By The biggest fashion houses in the world have leather to thank for their success today. From Hermes to Louis Vuitton, leather is a material that has signalled luxury and taste for over a century – one of the many reasons it remains sought after by customers world over.
Pakistan is known for it’s high quality leather, a material we export 100’s of millions of dollars worth of every year, to be used by our favourite brands to craft luxury hand bags for celebrity clients and high net-worth individuals across the globe. Despite producing some of the best leather in the world, Pakistan has struggled to produce a handbag that can rival the likes of newer brands who dominate trends like Jacquemus – but we might have finally found our answer in the shape of Warp’s Hexella Bag.
Warp is a Lahore based brand by designer Hirra Babar specialising in the construction of bags, inspired by abstract forms, a non-conformist ethos, and minimalism at the core of their design philosophy.
While the materials are locally found, the bags have been a labour of love formed from extensive, wide-reaching research by their founder. Babar travelled to Italy, Spain, France, and even Turkey to study the manufacturing techniques that were practiced by family owned brands, the self same brands who have created goods for major luxury houses for decades. In an interview she told her alma mater, LUMS, “the only edge they had was their attitude towards the quality and finesse of the product which came from immense attention to detail. I realised this is something we can replicate in Pakistan and build a home-grown brand which we all can be proud of.” As a result, Hirra has helped train local craftsmen and honed an altogether new design aesthetic while keeping the brand 100% ‘Made in Pakistan.’
The founder and creative director was as surprised as anyone when she saw multi-grammy award winner and cultural icon, Doja Cat, carrying one of her works. In an exclusive statement, Hirra Babar told us,
“Seeing Doja Cat holding a WARP bag at her album launch is a surreal moment. Pakistan has always been known for its leather, but not often for it’s value added fashion. The world is shrinking in reach and access and we as a brand want to take full advantage of it, putting our craft and vision on the international map.”
