About Alumni

Marvi Mazhar graduated from IVS with a Bachelors in Architecture in 2009. While many opt to take a break after completing a gruelling 5-year programme in architecture, Marvi was just getting started. After graduating from IVS, she pursued diploma courses and a Master’s from international universities to further explore her interests in heritage and preservation.

Upon realizing how little she knew about the city in which she resides, Marvi found herself promenading the streets of Saddar. Fascinated by the colonial architecture present in the old part of town, her curiosity quickly evolved into a passion to preserve the rich culture and heritage of Karachi.

Marvi’s ongoing research focuses on the representation and production of Karachi’s urban coastal periphery and ecology. Her work facilitates dialogue between the evolving footprint of the inner city and the new parts of town through personal archives and visual ethnography. Through her research, she seeks to gain a better understanding of the legalities of amenity plots, heritage properties, and urban parts of the city.  

Marvi credits IVS for sparking her interest in heritage sites and culture.

“IVSAA played a very important role in building the idea of regionality in my professional practice. It gave me the opportunity to think local and contextual. Professors who shared experiences from personal practice made architecture understanding a balance between theoretical and practical systems,” she says.

“History is an important subject in the making of any city or region. Without historical context, critique and analysis cannot take place. To recognize development as part of modern systems, one has to embrace and celebrate heritage in the form of a protection plan. This is of course beyond just built heritage, this also means considering indigenous living systems. Once that understanding is respected, then design decisions are not self-centred but in return, it benefits communal living.”

“I owe it to some professors who shared a lot of incredible professional experiences that helped shape my understanding of the city.”

Marvi has also served as Director at PeaceNiche (T2F) and cofounded The Architectural Design Research Lab (ADRL) at IVS which is a research laboratory devoted to projects within architecture and urban design. In 2016, she founded Pakistan Chowk Community Centre and was the Project Manager of the National History Museum (Lahore, Pakistan), conceptualized by The Citizens Archive of Pakistan.

Shamoon Sultan is the jewel to IVS’s crown; his success story is perhaps the most inspiring of all our graduates. What began as a small boutique in Zamzama quickly blossomed into the international retail fashion house we know as Khaadi.

In just 20 years Khaadi has established itself as a corporate icon within the retail industry. It now has 52 stores across 17 cities in Pakistan, 22 outlets in the UK and a few more in the UAE. Its biggest outlet outside of Pakistan is located in Mirdiff City Center, Dubai.

Khaadi has transformed Pakistani fashion in a way that no other brand has done before. Before its launch, the ready-to-wear market was virtually nonexistent in Pakistan. Shamoon’s idea of offering value-for-money clothing that was rooted in tradition and accessible to all completely changed the way the fashion retail industry functions in the country. 

 Shamoon joined IVS in 1993 after being rejected on his first try. Though he always knew he wanted to pursue Textile Design in university, he didn’t take his classes very seriously at the beginning.

“I was almost kicked out in the second year by Noorjehan Bilgrami for my poor attitude. That was the turning point for me. As the years progressed, I started looking at my classes as building blocks. I met Shehnaz Ismail around the same time, she was a big influence in my life as a student.

Shamoon calls himself a proud patriot and is devoted to preserving Pakistan’s older crafts; Khaadi is shaped around his fascination with the old craft of handwoven khaddar and his desire to create a retail brand for it, seamlessly merging tradition with modernity. Khaadi later expanded to include menswear, children’s clothing, and a home line boasting its signature bright colours and ethnic patterns

 “I developed an interest for heritage and culture through our study trips to various parts of Sindh. That’s also when I began visiting India. Those trips planted the seeds of Khaadi in my head,” says Shamoon.

 “If you visit the Khaadi offices, you’ll see that the vibe is very similar to IVS. That respect for culture and heritage is very evident. I find myself drawn to IVS graduates because we’ve all been trained the same way and share similar values. We’ve got around 185 IVS graduates working with us in some capacity. The majority of them come from the Textile Design Department, but we also have some from Communication Design as well as Fine Art,” claims Shamoon.

 According to him, IVS is the reason he’s so detail-oriented and particular about design.

“I’m extremely picky about what I want and don’t settle for anything else. I think all of that comes from my training at IVS and the professors who taught us to look at everything critically.”

Renowned actor Sarwat Gilani graduated from IVS with a major in Graphic Design and a minor in Filmmaking. She was offered a role in a theatre play when a group of prominent television personalities visited the campus in search of talent and noticed her infectious energy as she worked on her thesis. It wasn’t long before Sarwat made her acting debut in 2005.

Sarwat’s innate ability as an actress, her versatility and talent have defined her career. She has appeared in many commendable television plays, telefilms, theatre plays and movies. She was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress at 2015 Lux Style Awards for the film Jawani Phir Nahi Aani. She won acclaim for her role in Churails, a groundbreaking web series in 2020 that was praised for its nuanced portrayals of diverse women who challenge the status quo in society.

Sarwat was part of the first batch of filmmaking students at the university, here’s what she says about her time as a filmmaking student at IVS.

“The years I spent at IVS were some of the best years of my life because it taught us how to be. It pushed us to be good artists as well as good human beings.

I did a Minor in Filmmaking. Because we were the first batch of students in the program, we played multiple roles. The tasks were designed to help us realize the importance of every job and the responsibilities that each individual undertakes on a set. Lastly, IVS taught me how to observe. To be a good actor, you need to be a good observer.”

Sarwat recalls how IVS instilled a sense of responsibility in her back when she was a student.

“We used to sell the arts and crafts we made in the little shop we had. The whole idea behind that was to share our work and use it to contribute to other people’s lives. We quickly realized that we have to elevate everyone together. It’s not enough to focus on individual goals, you need to think bigger and be conscious of the community.

This sense of responsibility has stayed with me; it’s played a role in me being an ambassador for the Special Olympics and Indus Hospital and the motivational speeches I give at various events.” 

Adeela Suleman is a distinguished artist of Pakistan. Her work has extensively appeared in exhibitions nationally and worldwide, including Phantoms of Asia at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, the 2013 Asian Art Biennial at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art, Hanging Fire – Contemporary Art from Pakistan at The Asia Society, New York; Gallery Rohtas 2, Lahore; Canvas Gallery, Karachi; Aicon Gallery, New York; and, the International Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Bologna, Italy, the Singapore Biennale (2016), Sea Triennial, Jakarta (2013), Asia Triennial II, Manchester (2011), Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale (2002) and the Karachi Biennale (2017, 2019).

Reviews and features of her work have appeared in the New York Times and Artforum, among other publications.

Adeela’s journey with IVS has been a long and exciting one. She continued to work closely with the mentors she met at the university even after graduation and eventually returned as an Associate Professor and remained the Head of the Fine Art Department for ten years. She is currently the Director of Vasl Artists’ Association in Karachi.

“After graduation, I got an opportunity to work at the Fukuoka Biennale but I didn’t have the space for a studio … Even after graduation, my mentors at IVS ensured I had the resources I needed to pursue my ventures, and I was given a space at the university to work.”

“The institution has become a knowledge hub for art education in the city. You don’t need to be enrolled as a full-time student to learn art from IVS; you can visit its thesis shows and exhibitions, or take up its short courses and diplomas. IVS has successfully created multiple avenues for people to gain exposure to the world of art.”

Celebrated musician Bilal Maqsood was part of IVS’s first graduating class before his band Strings rose to fame in the early 2000s with tunes that won international acclaim. Strings went onto become one of Pakistan’s most recognized bands, with a remarkable 30-year run, selling 25 million albums worldwide.

Bilal was a co-producer and director of Coke Studio from 2014 to 2017, alongside his bandmate Faisal Kapadia. He’s also directed music videos for his band and other artists.

Bilal has always been an artist. His paintings were featured at 15-An IVS Alumni Collective, an exhibition that marked 15 years of the IVS Alumni Association.

“It was the list of the Founders and faculty that caught my attention. The idea of big names like Meher Afroz, Akeel Bilgrami, Shahid Abdullah, Akbar Naqvi, all coming together for this art school was astounding, and that’s when I decided that was going to quit BCom and apply to IVS.” says Bilal.

“The biggest takeaway from IVS for me was that there is always something to learn. Realizing that I know nothing and that there’s so much out there for me to learn, it was incredibly disarming and humbling; my attitude completely changed. IVS fostered a learning culture. We didn’t just learn from our teachers, but also our peers. There was always healthy competition, but we all had an eagerness to learn from those around us—and that’s something that has stayed with me to this day.”

Architecture graduates from IVS have left and will continue to leave a lasting impact in the country. Saifullah Sami is one of our most-recognized architects, best known for his phenomenal work on the Habib University campus for which he received the Merit Award for Excellence in Planning by Society for College and University Planning, USA.

After completing his Bachelors and Masters from a prestigious business school in Karachi, Saifullah decided to go back to university to finally pursue his passion for architecture. Once he received his degree, Saifullah earned a Fullbright scholarship to do his Masters at Yale University.

“I always wanted to be an architect. I think it was just an interest in making things with my hands and how spaces are made or the way the light comes into a room.

I applied to IVS because it was and is still the best school for architecture in Pakistan. It has the right balance of art and the technical side of architecture. My fondest memories at the university are of professors who shared stories of their experiences with the architects they’ve met and the buildings they’d seen from all over the world. They’d actually visited the buildings we’d only seen in our books. I was mesmerized by their stories. I found them incredibly inspiring, “says Saifullah.

Since returning to Karachi, Saifullah has had the honor of working for notable architecture firms and taken on prominent commercial including some of the country’s leading institutions such as Habib University, Karachi University, and University of Management and Technology.

“When I was at Ahed Associates, I worked as the Principal Architect; we designed the Habib University campus in Karachi. The feeling of seeing something built that I have designed is beyond words really. When I’m designing on paper or on screen, there’s a different scale to it. When the things are actually built and the human senses are engaged, that’s when the power of architecture really becomes clear,” says Saifullah.

Recalling his time at IVS and the role the university played in his journey as an architect, Saif said,

“I remember our professors being very insightful critics of the work that we did and really pushed us hard to put out the best work possible. We would end up producing models that we didn’t think we’re capable of.“

“IVS played a very deep and defining role in my career. The idea of experiencing architecture as opposed to just viewing it, is something that has stuck with me even today. I realized there was more to architecture than just façade making; it was really the internal experience that had to be designed. This was a revolutionary concept for Pakistan.

There are only a handful of universities in Pakistan that offer a Bachelors in Architecture; the Dept. Of Architecture at IVS stands out amongst them because of how the programme is structured.

Our professors urged us to focus on the experiential side of architecture, so the way that you move through a space, the way the natural light comes in, a breeze flows, a view opens up—the way a person feels when they’re inside.”

“Aside from that, IVS taught me to learn from the architects of the past, a concept we refer to as ‘precedent study’ in our field. I’ve studied buildings from all over the world, and I draw from those precedents. We were also told to attach context to buildings, it’s important for me that a certain building looks like where it comes from.”

If you’re familiar with the art and theatre scene in Pakistan, you’ve definitely heard Asma Mundrawala’s name. Asma is a celebrated visual artist and theatre practitioner who graduated with a BFA from IVS in 1995, completed an MA in Art and Performance Theory from the Wimbledon School of Art (2002) and a DPhil from the University of Sussex in 2010. Her love of theatre led her to co-found Zambeel Dramatic Readings, a group that performs dramatic readings of Urdu and English text in front of live audiences.

Asma is great example of an IVS alumni doing their part in keeping the arts alive in Pakistan. When asked why she picked the a young institution in Karachi over other options to pursue her education, Asma said,

“I came to IVS as a mature student and had already been practicing and teaching art prior to my decision to enroll as a student. I had the opportunity to observe how the first year of the school evolved, through friends who were studying and teaching there.

By the end of the first year of the school, I was sure that I wanted to study in the institution and advance my knowledge and exposure by working with art practitioners who made up the faculty of the Foundation year, and later the Fine Art department.”

The knowledge and values instilled in IVS students during their time at the university stay with them long after they graduate; Asma’s experience was no different.

“The faculty in the Foundation year programme and the Fine Art department not only steered the courses, but also were leading artists in the city and country. Working with them closely and engaging in the creative process with them inspired years of creativity even after I graduated. They laid the foundation for a creative thought process that still informs my practice.”

Even 25 years after graduating, Asma’s relationship with IVS remains stronger than ever. She’s continued to teach in the Dept. of Fine Art and is a frequent contributor to lecture series’ organized by the Graduate Programme at the university.

“The IVS students work in an atmosphere of creative energy and acquire life-long skills to solve problems and challenges ingeniously. Some of the finest artists, designers, architects, and professionals in related fields have emerged from IVS over its short history.

Being situated in Karachi is itself a contributing factor towards the dynamism at IVS. The school reflects the pace, the approach towards thinking, the diversity and the very manic energy of the city. Even today, the school is constantly evolving, shifting, changing, with the times, always in motion, and never static.”

Ahmed Mian graduated from IVS with a Bachelors in Architecture in 1996, and then completed a Masters in Interior Design from the Pratt Institute in 2003. He has accumulated over 20 years of experience at multiple companies and firms, until founding his own practice, called Studio Subtractive in 2011.

Studio Subtractive is an interdisciplinary studio that provides architecture, interior, environment, industrial design and LEED consultancy services. The primary aim of Ahmed Mian and his practice is to incorporate sustainable features into an environment.

Ahmed Mian is an LEED AP, and a member of PCATP, IAP and has also previously been a member of AIA (American Institute of Architects) and IDSA (Industrial Design Society of America). As an architect with a vision to promote sustainable design, he is a leader in creating quality and creative designs that incorporate local contexts, and sustainable and befitting global standards for the 21st century and beyond.

His projects include residential designs, workplace designs (Al Karam Building, Valustrat, Izhar Construction), restaurant designs (E-Street Mews, Coterotie, Bonsai), and retail and commercial designs, all of which incorporate unique styling, comfortable environments, and sustainable designs into them, and are visible landmarks in the urban landscape. Ahmed’s team at Studio Subtractive also designed the Agile Workspace at the Unilever HQ in Karachi.

Instagram: @studiosubtractive

Moyena Niazi is a graduate from the first batch of IVS, graduating in 1995 with a Bachelors in Architecture, and also holds a M.Sc. in Sustainable Buildings and Environments, Sustainability Studies from Newcastle University. Moyena has over 20 years of experience in the field of sustainable architecture with different companies, with the most recent at Co-Design, which she founded in 2021.

Her focus is on sustainable design, which is reflected in her thesis at Newcastle was on passive methods to achieve thermal comfort, for which she looked at the energy consumption and needs of households in rural Punjab. As a member of the IAP, she has worked on the regularization of and the uplifting of eleven squatter settlements in Cantonment Board Clifton. She was a part of the restoration of Khaliqdina Hall, an important landmark of Karachi’s pre-independence past, when she was a part of ARCOP Associates.

Moyena and her firm, Co-Design, concentrate on innovation and experimentation, in an attempt to reframe the “standard practice” of architecture. The firm’s guiding principle is that architecture created with a collaborative design thinking process can be more kinetic, minimal and more efficient with collective research and effort, and can transform space and materials with a refreshing aesthetic. This principle is reflected Co-Design’s projects such as District 19, Glass Oasis, Ambiance Art Hotel, 2 Guys 1 Grll, amongst others. These designs occupy a significant position in Karachi’s landscape, largely due to their unique and attractive designs, and the sustainable way they have been created in.

Moyena has also taught at IVS, and has served on multiple governing committees in the school, including the Board of Governors and the Executive Committee, contributing to create better academic experiences to members of her alma mater.

Instagram: @codesign.pk

Babar Sheikh graduated from IVS with a Bachelor in Communication Design in 1999 and has made a name for himself in the world of, filmmaking, music, advertising, and academia. When graduating from IVS, Babar received a distinction for his thesis, which was in itself the breaking stereotypes of the traditional communication design thesis.

After graduating, he ventured into gone on into multiple fields, becoming a master of all of them. Over the years, alongside film, Babar has actively worked with various nonmainstream musical projects both locally and internationally. He has his own alternative folk-rock band, Chand Tara Orchestra, which fuses traditional Sufi poetry with a post-rock style. As a fresh graduate, he worked as an art director at Asiatic, after which he went on to work for Rohail Hyatt at Pyramid Productions, realizing his true calling was with the motion picture format. In the early 2000s, Babar established his own production house called Diagram where he wrote, produced, and directed genre-defining music videos such as Ali Haider’s single Jadu, Mauj’s Paheliyan and Khushfehmi and Strings’ Sohniye. From there, he ventured towards creating ad films, corporate films, documentaries, and short films, which are noted for their unique style of cinematography and aesthetics. With grants from the Goethe Institut and DEFA, he embraced opportunities to collaborate with filmmakers, musicians, and animators in Europe, bringing fresh new ideas to Pakistan. Babar also performs as an artist exploring the fringes of film and experimental sound with his installation work.

He has also supported local initiatives for multiple social causes – such as the Lahooti Melo, which seeks to promote local indigenous culture and music; Paanch – The Mixtape, a national collaborative music endeavor that brings together rising alternative singers and bands, EBM’s ‘School Girls Newscasters’ campaign, showing girls learning to read and becoming news anchors, a campaign which won the Glass: Lion for Change award at the Cannes Lions Film Festival amongst various other international awards.

Babar has been in the process of making a film with renowned Pakistani writer Bee Gul and producer Naveed Arshad, which has been in the works for two years now and has been highly anticipated in cultural circles across Pakistan. In 2022 he produced Pakistan’s first crime, action, and revenge thriller ‘Carma’ as well as the short film ‘Tum | Hum | Woh’. 

Instagram: @babarsheikhdiagram

Anwar Ali Quettawala graduated from IVS in 1995 with a Bachelors in Architecture, and soon began work at Arshad Shahid Abdulla, one of Pakistan’s leading architectural firms.

In 2001, Anwar established his own practice, Surround Architects, with Farhana Abdullah. Leading Surround Architects, Anwar’s projects include retail spaces, corporate office spaces, and residential projects. Some of their leading projects have been the corporate spaces at Dolmen Mall’s Harbour Front and Executive Towers, for companies like HBL Pakistan, Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan, and Nestle Pakistan amongst others.

Instagram: @surround_architects

Samya Arif graduated from IVS with a Bachelors in Communication Design in 2010, and is an integral part of the rising community of contemporary visual artists based in Karachi. She also learnt Digital Illustration from the BTK Summer School at the University of Art & Design BTK in Berlin. Professionally known as OCEÁ, her work has been recognized both within Pakistan and across the world.

Her diverse portfolio includes creating visuals for publications, book covers, editorials, and film posters. Additionally, she has also been an active designer and DJ in Karachi’s budding underground electronic and indie music scene. She has conducted multiple workshops and conferences across the world, and has also curated projects such Music to My Eyes, which looks at historical Pakistani album art. She has also set up her own exhibitions in cities such as Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Houston, London, Mumbai, Hasselt, Sharjah, and Santiago de Compostela.

Samya Arif has also collaborated on a variety of projects such as the Mumbai-based Taxi Fabric, for which her designs were featured in the music video of British band Coldplay. She has worked with a list of clients which include Penguin Books, HarperCollins, Al Jazeera, the British Council, the US Embassy in Nepal, NPR, and Google. She also teaches at her alma mater as an Adjunct Faculty Professor for the Illustration Major of the Communication Design Department, sharing her experiences with students eager to contribute to the growing art scene of which she is a part.

Instagram: @samyaarif

Irtiqa Hassan graduated from IVS in 2014 with a Bachelors in Interior Design, and began working immediately with Arshad Shahid Abdulla, one of Pakistan’s most prestigious architectural firms, as an Interior Architect, gaining experience as a designer, and learnt how to create and execute projects. She also co-founded Social Nut, where she used an artistic approach, coupled with her training in interior design, to create, manage, and execute dream events.

In 2015, she established Irtiqa Hassan Interiors, where she serves as Director and CEO. As head of IHI, she has worked on interior design and architecture for projects in Pakistan and in the United Arab Emirates. Her projects include residences at Dubai Hills, interiors at Emaar Karachi, the creation of Saylani IT Park, and numerous other residential and commercial projects in Karachi and Dubai such as luxury showrooms and restaurants.

Instagram: @irtiqahassaninc

Nida Azwer graduated from IVS with a Bachelors in Textile Design in 2005, and one month after her graduation, founded her eponymous label, Nida Azwer Atelier. She incorporated local styles and artisan crafts into her work, creating a unique brand for her label, one which makes extensive use of traditional methods such as tukri ka kaam, rilli, kantha, zardozi, and miniature embroidery.

Nida Azwer Atelier has quickly become one of Pakistan’s most recognized fashion labels, largely due to its use and promotion of local crafts, especially Sindhi weaving traditions. Her label has gained fame across the world, with exhibitions being held overseas in Dubai, London, and the like. Nida Azwer herself has been nominated for multiple prestigious awards such as Lux Style Award for Best Emerging Talent in 2008, and Best Fashion Designer Pret in 2015. She also won Best Designer Award at the Nesvita Women of Strength Awards in 2009.

Instagram: @nidaazweratelier

Sania Maskatiya graduated from IVS in 2010 with a Bachelors in Textile Design. Under her own eponymous label, Sania Maskatiya, with her business partner Umair Tabani, has become one of the biggest names in Pakistan’s fashion industry.

Her brand has become synonymous with versatile, specialized prints, textile design based on pure fabrics, unique colours, and fine craftsmanship. It employs some of the best textile designers in the country, creating all of its products in-house through meticulous processes of printing, stitching, and embroidery. Sania’s runway shows have become some of the most anticipated runway shows not just in Pakistan, but even outside the country, such as in India, Europe, and North America.

Her brand has showcased at local events such as the PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week, the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week, and Hum Showcase. It has also showcased abroad, at the Lakme Fashion Week in India, the Swarovski Sparkling Couture Infinity Exhibit in Dubai, and the New York Fashion Week Showcase, becoming an ambassador of Pakistan’s fashion industry worldwide.

Instagram: @saniamaskatiya

Sadiq Shah graduated from IVS in 2011 with a Bachelors in Communication Design, and is a member of 2am Design House. The firm tries to take a creative and fresh approach in the field of design, working on projects that are unique and not monotonous, or part of the old standard way of doing things.

Keeping up with 2am’s aims, Sadiq Shah has targeted a niche for himself, in food photography. With his talent and training in using cameras, and finding the right angles and lighting for shoots, he has become one of the few major food photographers in the country, influencing the decisions of most people in the country on what to eat, and where to eat it from.

Sadiq hopes to open up Pakistan’s first, advanced product and food photography studio, one that is futuristic and can handle both local and international clients, promoting food and its diversity across the world.

Instagram: @sadiq_shah

Zehra Zaidi graduated from IVS in 2000 with a Bachelors in Communication Design, and has over 20 years of experience as a Creative Director. Her aim is to translate business objectives into success through creative strategies which involve creative strategy, advertising, integrated marketing, creative direction and content, TV and digital communication, and Design.

Her earlier experience was accumulated at Lowe & Rauf, IAL Saatchi & Saatchi, and Adcom Leo Burnett, after which she joined Ogilvy Pakistan in 2014. She is Executive Creative Director on Coca-Cola Brands, and also Group Executive Creative Director for Ogilvy Pakistan, and in her role there has launch market leader brands to success, from inception to brand architecture to creative implementation.

Zehra has been nominated for and won various awards for her prominent career. She was nominated for Ponds Miracle Woman 2016 and for 30for30 Women in Leadership in 2019. She has won four Effie awards in various categories for Coca-Cola Pakistan in 2019, and has won innumerable awards at PAS for categories such as Top Brand, Campaign of the Year, etc., since 2012. She has also been teaching advertising, and has been mentoring women in advertising, preparing them for the field and for any challenges they may encounter.