Children’s rights activist Jemima Khan is to close her eponymously named clothing label. Saying she has “no choice” but to shut down Jemima Khan Designs, the Pakistan-based company she began six years ago and whose prceeds went to charitable causes, the former society girl cited the economic climate since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US as a cause of the company’s demise.
Explains Jemima: “In part, my company is just another victim of the greater economic depression that has affected the whole world.” Since September 11, business had dropped dramatically – orders for the Spring/Summer collection were down at least 35 per cent. “And this was despite the most positive feedback we have had yet from the fashion press and a Vogue shoot scheduled for January,” says Jemima.
In addition to providing much-needed employment in Pakistan – 800 local women were employed by the company – the design firm was also a charitable endeavour. Profits from sales went to the cancer hospital set up by Jemima’s husband, politician and former cricketer Imran Khan, to provide free treatment for the poor.
Celebrities from Joan Collins to Sharon Corr were fans of the company’s designs, which blended modern silhouettes with traditional Eastern silks, hand-sewn beading and embroidery. When she launched the label in 1996, Jemima said the designs were “a bit of both” British and Pakistani, “because that is how I feel about myself”.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
