Brands, brands everywhere!

Women’s ready to wear industry is rapidly growing in the big cities of Pakistan. Here are some interesting tidbits about the brands that you love!

1) A pioneer of pret wear in Pakistan, Generation was established by Saad Rahman and Nosheen Rahman in 1983.

2) Generation was the first to use ‘size system’ in Pakistan, tweaking them to eventually develop the 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 size system that is now the standard in the prêt wear category.

3) The percentage of working women in Pakistan increased from 16.2% in 2000 to 24.4% in 2011, which means an additional seven million women joined the workforce in 11 years, thereby increasing the demand for readymade clothes.

4) According to Shamoon Sultan, CEO, Khaadi, unstitched fabric still accounts for over 90% of women’s clothing sales across Pakistan.

Read: Khaadi's multinational ambitions.

5) Ready to wear is estimated at just half a percent of the retail market, catering to two to three million customers in a country of 200 million.

6) Aurora’s Fast Fashion Survey shows that Khaadi is the most sought after ready to wear brand, in addition to being considered the best value for money.

7) Rumours abound that one of the ways brands lower the cost of production is by sourcing Chinese and Indian cloth which enters Pakistan through grey market suppliers.

8) Agha Noor uses a fabric called ‘cotton net’ to produce formal and semi-formal outfits in a price ranging between Rs 3,500 and 4,000.

9) Khaadi has 40 stores in 11 cities; J Dot has 62 stores in 20 cities, Gul Ahmed Ideas has 65 stores in 17 cities, while Al Karam Studio has 22 stores in 12 cities.

10) The rent for stores in high end malls like Dolmen Mall Clifton is between Rs 500,000 and two million rupees depending on the size of the shop, while in shopping centres such as Tariq Road, Bahadurabad and Clifton, rents range from Rs 50,000 to 200,000.

Read 'The Pret Effect' – an in-depth coverage of women's ready to wear industry of Pakistan.

11) Prêt is very much an urban phenomenon and even in the cities, it is mostly patronised by working women from the higher echelons of society; “those who are not working, are too thin or too large don’t buy ready to wear,” says Shamoon Sultan, CEO, Khaadi.