Partnering with Pakistani Artisans

I still recall my first visit to a name brand outlet in the US as an enlightening affair. I wanted to buy a pair of pants for a presentation at university. I saw something I liked, called “Khakis.” The word seemed familiar — it literally translates to earthy or earth-colored in Urdu — so I pronounced it the way I always had, with the deep “kh” from the back of my throat.

The staff member looked confused. I repeated myself. Nothing. Finally, I pointed at the pants, and the person said, “Oh, you mean cacky.”

After that exchange, I adjusted my pronunciation when inAmerican clothing stores, but the experience sent me down a rabbit hole. How many other words, fabrics, and ideas had traveled quietly from South Asia into modern Western wardrobes? That small moment opened up a much larger history — one in which the Subcontinent was once at the center of the global textile trade.

For centuries, the Subcontinent produced cotton fabrics so refined they were admired across the world. Bengali muslin was the jewel in the crown. Printed calicoes and chintz from South Asia shaped European fashion in the 17th and 18th centuries, with regional textiles making up a significant share of global trade.

The arrival and eventual control of the British East India Company in the 18th century dramatically altered this trajectory. The Company imposed tariffs on locally produced cloth, while encouraging the export of raw cotton to British mills.

The Industrial Revolution further accelerated this shift. British mills — powered by mechanized spinning and weaving — scaled rapidly, while traditional artisans across the Subcontinent were left behind.

By the mid-19th century, Britain had become the world’s leading textile manufacturer, built in large part on South Asian cotton and colonial extraction. Yet, by the mid-20th century, textile manufacturing began to re-emerge across South Asia. After independence, Pakistan inherited major cotton-growing regions and steadily developed a vertically integrated textile sector — from spinning and weaving to garment production. Today, Pakistan stands among the world’s largest textile exporters.

An industry that was once decimated has risen again. And yet, too often, the region is still treated merely as an outsourcing post — rather than as a partner deserving equitable value and recognition.

This is where Big Holiday comes in.

Founded by an American living in Seoul and a Pakistani based in Pakistan, the brand has a global outlook. But, we aim to build partnerships in our local communities — collaboration, not extraction.

We don’t see manufacturing in Pakistan as outsourcing. We see it as honoring a region that helped shape global fashion long before industrial Europe. We see it as shared value creation.

In many ways, our work is another chapter of a centuries long story.

- Hasan