Shopping local has never been more important than it is today! Buying from small local businesses is a win-win situation: you receive a unique, personalised product, packaged and produced with love and care, and also support local talent. Shopping local helps create quality jobs, invests in your community, and, helps reduce climate change impacts.

Buying local does not at all mean completely banning the use or purchase of imports, but by promoting, nurturing, and investing in local fashion we are able to take steps towards self-sufficiency and decreased reliance on imports. Fashion produces a TENTH of the world’s carbon emissions, let that sink in. The brands we’re featuring produce trendy, durable, and eco-friendly clothes, unlike fast-fashion which mass produces increasingly low-quality clothes which need to be disposed of.

Genie

Genie is a local denim brand that offers a fashionable line of jeans, denim jackets, and sweatshirts for women and men. The brand aims to produce export-quality products, but for the local market. Genie offers a wide range of jeans from skinnies and straight cut to flares and mom jeans. Their prices are affordable and the quality of their products is at par with internationally produced denim, if not better.

The Genie website is easy to navigate and within 2-4 days your order should arrive at your doorstep, packaged in a cute denim tote! We love how the brand balances staying trendy with maintaining a high-quality product, making their jeans durable and ideal for long-term use. Genie is also aware of the impact their manufacturing can have on the environment and is currently working towards reducing their water consumption and treating their waste before the disposal process.

Saareeka

Saareeka is a home-based, student-run company specialising in a line of formal, semi-formal and casual Saarees. They have a wide variety of beautiful Sarees available, and our personal favourite is their Chunri collection. Their line has a range of fabrics and colours: from printed organza Saarees to elegant chiffon ones. The brand is run by a team of four women and a group of local artisans, and I love the company’s focus on showcasing Pakistani talent and giving the local artisan a wider platform. Saareeka also focuses largely on a fair-pricing strategy for all of their pieces, with the aim of offering local artisans fair wages. We also love the completely plastic free packaging!

Heeny's Creations

Heenys Creations has a super fun and unique line of hoodies and T-shirts! Her hand-drawn graphic tees showcase Pakistani icons and Karachi’s favourite monuments— from drawings of Quaid-e-Azam, Abida Parveen, Allama Iqbal, and Madam Noor Jehan to illustrations of Quaid’s Mazar, Empress Market, and Mohatta Palace on vibrant backdrops. We love how these T-shirts take inspiration from our culture and heritage, translating this into trendy, wearable, and versatile pieces!

Heenys creation’s “Poetry in Movement” collection has hoodies in three variants: black, navy blue tie-dye and pastel tie-dye. With each piece you buy from her collection, you get a note from the designer herself! Her T-shirts and hoodies are available at Tali in Karachi.

Know of a local brand doing awesome things? Tell us about them so we can show case them!