Catching up with fashion mogul Deepak Perwani

Fashion, designing, acting – is there anything Deepak Perwani can't do? The renowned Pakistani designer stopped over for a chat today at our studios where we caught up with him and his work.

So what have you been up to lately?

A lot is going on really, Deepak said as he lit up his cigarette. Pakistan Fashion Design Council's Fashion Week which is coming up next week is going to keep him really busy. Not to mention that he's also designing for a couple of films and a TV show, and uniforms for a school as well.

What celebrities would you love to design for?

Sonam Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Angelina Jolie, said Deepak. And if only Madam Noor Jehan and Khalida Riyasat were alive, he would have loved to design for them too.

What do you do when you're not designing?

I love doing different things, Deepak said. Indeed he does. He's currently writing a script for a film and just finished acting in a Canadian film.

Interesting! Tell us about your role in this film?

Well it's just a cameo. My character dies in it really fast. I'd never done such a role before so I wanted to try it, he chuckled. By the way the film has Ali Kazmi in it, he added.

You're a Guinness World Record holder for designing the world's largest kurta some years ago. What was that about? What motivated you to do the feat?

The social aspect attached to the project, the designer said. The project was sponsored by Procter & Gamble's detergent brand Ariel and the kurta was used to create smaller kurtas which were donated to children sheltered by the Edhi Foundation across Pakistan.

Here are some interesting facts about the world's largest kurta:

It was 101 feet tall — 30 times larger than a medium-sized kurta. For someone to be able to wear the kurta, they would have to be 175 feet tall! The kurta was made of 800 yards of cotton blend fabric and weighed 800 kg, and was embellished by none other than Deepak Perwani and his team.

What's top of your bucket list?

Right now? Sleep, he laughed. What with so many projects in the pipeline, he barely gets time to catch up on sleep, the busy all-rounder said. "Even today I have to rush back home then attend some meetings and look after some guests from Lahore."

Okay, won't keep you then, we said and asked him to send out a message to the young and aspiring fashion designers and artists of Pakistan.

"Just remember, sky's the limit. You can do anything you want, anything. Believe in yourself and don't limit yourself. Try new things, avail whatever opportunity comes your way, you never know where that may take you."

"There's a lot of talent in Pakistan," he said. "Your work will speak for itself, just don't stop trying and working hard."

Take, for example, the Pakistani cinema, he pointed out. Earlier there were only a handful of directors who made great films. But now there are so many indie, little known artists and directors who are making outstanding films.

"So yes, this is one beautiful thing about Pakistan. Talent can come from anywhere here," he said.