BIZ TODAY REPORT
KARACHI: The 6th season of the Crafter’s Expo celebrates Happiness is Handmade with 90 participants. Creatives from around Pakistan come forth with handcrafted gifts, souvenirs, accessories, decor, footwear, apparel and more.
All items showcased have been at work over 3 months as part of the show. Participants received a one day workshop with mentors the likes of Murtaza Khokhar, Usama Rafi, Salma Jafri, Sayeda Habib, and Yousuf Bashir Qureshi to have insight on branding, marketing, projection, overcoming disappointment and journey of the heart.
The Crafter’s Guild has facilitated these shows since 2012, catering to 600 crafters and brands to date. The mantra is to share the stories of hands behind the handmade. The success of the shows is dedication and high spirited energies by all involved.
Food for your Face, a venture by Firefly seems to have won hearts this winter with its newest launches along with Pooja’s,Fariha Made It and The Bling Affair. Other brands the likes of Oochi, Junkies, life.twinkles, and The Crafting Bees have been drawing a lot of attention.
Sulafah, a popular footwear brand, Segil Jewellery and other accessories stalls are on the radar for upcoming wedding season.
Popular favorites like Busy Li’l Hands, Heartfelt Crafts, Miss Craftee, Firefly and Tuttie Cuttie Boutique are making rounds with the younger audiences. It is all about knits and woven things this winter as more and more crafters exhibit crochet crafts. Antique’A, Chamak Patti, Sabz Creations, and Starshine Truck Art Gallery become popular with visitors from abroad for their local truck art inspired work.
The event as a whole has been beautifully curated, offering a unique variety to not just the enthusiast, but all backgrounds of Karachi. The involvement by community and other local entrepreneurs has been immensely impactful in making the show such a success. 11% of participants exhibiting their work are debuting their crafts for the first time, 36% are under the age of 30, and 7% are from out of city.
A good number of the participants are also organizations working with the underprivileged or those with special needs.
These shows not just laud unique talents and individual efforts, but heavily contribute to unity and support as a handmade and craft centered community. May such endeavors continue to rise and bring forth support for the Creative Pakistani.
