Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of the Prime Minister, had made the starched, white shalwar qameez his fashion statement during the 1988-90 PPP regime. However, the MNA from Nawabshah has made the Dress Suit his item of attire during this present tenure of the Bhutto government.

There has been a steep upsurge in demand for the ready-to-wear Men’s Dress Suit recently. Local manufacturers such as HUSTLER, PENSY, CALIFORD, SUNNY, and BONANZA are known brands. The phenomenon has been due to varied reasons. During visits to the garment stores and talking with manufacturers, the following factors have been the prime reasons for the extra-ordinary demand in the Dress Suits. These are enumerated as follows:

*** THE WHITE-COLLAR SECTOR: The trend of donning a suit and a bright tie is in vogue among the persons working in offices. The influx of YUPPIES in the banks, trading houses, insurance, stock exchange, etc has increased manifold. It is now the "in" thing to wear a suit or a combination to work. The corporate culture has introduced a dress code which envisages the wearing of suits or coordinates. With a not too friendly paycheck and with a desire to maintain appearances and also to look chic and trendy, the YUPPIES look towards the ready-made Suit costing between Rs 2000-2700.

*** THE PPP SYNDROME: There is always an increase in demand for Suits whenever PPP is in power in Islamabad. The first rush in sales was observed in the 1988-90 period. The IJI tenure saw a slackening in Suit purchases because the shalwar qameez was more ubiquitous due to the penchant of the erstwhile Prime Minister to don this dress. The PPP Ministers and advisors are more conspicuous by their sartorial taste than those belonging to other parties.

*** THE EXPATRIATES SOJOURN: The expatriates from Gulf and other countries generally visit the motherland during the Ramadhan season. Many of them get married during this visit or their family members tie the wedding knot. Due to the paucity of time it is difficult to get suits made on order. Therefore the best and convenient thing for them is to go to the neighborhood store and buy a ready-to-wear suit. This, then increases the demand for suits.

It has been observed that the massive rise in demand has affected the process of making suits in Karachi. Following factors are illustrated:

*** TAILORS SHORTAGE: With the increase in demand for suits the need for more tailors to stitch coats is essential. Generally, there have always been fewer skilled tailors available in the market because a coat tailor is like the BMW of tailors. With every manufacturer and tailor shop on the lookout for good tailors, there has been a big rise in the wages of these tailors with the result that they have become prima donnas. A tailor in a ready-made factory now earns more than Rs 200 per coat and normally makes atleast two coats a day. He ususally earns more than Rs 10000 per month. Some tailor shops are known to pay Rs 450 per coat for a made-to-order coat. A lot of good and experienced tailors have left the country to work in the Middle East. This has exacerbated the perennial shortage of coat tailors.

*** MATERIAL SHORTAGE: The normal coat requires a lot of trimmings which are at present imported because of non-production by local manufacturers. The interlining. outer lining, buttons, felt for collars, twisted thread for button holes, etc, are all foreign items. The importers have not kept up with the demand and there is a chronic shortage of the above items in the market. The pre-shipment inspection clause has also put an added increase in the landed cost of these items.

*** CLOTH SUPPLY: The Russians are mostly buying suits made of foreign, smuggled cloth. The cheaper Taiwanese fabric is smuggled in by unscrupulous traders who sell it thru their sales network which are small shops located in Motandas Market, Akbar Market, Lucknow Market, and Allahwala Market, all on M.A.Jinnah Road. The fabric is purchased by store-keepers or manufacturers and the end-product is sold to the Russians. Most of the retail shops on Tariq Road and a couple at the far extreme of Zaibunissa Street have become the major players in this game. They have literally stopped catering to the local consumer. It is, of course, ironic that the smuggled items are being used to trade with buyers from the C.A.S. Republics. However, the respected brands manufacture suits made from excellent Pakistani suitings such as produced by IQBAL SILK MILLS or SARA SILK. The fabric of LAWRENCEPUR is too expensive for local brands.

*** OUT-DATED EQUIPMENT: Most of the suits are still made on old-style machines. One apparel company situated in SITE, Karachi, which is the pioneer as well as the largest manufacturers of ready-to-wear Dress Suits in Pakistan has installed state-of-the-art machines to increase production, provide excellent quality, and look towards the export market. There is an imperative need to regularize the production line which is highly cottage-industry based or in private homes. The industrial-culture has not yet permeated into this sector as relatively only a very few are producing on an industrial assembly line.

The future of the Dress Suit market in Pakistan will increase tremendously in the coming months and years. The slack in the demand of suits during the hot, summer seasons is expected to be filled by the increase in the number of couriers from the C.A.S.Republics who will be coming to Pakistan more frequently after the signing of trade agreements between Pakistan and the Republics. This will provide the boost and impetus to the local garment industry.

There is, however, the need to introduce local fabrics to these buyers. This is only possible if the Customs Authorities are more vigilant and take preventive measures to discourage the rampant smuggling of fabrics into the country. The habitual couriers, known as "Khepias", and the history-sheeter smugglers should be apprehended and exemplary punishment meted out to them. Frequent raids on markets selling these fabrics be conducted. There should be a program to burn the confiscated cloth and not re-sell in the domestic market. It is an age-old scam for unscrupulous traders to shield their illegal cache under the garb of official receipt from the auctions held by the Customs. The custom duties on imported yarn should be drastically reduced so that the local suiting manufacturers can import high-quality yarn and produce top-grade fabrics. In this way they can effectively compete with the cheap Taiwanese cloth brought in from Dubai and Singapore.

The increase in sales of dress suits has ensued in a dramatic rise in sales of dress shirts, ties, socks, etc. These complements have done wonders for the development of garments in Pakistan. Shirts by CAMBRIDGE, TEEN CLUB, and DINERS, ties by AMIR ADNAN, socks by CONSUL or DAWSON are well-known. The Government should provide all facilities to this industry because it is an import-substitution regime catering to the demands of millions of local consumers. Effective policies will be a blessing to this nascent industry and open new vistas of progress and employment. Pierre Cardin is already buying from here. All eyes are waiting for Giorgio Armani and his contemporaries in the fashion world to make Pakistan their point of purchase for their labels. Pakistan’s dress suits manufacturers will then come of age and move straight into the glamour of superior apparel field.