Hand embroidery is a craft which dates far back in history. It is still practiced all over the world and every region has its own cultural imprint on it. This skill of decorating a fabric using needle and thread, making floral or different motifs can aptly be called “Gulkari”.

Let’s ask Farah Shahzad of Farah’s Gulkari about her beautiful creations and how she turns out mater pieces which astonish and amaze an onlooker.

Fashion Collection: How and when did you entangle yourself in this enchanting world of threads and yarn?
Farah Shahzad: This all began in 2012 when I got the opportunity to travel to the central south region of Punjab and interact with the talented womenfolk of the villages there. Their superb skill depicted our culture but I felt that these people were not given their due share of acknowledgment. I am a strong believer of women empowerment so I decided to get this art of our country to next level by introducing it within our country as well as globally. Today Farah’s Gulkari represents the true culture of Pakistan in the field of Embroidery.

Fashion Collection: Embroidery is practiced by many, how does your work stands apart.
Farah Shahzad: As embroidery is a vast field, designers use this art in variation, creating their own style. At Farah’s Gulkari, every design and piece is unique and no one piece is alike. Made to order with high quality standards keeping in mind complete customer satisfaction, the major portion of income goes to the women working across Pakistan in this field.

Fashion Collection: Please elaborate on your work style.
Farah Shahzad: My work is a fusion of cultural, classical and modern designs. It caters to every age group. My embroideries include chikankari, shadow work, different types of gota work, mukaish, tarkashi, ralliwork, cross stitch to name a few. Our formal and semi formal collection has been opted by many brides on mehndi and also on their nikah ocassions. We also design for kids on special occasions so all in all I’ll describe my work as versatile.

Fashion Collection: Please share your experience while creating your masterpiece till date.
Farah Shahzad: It’s been quite some time working and every creation requires a lot of hard work. Over a period of time I have evolved in terms of designing; from choosing the perfect fabric to colour scheming to actual hand embroidery.  My artisans bring life to my designs by intricately and passionately working along with me hence it is a collective effort. It is an incredible journey, transformation of the fabric till the finished product.

Fashion Collection: Where do you see yourself in the next ten years?
Farah Shahzad: I see Farah’s Gulkari in the top designers’ list and I aspire to make our brand a globally recognized one InshAllah.

Fashion Collection: Which designer inspires you the most?
Farah Shahzad: Inspiration comes from different things. Culture is foremost for me and the designer I admire is Misha Lakhani as her designs also depict our culture.

Fashion Collection: Can you take us through your normal work day?
Farah Shahzad: My priority is my family and also my work is my passion so I have to keep a balance between the two. My day keeps me busy with my team and orders which are to be met. We work quite late as many customers contact me from various countries with different timings.

Fashion Collection: How do you unwind?
Farah Shahzad: Spending time with my family unwinds me be it at home or on vacation with them.

Fashion Collection: Any message you would like to convey to our readers?
Farah Shahzad: Do good to others and good will come back to you. Our Pakistani products are second to none. Be Pakistani buy Pakistani. This will put our entrepreneurs in the limelight and also put Pakistan ahead in many competitions worldwide.

Fashion Collection: Any exhibitions coming up in recent future?
Farah Shahzad: Due to high demand, we are always running short of time in keeping pace with our orders. However, whenever time allows we do plan to exhibit once or twice a year.

Thank you Farah for giving us your time.

We saw her work and got tempted to own a few pieces ourselves. From a sober ensemble for our grandparents to a brilliant bling lengha for a bride to be, a classic kurta for an evening to a cute dress for tiny tots, a decent kurta for your husband or brother for Eid to a trendy kurtis for young crowd, she has it all.