The Indian who brought Pakistani designers to LFW

Priyanka Gill, founder and editor-in-chief of fashion website POPxo.com, talks about how she got Zara Shahjahan, Faiza Samee, Sania Maskatiya and Rizwan Beyg to showcase their creations on the ramp in India.

Priyanka Gill juggles many roles.

From being a contributor for The Guardian, The Independent, Vogue India and Travel+Leisure to investing in early-stage start-ups to running her own website, Priyanka has her hands full.

In fact, Priyanka also happens to be the person who got the four Pakistani fashion designers to show their creations at Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2014.

The fashionista, who is also an investor-cum-entrepreneur, talks about how she got Zara Shahjahan, Faiza Samee, Sania Maskatiya (Read their interview, here) and Rizwan Beyg to Mumbai, India.

How did the idea of getting Pakistani fashion designers originate? What kind of effort did it take to get them on board?

Like the best of things, the Pakistani show was put together after a very casual conversation between us and IMG-Reliance. They asked us if we could bring Pakistani designers to Lakme Fashion Week; we contacted Zahraa Saifullah, the CEO of Hello! Pakistan and a POPxo Style Council member.

Very quickly her team recommended a few names and they were given the green light.

POPxo is working very hard with the Hello! Pakistan team and the designers to put up a fantastic show.

DON'T MISS: Border ke paar: Sexy, flirty, elegant designs from Pakistan!

Why only these four Pakistani designers? What's so special about them?

These four designers represent Pakistani fashion with the diversity of their design aesthetic. From truck art inspired designs to soft florals and from intricate traditional hand embroidery to modern prints, the show aims to provide a glimpse into the fashion industry in Pakistan today.

Tell us about POPxo.com and your entrepreneurial journey...

POPxo.com is a six-month old content website for women. We provide engaging, fun and useful content for women. Our audience is highly targetted, this is something that brands love. We work with top-tier companies across the board to market their product to our audience.

Your success mantras

Unless you are prepared to risk your time, leisure and money, you will achieve nothing.

Success comes to those who risk all and are prepared to work hard for it.

Excuses, everyone can make. To make a difference you have to stop making excuses and get on with it.

There is nothing worse than looking back and thinking I wish I had taken that risk.

Failure is not the worst thing in the world. Not giving it your best shot is.

You have a 8-person team now. All women! What's the reason? Reverse discrimination at work? :-) Don't men understand fashion?

The team grew very organically. It's purely co-incidental that there are no men on the team. We are primarily a lifestyle website for women; if the right person for the role happens to to be a man we would unreservedly hire him!

10 style tips for men and women

1. Be yourself. Don't follow trends blindly.
2. Dress your age.
3. Figure out what works for your body-type and lifestyle.
4. Dress appropriately for the occasion. If the host suggests a dress code, have the courtesy to make an effort.
5. Invest in high quality pieces which should form the basis of your wardrobe.
6. Shop with a plan. Impulse shopping is okay once in a while, but you should put serious consideration when making sartorial choices.
7. There is no excuse for being badly groomed.
8. It's always better to be under-dressed than over-dressed.
9. Discretion is way more stylish than blatant label flaunting.
10. Have fun. Style is not something to be taken too seriously.

Tips to look hot this monsoon...

Avoid whites and linens. Use colour in your outfits to brighten up a dull day. Waterproof make-up and chic ponytails should complete your look. Accessorise with cool umbrellas, check out POPxo.com for a comprehensive list :-)

Do you think some political parties might try to derive advantage by protesting against them as elections in Maharashtra are around the corner (according to speculation by early October)? Are you prepared for such an eventuality?

We hope that the show at LFW will be the beginning of a constructive, inspiring conversation between the Indian and Pakistani fashion fraternities which will benefit consumers in both nations.

Follow #People-at-LFW on Rediff ZaraBol!

Kindly click here for full coverage of Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2014.