The global women’s clothing industry is expected to exceed £375 billion this year. It is no wonder then, that Faiza Arshid and sister Tazeen Arshid decided to expand their online business and open a fashion boutique.

Faiza said: “There are few Pakistani labels here in Blackburn. We found that women from Blackburn were travelling as far as London, Birmingham and Manchester to buy clothes to wear at weddings.

“We decided to bring the big names to Blackburn.

“We stock the coveted labels, including Nomi Ansari and HSY, as well as the more casual brands such as Khaadi and Nishat.”

Tazeen added: “We have been running an online business over the last two years. We have found social media to be a huge platform for our business. Many of our loyal customers are our Facebook followers.

“We have responded to the increasing demand from our customers and therefore we expanded into a boutique.

“Rang 48 is a chic boutique and has a very Parisian feel to it.

“We wanted to create a unique shopping experience for our clients.”

As the catwalks and high street showcase summer collections exhibiting a major Asian influence, Faiza speaks of how their fashion line embraces this trend.

“It’s all about fusing fashion. We have many kurtas in stock too that look fabulous with jeans.

“If you look at Paul Smith’s latest fashion campaign, the models are wearing white kurtas with the traditional kolhapuri chappal.

“Over the years, Asian fashion has grown tremendously in Blackburn.

“People are far more fashion conscious today.

“It’s not like when we were younger and we would wear whatever our mothers bought us.

“Now it is wedding season, and with a wedding every other weekend, women need new outfits.

“People don’t like to repeat their outfits, especially nowadays when photos from weddings and events are being shared on Facebook and Instagram, everyone has seen your outfit and it is rendered ‘old’ after one wear. You can’t possibly repeat that outfit.

“Our prices range from £20 up to £3,000 for the haute couture range.

“The casual range is very affordable. And when people are wearing shalwar kameez on a daily basis, they want it to be trendy and comfortable at the same time.”

Tazeen said: “Because of wedding season coming upon us, we are seeing a huge demand from brides for haute couture ranges.

“We custom-make bridal outfits.

“Bridal fashion continues to evolve.

“The long and heavily-embellished kameez is very much in fashion.

“Actually, we are trying to encourage brides to move away from the traditional colours for their wedding outfit. Traditionally most brides will wear red.

“We have an exquisite black bridal outfit in-store. It’s a stunning piece.

“It’s innovation that drives fashion forward.”

Rang48 is based on New Bank road Blackburn.