Nosheen Rahman & Ghazala Rahman

Pakistani clothing company Generation has found a clever way to remind us how much textile art can demonstrate the richness of culture. Their textile map of Pakistan, which uses native embroidery techniques to mark different regions, has become a viral sensation, with more than 20,000 shares on Twitter.

Describe the main colours?

What is happening to the colours? Why could this be?

What shapes can you see@ Are they repeating?

What techniques have been used?

What are the main influences?

THE BIRTH OF GENERATION

The 1980s were the crucial years that shaped up the political climate of Pakistan until this very day. While the feminist movement was in full form on the global stratosphere, Zia Ul Haq’s regime was trying to push women behind closed doors. It was the visionary duo of Saad and Nosheen Rahman who chose to follow the voice of reason. With Nosheen and her sister in law Ghazala Rahman, both being the founding members of the Women’s Action Forum founded in 1981, which brought the movement to Pakistan, it was inevitable for them to invest in the vision of the empowered Pakistani woman.

Being an expert in sizing and inheriting his family’s great love for innovation in fabric and material, Saad Rahman along with his wife made it their business to provide truly modern but quintessentially Pakistani clothing for the woman of the future. Based in cottons and reinventing the Shalwar Kamiz silhouette in a time where polyester reigned supreme.

INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE

In their initial days the Rahmans toyed with multiple revolutionary ideas, introducing the internationally utilized format of 4 seasonal collections in the country vowing never to repeat a design and continuously working towards innovation and newness in fashion. Introducing the concept of sizing in ready to wear, as well as flying in designers from Europe to design exclusive collections for the brand. The “Brushstroke” collection with its edgy sportswear detailing and statement prints was the product of one such collaborations, however they were soon to discover that the audience responded more to the designs created in-house by the couple themselves.

HERE TO STAY

GENERATION has served to be a melting pot of creatives since its very beginning: While it was a major hit for its innovative designs, the brand also garnered quite a reputation for its creative and beautifully executed photoshoots. Recruiting artists, creative minded friends and relatives,

every GENERATION campaign began to get as much traction for the imagery it put out as the clothes it was selling. The “Colours of Earth” collection built upon the idea of freedom and optimism with painstaking indigenous crafts such as tie dyeing, ajrak, rilli and block printing sourced from all over Pakistan becoming its language of communication.

Taken from the website.

https://generation.com.pk/pages/about-us