Summers in Pakistan seem to be dedicated to Bollywood, as super slick films hit the theatres and the billboards get plastered with Bollywood bevies endorsing lawn brands. The trend began with the reigning queen of Bollywood Kareena Kapoor stunned us with her campaign for Firdous lawn, and then Crescent lawn picked up on the game, and added spice with Sushmita Sen.

This year, while Firdous roped in Sonam Kapoor, Crescent chose the elder Kapoor, Karishma, who in an exclusive interview via email, discusses this year’s collection with The Express Tribune. Certainly the Kapoors seem to be towering (quite literally) this summer in Pakistan. However, unlike Sonam and Kareena, Karishma who played a pivotal role in making fashion designer Manish Malhotra the fashion powerhouse that he is today took her time to join the brands bandwagon. You seem selective about your projects. What made you endorse this collection?

I am very selective about the projects and the brands that I choose to endorse. I chose to endorse this collection because it had everything that defines my own style elegance and panache coupled with substance and value.

As an endorser, what are the key attributes you look for in a brand? I can only endorse products that I see myself using, and in this case, wearing. I feel it is more important to believe in the product itself, so that one can wholeheartedly endorse it. There should always be an element of truth in advertising no matter what the product is.

Inner beauty or outer beauty? Which one would you pick? I would choose inner beauty without giving it a second thought. Given the increasing frequency of cross-cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan over the last few years, how do you see the future panning out?

I speculate a peaceful, prosperous and hopefully, brighter tomorrow. There is a lot we can learn from one another. How was the experience of working with designer Faraz Manan of Crescent collection? It was great fun and I loved wearing his clothes because they were according to my aesthetics. Everything went smoothly and the whole shoot was done in a very professional way.