Fashion DNA: Pakistan is a designer mentorship programme for emerging Pakistani designers organised by the British Council. The programme takes the format of a year-long intensive training, including face to face sessions, online sessions, UK catwalk shows and showcasing, Pakistani catwalk shows and showcasing.  Specific skills focusses will include sustainability and ethics, business (starting your label, internationalising your label, production, international fashion systems, brand DNA, marketing, market positioning, digital, range planning), brand identity, digital presence, presentation, fashion image-making and communication and technical delivery (design skills).  

The mentorship will run in two rounds with 5 designers being selected for each round.  In addition to the mentorship, designers will be invited to apply their new skills through the production of a ready-to-wear collection with a clear brand positioning with a capsule collection presented at UK-based Fashion Scout during A/W 2016 London Fashion Week and the full collection at Fashion Pakistan Week in Karachi in April 2016.  While in London, designers will participate in the Centre for Fashion Enterprise’s Market Entry Bootcamp and engage and potentially collaborate with UK designers.

In addition to the designer mentorship, the British Council is pleased to open up masterclasses by the UK mentors for public registration.

For this first round, UK mentors include Ruby Hoette (MA Fashion, Goldsmiths College), Toby Meadows (Author of How to Set Up and Run a Fashion Label), Malcolm Newbery (Malcolm Newbery Consulting) and Rebekah Roy (Stylist). Pakistani designers include Akif Mahmood, the House of Kamiar Rokni, Zaheer Abbas and Wardha Saleem. 

Fashion DNA: Pakistan aims to bring together UK and Pakistani fashion industries to help grow and strengthen our understandings of each other’s different design cultures, while supporting the development of emerging designers.