NEW YORK – A leading American newspaper has described the just-concludedtrip to Pakistan of Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton as“highly successful”, and said it underscored the effectiveness of fashionas a tool of diplomacy.
“It has been, by all accounts, a highly successful five days of outreach.They met with Prime Minister Imran Khan! And schoolchildren! Playedcricket! Saw many sights!”, The New York Times’s fashion director and chieffashion critic, Vanessa Friedman, wrote in an article interspersed withcoloured photographs of the couple’s engagements during the first royalvisit to Pakistan in 13 years.
Entitled, ‘In Pakistan, Kate Middleton Aces Fashion Diplomacy’, the articlesaid, “The rapturous summaries of their every move were matched only by therapturous summaries of their every garment. It’s been a while since clotheswere employed quite so strategically and consistently to send an unspoken,but also unmistakable, message. The effect was refreshing.”
Meanwhile, in an interview with CNN, Kate Middleton said her tour ofPakistan with Prince William was “really special.”
“It was amazing seeing some of the geography yesterday, but then to seesome of the community activities today has been really special,” she said,Prince William standing alongside her.
In her piece, Ms. Friedman of The New York Time said, “From the moment theystepped off the plane, the Duke and Duchess Of Cambridge (O.K., mostly theDuchess, but he played his part too) signaled their intent to allow thequadrillion pictures taken of them to speak louder than the words theyuttered mostly behind closed doors.
Their clothes made silent statements cross-border respect, culturalawareness and outreach. No detail, or earring, was overlooked.
“Witness the aquamarine-to-silver draped-neck dress by Catherine Walkerwith matching pants, a bridge between a tea dress and a shalwar kameez,which the Duchess wore to deplane at Nur Khan airbase on Monday.
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“Witness the periwinkle-blue shalwar kameez she wore on a visit to MargallaHills, north of Islamabad, designed by Maheen Khan, who once dressedBenazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s former prime minister, as well as Jemima Khan,Prime Minister Khan’sex-wife. (Ms. Bhutto’s wax figure at Madame Tussauds in London wears Ms.Khan’s design. Coincidence?)”.
“Witness the jade-green A-line jacket by Ms. Walker worn over white pantsby Ms. Khan, which the Duchess donned to meet the prime minister, anembroidered dupatta tossed over her shoulder”.
“Witness the emerald sequined Jenny Packham chosen for a reception at thePakistan National Monument, which happened to be the green of the Pakistaniflag, and which matched the sherwani, a traditional long coat, by thePakistani designer Naushemian, worn by her husband”.
“(The couple has long been adept at color-coordinating their appearancesfor maximum image-making harmony.)”
“And there was more. So much more: earrings by Zeen, a Pakistani highstreet brand; another shalwar kameez by Gul Ahmed; a kurta by ÉlanPakistan; a dupatta by Bonanza Satrangi; a coat from Beulah London. Theclothes came at all price points and were often worn in concert: a littleBritish style here, a little Pakistani there. The reaction was, almostentirely, ecstatic. Designers tweeted their excitement at being chosen.Observers applauded. Chroniclers of What Kate Wore went into overdrive.”
“Part of this, obviously, came from the boost given to local industryconferred by the Duke and Duchess, whose patronage can make national namesknown on the international stage. That’s always a welcome thing…”
