspire and I vent but, at the end of the day, I make it happen. Life is short and fashion’s shelf life is shorter with trends and fads changing at a moment’s notice. The only person a woman needs to stay true to is herself.”
The write is op-ed pages editor of The Daily Times, based in Lahore. She tweets @ ReemWasay1
