Just Two Much!

Talented and beautiful, the unstoppable duo, Sana and Safinaz are considered one of the foremost designers in Pakistan today. Any bride or fashion maven worth her salt will have at least one Sana-Safinaz outfit in her closet. Best friends since childhood, the easy camaraderie between the two ladies, is amply evident indeed. On the eve of the launch of their collection in Dubai, Sana and Safinaz seem excited and wax prolific on their love for the city, what they think of the market here and much, much more!

How long have you known each other?
We have known each other practically all our lives – actually since we were about six years old! You can easily say we grew up all our lives together and have been best friends ever since.

Tell us a little bit about where you’re from, your childhood and your upbringing…
Sana: I spent my childhood in Karachi went to the Karachi Grammar School for high school and left in the 10th grade for finishing school in Switzerland. Post that I went to Richmond College in London. My childhood has always been all about family. I have had great memories from my childhood with my brother and cousins and seriously had one of the best childhoods any one could wish for.

Safinaz: I was at NCA for schooling and I grew up with three brothers and one sister. Sana and I practically spent our childhood together as well, since we knew each other from the age of six; we have grown up as best friends and now are family as well.

When did you first become interested in fashion?
Fashion has always played a very big role in our lives since our youth. We were interested in reading Vogue right since we were teenagers and have collected every issue without fail.

Who would you say some of your fashion designer role models are in Pakistan?
Some of our favourite designer role models in Pakistan would be Imrana from Body Focus and Umar Sayeed; Khaadi Khaas is one of our favourites as well.

Which Indian designers do you like the most?
Safinaz: I absolutely love Varun Bahl, Sabyasachi Mukherjee and of course Tarun Tahiliani.
Sana: We tend to have similar tastes so I would go with the same designers as well.

What is the hottest bridal trend this season? What would you say is completely out?
Magenta is definitely the new red. We have a lot of magenta in our collection at Soirée. Hems are very long and skim the floor while flare is still in, so we wouldn’t say anything is really completely out of style.

Since you both are a designing duo, can you tell us who takes on what role?
Both of us work and feed off of each other; we have the same taste and tend to get inspired by the same things. In fact, the exact same things catch our eyes!

Designing, we would say, is team work. We are constantly giving each other ideas and working together – collaborating helps bring out the best in our designs as our clothing incorporates a little bit of each of us and our individual style elements.

Do you frequently argue or do you tend to resolve things amicably?
We are like an old married couple. Yes, we argue on and off but we make up at the end of the day. Our disagreements are never serious; in fact, our arguments serve to bring about the best in each other!

What is each of your personal styles like?
Our personal styles are very similar. In fact, the key to our style is to always try and be elegant and sophisticated with a western element infused in whatever we chose to wear.

What do you like to do when you visit Dubai? As in what are your favourite restaurants etc?
Sana: I love to sit by the beach and just unwind and relax. Eating at Zuma, of course, is always a must!
Safinaz: I agree – Zuma is a must and of course, La Petite Maison. Those are the two must-visit spots on my Dubai to-do list!

What are your expansion plans in the future?
We started off with bridal and prêt and went onto working on the diffusion line. We have now had an export line for the past four years. We started exporting to about four cities and have now increased it to 14 different cities all over the world. In the future we would definitely like to add more cities in differing countries to our list. Our plan, as of now, is to focus on increasing our export prêt line base.