Stuffed with a bewildering variety of clothing and ornaments, leading fashion houses are preparing for the sales of Pahela Baishakh festival to be celebrated on April 14, sales people said. Most of the boutique houses are trying to bring diversity to designs and colors in their dresses to attract the fashion-lovers. Although some of the fashion houses and shopping centres have already started displaying their Baishakhi dresses, the collection will pick up momentum from the early next month. In Pahela Baishakh, people generally from all spheres of life wear classic Bengali dress. Women wear saris, specially white and red color with their hair bedecked with flowers. Likewise, men prefer to wear panjabis. Also, kids wear traditional colourful dresses keeping pace with the elders. To capitalise on the festival, fashion house Aarong has put on display 220 different types of dresses and ornaments in its outlets ahead of the Baishakh festival, said a floor manager of Aarong main branch in the city’s Asad Gate. The items include sari, panjabi, kurti, t-shirt, viscose top, nagra, and purs, said. The price of Aarong ranges from Tk 1,000 to Tk 20,000, depending on different income groups. Floor manager of Aarong’s Mirpur branch Tuli told the FE that on the occasion of Baishakh, the demand for saris significantly increases and keeping this in mind, Aarong has brought up different types of saris like cotton, muslin, jamdani and silk. She also said they use print, tie dye print, embroidery, nokshi katha embroidery, hand paint and ivory appliqué on their sari and dresses. Terracotta, alpona, traditional doll, flower and different type of colors have been used on salwar kameez, kurti and panjabi. For any occasion, Rang designs its dresses focusing on a theme. This year’s theme is on painter Jamini Roy’s painting, shop manager of Rang’s Deshi Dosh branch Nusrat Jahan said. Roy’s painting has been used on its dresses and saris. A salesperson of Rang told the FE that since many people buy dresses for their relatives living abroad, the fashion house started Baishakhi sales from March 10 and it will continue till April 13. She said the company’s price remained same as last year’s. Nagordola has brought up colorful sari and panjabi for male and female customers. Nagordola puts on sari, panjabi and fotua for kids as they go out with their parents on the festival day. The firm has a big range of ornaments and gift items on this occasion. It used bright colors such red, orange, and yellow, golden, green on their dresses. Shajib Ahmed, a salesperson of Nagordola, said this year’s sales were lower than last year’s, but expressed the hope business will be gain pace in early April. Md Nasir, shop manager of Kay Kraft at Bashundhara City, said that the fashion house experiences its biggest sale on this occasion after two Eid festivals and it has made the arrangement in a way that meets a family’s needs. He said that they not only use red and white colour, but also other bright colours onto their dresses. Traditional bala, rings, earrings are also available in the outlets. He said the popularity of celebrating Baishakhi festival is increasing, and the fashion house has arranged dresses and traditional ornaments for customers of all ages.
