COVID lockdowns last year led to a lot of labour losing jobs, but out of that misery came a beautiful brand - Saazill. Muhammad Abdullah decided to hire some of the uber talented artisans who had lost their daily earnings and created Saazill. Read more and get to know about the brand.
Grazia: Tell us a little about your brand.
Muhammad Abdullah: We are basically a hand printing brand that has specialized in perfecting the art of blockprint. We also do screen printing and hand painting. We try our best to create affordable hand printed wear for men and women. It is our attempt at keeping alive an authentic but dying tradition of the subcontinent.
Grazia: How did you get started?
Muhammad Abdullah: We were basically a home-based bridal business that operated out of Peshawar since 2007. Most of our clients were referral based and we made limited pieces that were bought by just a couple of families. In 2018 we decided to wrap things up as it was not sustainable. However, in 2020 after COVID lockdowns started, we came to know that our block print artisans that we had trained for decades were out of jobs. So, we began operations on a limited scale to enable them to sustain their living. We limited the work to a few pieces and let our workers unleash their creativity. We experimented with various pure fabrics: velvets, silks, chiffons, cottons, nets and allowed the workers to practice their crafts. We ended up with block print results that were almost 95% without human error. Our products now have the most symmetric, clear and vibrant block prints that are often mistaken for being made by a machine. So we decided to take this forward and set up a shop in Islamabad.
Grazia: Where do you see your business in the next 5 years?
Muhammad Abdullah: In the next five years we aim to create western wear for women as well as eastern and western wear for men incorporating styles and elements from fashions that originate from all over Pakistan. We aim to bring about embroideries and bridal gotta work in our items and to create one of a kind heavily embellished bridal outfits that will be especially commissioned for our clients.
Grazia: What makes your brand stand out from the rest?
Muhammad Abdullah: In one word? Fabric. We take immense care in choosing our fabric. It is the purest and of the highest quality. We source it from different places across Pakistan but we ensure that the fabric is of imported quality and is not available anywhere else. So far nobody has been able to match our quality, at least in Islamabad. We purchase the highest grade threads, pure lawns, pure cottons, pure silks that are unmatched. For this we especially go to Quetta and travel to Peshawar so that our client carries their outfit with pride.
What also makes us stand is that we give our workers a free hand in making their designs by just giving them a slight nudge in a certain direction, every item they make is different. Here at Saazill everything is made only once. What you wear is only made for you.
Grazia: Where do you find inspiration?
Muhammad Abdullah: We find inspiration everywhere. Our color combinations come from God’s paintbrush; the sky, the colorful birds, the endless sea and the beautiful flowers. Our styles come from different clothing trends from all over the world. We embrace the designs of our subcontinent and sometimes give them a western spin. Our patterns are inspired by ancient Egypt, Greece and India to contemporary postmodern designs.
Grazia: Tell us about the projects you are most proud of and why?
Muhammad Abdullah: We are most proud of our Saris. We have taken the most delicate and beautiful fabrics and put in colors along with patterns that make them stand out. Every sari carries the essence of a particular city or town that is shadowed in the designs.
Grazia: How do you deal with customer feedback?
Muhammad Abdullah: Whatever the customer wants, the customer gets. There is no such thing as impossible at Saazill. We have made gowns, shirts, dresses, saris and lehengas. Every customer leaves our outlet with a smile on their face. The feedback that we receive we tend to shift our production setup according to that. Our production unit is flexible, this summer we have come with some very affordable block print lawn three piece and two piece suits.
Grazia: Anything else we should know about Saazil?
Muhammad Abdullah: A lot of people do not understand block print. There will always be minor imperfections in the prints because they are done by hand. This is a testament to it’s authenticity and an ode to what it means to be Pakistani. Very few people now bother with this because of the low costs of easily available digital prints. We bother because this is a trip down memory lane to the Empire that once was in our subcontinent. Where block printed fabrics were the norm, and were exported to the unenlightened West. It is our duty that we carry this art and proudly embrace it because it’s what defines us as Pakistanis – artistic, hardworking and efficient.
