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DEVOTED husband Nadeem Quraishi was so smitten by his wife's sense of style and love of fashion that he has backed her bid to make an impression in the world of fashion design featuring traditional Arabic, Indian and Pakistani fabrics.
Bahrain-born Mr Quraishi, a businessman and the division head for watches and gifts at Yaquby Stores, opened the first Farasha boutique in 2009 in Seef Mall, assisted by his wife Shazia Nazeer, an IT professional, who offers customers individual designs which can be made up by the store's tailors.
Mr Quraishi, 39, from Budaiya, said: "We thought of first starting with jalabiyas. We have lived in Bahrain all our lives and knew the fashion trends of the island.
"The choice of the word Farasha, which means butterfly, was to symbolise the flow of a jalabiya. When stretched out it resembles the wings of a butterfly."
Shazia, 31, has been nurturing her designs skills by helping friends and family with their clothing and her styles are now creating a storm across the kingdom.
She said: "Fashion has always been an interest and after school I had thought of pursuing a degree in it. But at the time, the island had no places offering fashion courses so I decided to do something else that interested me immensely - information technology. I now enjoy the balance of fashion and technology."
The enterprising partnership has proved so successful the couple have been able to open a second store in Bukhwara as well as one in Manama situated adjacent to the Salmaniya Medical Complex which also specialises in offering the popular Pakistani brand Threads and Mortifs which Mr Quraishi describes as 'trendy' and much-liked and admired across Asia.
Also, one of the interesting fashion developments the couple has uncovered recently is the demand for heavy Indian-style wedding material which is made up into stunning Western-style evening gowns - a trend they say is unique to Bahrain.
