NOOR The newest exclusive boutique on the block

“I opened the boutique because I wanted to be able to show something before I did any fashion shows. I am very strong-headed and I have my ideas and I have to do things my own way I guess,” she said during a brief interview at the launch of her boutique.

Many may know her as the wife of former Trinidad and Tobago cricket captain and West Indies opening batsman, Daren Ganga, but the designer, who hails from Karachi, Pakistan, is about to make a name for herself on the local fashion landscape. Medical science was her original career path and she had been in medical school working towards a degree for eight months before she left. “I just was not feeling it,” she said.

“I have been involved in Science all my life. I have no idea why I chose fashion. My grandfather was a tailor and my grandmother knitted and crocheted.” Whatever the inspiration, Noorulain found herself fascinated with the field and completed a diploma at the Asian Institute of Fashion Design in Karachi before moving to Trinidad after her marriage.

Within the six years she has lived here, Noorulain completed her Degree in Fashion and Design from the University of Trinidad and Tobago, a journey which began after her brother-in-law, Sheldon Ganga, pointed out an advertisement for the programme in a daily newspaper. The degree programme piqued her interest so much that she cancelled plans for a trip so that she could make the orientation. The rest, she said during her speech at the boutique launch, was history.

Quality, not quantity, is Noorulain’s mantra and she took her time constructing the pieces in her collection.

There are limited pieces in each design and the designer offered to help style and customise pieces for her potential buyers. Her first collection, Moroccan Nights, features eclectic and sexy but elegant fashion for almost every occasion with exotic accessories and footwear to match.

“What I envisioned when I began working on the collection were beautiful women draped in jewels and finery crossing the moonlit, Moroccan deserts. I imported some of the finest silks, cottons and other materials to make sure each piece is of the highest quality,” she said.

With fabrics sourced mostly from Pakistan, Agha built her collection which targets the working woman who is bold and wants to be surrounded by luxury. Opening the boutique does not mean Noorulain is ready to put her feet up. Despite her many sleepless nights while pursuing this goal, she is already busy working on a follow up collection and organising fashion shows to put the Noor brand on the map.