Sharmin Rahman's exhibition at Manas

Growing up, Sharmin Rahman, Associate Vice President – Creative at Asiatic JWT, always had a passion for fashion designing. From an early age she embarked on a journey to create beautiful clothing by working with a local boutique for 11 years. This journey was the beginning of the path to self-discovery for great passion in fashion design and intense amount of talent in excelling in it.

Having friends and family who are actively part of the media, designing clothing has been an integral part of her life. This April, Sharmin Rahman collaborated with Manas, a local boutique store where she exhibited some of her most classic summer blouses. This event was organised by Manas from 7 April to 12 April with amazing response from customers.

Sharmin is an avid Bengali at heart and thinks highly of local crafts and materials. She also understands the change in taste and exposure of the young generation in Bangladesh. "Youngsters in our country are loud and proud Bangladeshi in their hearts but their perception and experiences are changing through exposure of global proportions," said Sharmin.

Keeping that in mind, her designs for this exhibition have been extremely unique with the use of local crafts and incorporating local trends.

"I wanted the young generation to be aware that sari is not just a traditional wear but a clothing that can make one look modern as well, without compromising on comfort" Sharmin added.

She created a collection of blouses, which were different from the usual tight-fitted one-dimensional blouses, which gave a very contemporary look and feel to the sari. The blouses will not only make the saris chic, but also make one feel very contented wearing it. 

Versatility is another aspect of these pieces: each one can be worn with more than one sari, matching the colour palette, or in contrast.

They are versatile enough to be worn with jeans, skirts, culottes or any type of cotton or linen pants for which these blouses can easily be passed as crop tops.

This unusual collection of twenty blouses/crop tops are unique but based on a common theme; contemporary yet very much root of this region, ensuring a refreshing and playful look to welcome any day of our sunny summer.

The whole collection is on white, beige and ivory khaadi, cotton or endi with multicoloured gamcha, crochet lace, and fringe-tassels displaying experimentation in patterns and unusual hemlines through playful balance of traditional materials and trendy cuts.

Photo courtesy: Sharmin Rahman