After the raging (literally) successes of Sapphire and (more recently) Agha Noor, the PPP co-chairman is yet another big name to swim with the tide and appears prepared to handle the volatile market of female clothing in Pakistan. When asked of the original inspiration behind this incredible venture, he answered:
“You see, “he said “my mother made me memorize many important words, of which Roti, Kapra, Makaan were the most important. What these three words signify, I still do not understand but I think that the last two words (Kapra and Makaan) are the ones we need to pay attention to. So I have decided to open a kapra makaan.”
The name of the brand, BB, is geared to evoke nostalgia and confusion amongst middle aged Pakistani women, who are growing increasingly disillusioned with politics, diverting their energies to Lawn sales. As always, the kho-chairman had no reservations in claiming that the motivation and drive for this project was the ‘Qurbanian’ given by his forefathers. In fact, he claims that the name of the brand ‘BB’ came to him while he was giving a(nother) speech about the qurbanian of Benazir Bhutto. “It is also a cute coincidence” he said, “that my initials are BB so that works well”.
According to reports, the name ‘Baby B’ was also initially considered but eventually refuted since it sounds like an Arab saying PPP. Bilawal himself was quick to distance this project from any political affiliations and admitted that though the marketing strategy would be similar, it is unlikely that respected politicians like Qaim Ali Shah and Manzoor Wassan will be spotted in BB lawn anytime soon.
However, the political prowess of this Oxford graduate should not be underestimated given recent endeavors such as the Sindh festival helping revive PPP as a household name. Held in Mohonjedaro, the event was a ‘smashing’ success and if not the rave that Sindh deserved, the rave that it dearly needed (yes that was a superman reference).
When finally asked about what exactly he meant by ‘Qurbanian’, he answered: ‘pichle bakra eid, hamaray paas ek chota sa bakra tha, uss ka naam teddy tha, aur woh bohat shauq se…’
No wonder Sheikh Rashid called him ‘funny kharabi wala larka’
