Faces of Karachi — Deepak Perwani
“The city has given everything to me — the city is me. It is my identity; it is who I am today, and I am proud of it.”
Deepak Perwani is one of Pakistan’s most influential designers, credited with reshaping menswear. He has received a standing ovation at Milan Fashion Week and has set a Guinness World Record for creating the world’s largest kurta.
For him, Karachi is more than home; it is the foundation of his life and career. As a prominent member of the Hindu community, he discusses the presence of the community in the city over the years.
Perwani recalls a time when the city was cleaner and more open, where children cycled freely and international airline crews added to its cosmopolitan spirit.
The city’s evolving food culture also left a mark on him, from tasting his first burger at Karachi’s earliest Mr. Burger outlet, to witnessing the long queues outside Kings & Queens when the city’s first pizza place opened.
For Perwani, Karachi’s greatest strength lies in its diversity. He remembers more than a hundred communities — Hindus, Christians, Parsis, Gujratis, Marwaris, Siraikis, and others — all contributing to the city’s vibrancy. Festivals such as Janmashtami at mandirs in Native Jetty and Manora reflected this pluralism, while each community left its mark through food, culture, and civic contributions.
Perwani emphasizes the need to protect Karachi’s historical memory. Recalling how a park once named after a Hindu deputy commissioner was later renamed to Bin Qasim, he argues against this approach. He believes that preserving such names and histories allows future generations to ask questions and understand the collective journey of their city and country.
Perwani has seen a significant part of this journey in front of his own eyes, having lived in Karachi for over 30 years. He credits his city with his success.
“If I wasn’t Deepak Perwani of Pakistan — and the only Deepak Perwani here — would I have been Deepak Perwani in India? There would’ve been many Deepak Perwanis in India, thousands of them.”
Looking ahead, his hopes for Karachi are simple yet ambitious: universal literacy, more green spaces, and a community defined by optimism and happiness. “I want my country to be happy,” he says, “I think it’s time.”
What stories of Karachi’s history and culture would you like to preserve for future generations? Let us know in the comments.
This presentation is part of Faces of Karachi — a collaboration with the TDF MagnifiScience Centre.
This article was developed with the assistance of AI tools.
