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| When the Queen of the Netherlands changed the traditional Pakistani lehenga choli into a gown |
The wedding of Jordan's Crown Prince Hussein last week was a major international event attended by regional and world leaders as well as many royals from around the world.
In different parts of the world, the eyes of every public and private were fixed on this event, which can be estimated from the discussions and shared photos on social media.
Most of the users were focused only on the newlyweds while some were talking about the details of the ceremony and some people were talking about the outfits that the royal family members donned.
One of the pictures that came out in public became the center of attention of Pakistani users and that was of Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.
In the picture, the Queen can be seen wearing a beautiful gown in her traditional dignified style, the design of which might look somewhat familiar and indigenous to those familiar with Pakistani fashion and craftsmanship.
Let's look at these pictures and according to the details given below, this gown is not only a Pakistani handicraft but it is designed by a Pakistani designer Mah Para Khan and her brand name is 'Mah Para Khan'.
Queen Maxima's embellished gown is the creation of a Pakistani designer
When contacted by the BBC, Mah Parra confirmed that the gown embellished by Queen Máxima was her creation.
Thus, the era of kings and queens from South Asia has long since ended, but Pakistani designers and artisans are still making clothes for royal families.
However, the only difference on this occasion is that the Pakistani designer has worked internationally and has got the queen of a country as his client.
After speaking with Mahpara, it turns out that the way Queen Máxima became Mahpara's client is even more interesting.
The Queen's team was in touch with Mahpara from 2019
The pictures of the Queen in this dress may have surfaced only last week, but according to Mahara, the dress was delivered to the Queen almost a year ago.
Mah Parah said that this series actually started in 2019 when the Queen was appointed as the UN Secretary General's Special Advocate on Finance for Development.
During this time, she visited Pakistan and met some Pakistani business personalities, one of whom was Mah Para and representing her brand 'Mah Para Khan'.
Mahpara says that the Queen encouraged them by meeting people involved in new businesses in this meeting.
Mah Para said that 'when the queen came to his design studio, she saw a few samples of dresses in our studio and thus got an idea of the complexity and finesse of the work done in each design.'
He further said that she (the Queen) liked it very much there. He appreciated it very much and it was very beautiful. He looked at it closely and considered the details of what kind of work had been done on it.
I also told them the details. When she left, she didn't say anything about whether I wanted to order it now or later.
"Mahpara was surprised that the queen liked the traditional Pakistani wedding dress."
Mah Para said that later the Queen's team contacted her on the phone and said that she wanted to see the lehenga choli that the Queen had praised and expressed her desire that the dress be delivered to this hotel in Pakistan. should be sent to where she was living.'
"When I got the news that the Queen was interested in buying that lehenga choli, I was a bit surprised," says Mahpara.
He said that he had sensed the queen's interest in the studio but had no idea that she would take it for herself.
On asking the reason, Mah Para said, "It was a traditional wedding dress." I was not expecting that they would like a traditional outfit like a lehenga choli so much. So it was just a little bit surprising.
At the behest of the Queen's team, the dress was immediately sent to the hotel, which she decided to buy after trying it on. But they needed some changes.
When we asked, Mah Para said that the Queen liked the design as it was and she did not change it.
She just wanted to fold the lehenga choli into a 'ball gown', and change its half sleeves to full sleeves. Apart from this, the size of the dress also needed to be made according to the measurements of the queen's clothes.
Mahpara told us that the Queen's styling team sent her detailed sizing information for her clothes from the Netherlands. The details were so accurate that the first model Mahpara sent to the Netherlands fit the Queen perfectly.
Mahara said that apart from Malika, he has no other such clinches.
He also said that he has never received such accurate measurements from any other customer and that this is what he has seen in Pakistan, as people here buy clothes from him in 'free sizes'.
When asked about the details of the dress, he said, "The design was completely hand-crafted by a team of 20 people working in different shifts for more than 100 days."
He said that the real challenge for him was that actually traditional designs seem to be 'global' instead of being confined to a specific region.
The design combines traditional Mughal carvings with Dipika, nakshi, silk, and go-to work. The cloth is silk.
"The experience of working for the Queen was professional, pleasant, and easy."
Obviously, for any designer, when the client is such a big personality, the thought must cross the mind that it will be very difficult to work for them and meet their expectations.
However, Mahpara said that the whole process and experience were 'very easy' for her.
She described it as a 'professional, pleasant and good experience' and was not under any pressure but rather excited.
They were given complete freedom to design as per their choice and the measurements provided made it easier for them to make the dress.
'Didn't know when the Queen would wear that dress
Designers generally like to share news about landing big clients because it builds their reputation and helps them get more business.
Mahpara told us that she didn't want to spread the news prematurely. He thought it better to wait. In fact, she did not even know when the queen was going to use the dress.
When Prince Hussain's wedding picture appeared on social media, he, like everyone else, found out that the Queen had finally worn the dress.
He said that when I woke up in the morning, this was on social media. Because we delivered this dress to them three years ago. I think she was waiting for a proper ceremony.
Two more dresses were also prepared for the queen
He also told us that he had originally designed three things for the Queen.
There was a shawl that was given to him as a gift. Also, there was the gown she had recently worn and then there was a silk dress which was another dress designed for the Queen.
"The other pair that the Queen liked was our lawn pair because it cannot be worn in these countries, so we changed the design to a silk fabric but kept the pattern," he said.
She said news of the Queen becoming a client is new and she doesn't yet know how it will affect her business, but she is proud to have had the opportunity to promote her work. Appreciated.
He said that 'I did not ask the queen to buy my pair, nor did I do any publicity or advertising for her. The queen came to my studio, she liked the pair and wanted to buy it. Hard work speaks for itself.
She also thinks that her story will set a good example for others and give them a message to believe in their work and work hard because that's where success lies.
Giving details about his work and the brand, he said, "I established my brand in 2015 after working in key positions in some of the biggest fashion brands in Pakistan."
"I was 26 when I started my brand and have been working professionally since I was 21. I wanted to start my own brand to experiment with my creativity and explore myself as an artist and an entrepreneur.