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Pantene Bridal Couture Week Style 360 By Injila Baqir Zeeshan
B
eing a special guest of Proctor and G a m b l e Pakistan gives an entirely new perspective to attending a Bridal Couture Week. Apart from the media, being given a royal treatment, with journalists being flown in from India as well as Lahore, the show management was easily one of the best I have ever experienced and that I can say without being biased in the least bit. The production of the show still had room for some improvement but even that has come a long way from its conception, having improved multifold. UBL was the co-sponsor, FM 91 was the radio partner, Tissot was the official watch partner, Scentsation was the cosmetics
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partner, Pepsi Co and Nescafe were the beverage partners. And of course credit must also go to the HUM Network. The impressive bit of work put in by the energetic young team of Xenith PR is highly commendable as they left naught for wanting. It was a tough competition of attendance as back home the PFDC Fashion Week as also in full swing. But overall it was a fun-filled entertainment with very talented designers putting up some unique bridal work on the ramp. Intermingled with the catwalk were performances by Bodybeat, Komal Rizvi and Hammada from Egypt to name a few. Saba Ansari’s team at Sabs was not only ensuring impeccable makeup for the models in the show but also
pretty little girls dressed in dark green carrying flower baskets. Her bridal collection has combinations of reds, pinks and maroons. One black shirt with a shocking pink lehnga stood out for pure aesthetics. Ayesha Omar was her show stopper. Amir Baig’s chiffons, laces and nets were definitely better than his multicoloured moonlight jersey long gowns worn by the male models. Obaid Sheikh presented some interesting colour combinations of off whitewith reds and pinks. His show stoppers Ijaz Aslam, Zeba Bakhtiar and
managed to make the guests feel special with hair and makeup services for the media people, courtesy of Pantene. But enough cannot be said about the wonderful experience which is more memorable because the sponsors and event managers ensured that we truly experienced the real spirit of fashion as well as bridal couture in every possible way! The set design was tastefully serene. In shades of off white and beiges, the Grecian urns, white flower arrangements, Roman arches, majestic statues and picture windows enthralled one completely as one entered the venue.
Day 1
Mona Imran opened the Bridal Couture Week with
Madeeha Iftikhar won a big round of applause. The second act which opened after a long tiring break led to a hair and makeup show by Saba Ansari of Sabs. The mixing of different hair colour strands worked well to attract attention. The hair do’s were tediously elaborate, showing the tremendous amount of effort put in by Sabs. Nadia Chotani’s Argentum was next. She has created some marvelous pieces of jewellery. Nomi Ansari’s ‘Rani Bagh’ collection had some beautiful naqshi work revived once again from the pages of history. He showed that straight pajamas with long shirts are still very much wearable for formal wear. Some heavily worked upon dresses, brought out the true essence of a Pakistani bridal jora in Nomi’s collection. He is rightfully the
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master of a colour palette as you don’t get such a variety of beautiful colours anywhere else.
Day 2
The show was opened by Zainab Sajid who brought her intricately designed bridal outfits on the ramp. She is a talented designer whose work is very promising. Sherwanis and Shalwar kameezes by Humayun Aalamgir followed this. Saba and Misbah of Hijab then proved that very soon they will enter the top league of bridal designers, considering how far they have come in a short span of time with their work. It was a very beautiful collection. The second act was opened by Shamaeel Ansari who brought Shaista Wahidi as her show stopper. Shamaeel’s collection presented some breathtaking prints in a flowy, silky fabric. I believe that the new rage may surely be the use of printed fabric for bridals. Shamaeel used chooridars excessively and her threadwork was sweetly delicate. Actor Sana walked the ramp with Nomi Qamar for Saim as his show stoppers. Saim’s collection played out on a background of some funky Bollywood numbers which the audience enjoyed.
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Day 3
The final day of the & Nabeel. People expected what they had designed gowns were quite stunning opened the show with gold embroidered used Swarovski crystals Creations jewellery Ecstasy Collection and the Imran Ikhlaq and Mustafa ramp cricketers Umar Gul Zeba Bakhtiar. Now a bit of hoping will be taken in the best way to further Kureishi’s choreography be improved upon. It was Imran’s name and the veteran over the years. there is a dearth of good country, I would say that it to ensure that at least they
BCW was opened by Asifa more from them than this time. A couple of ball though. Tabassum Mughal some beautiful delicate dresses. Monia Faruki for her collection. Carat had two collections the Rajasthani one. Cara by Shakeel brought on the and Younis Khan and also critique which I am a positive spirit as it’s improve your work. Imran of the show could perhaps disappointing considering work I have known of this Realizing the fact that models even today in our is the choreographer’s job walk properly on the ramp. The ramp must also never be empty; there were quite a few gaps in the middle and each dress needed to
be seen just once, not three to four times, over and over again. The designer promos at the beginning of each segment were a total waste of time and must be done away with; let the work speak for itself. To conclude, I must congratulate the industry and everyone involved with the production of such a colossal event for making the Pantene BCW a roaring success this year in Karachi. To bring all the big names of the industry into the finale BCW brought in the work of the grand couturiers- they were Bunto Kazmi, Rizwan Beyg, Nilofer Shahid, Nomi Ansari, HSY, Amir Adnan, Mehdi, Neelo Allawala, Sana Safinaz, Umar Sayeed, Kamiar Rokni and Shamaeel Ansari- simply a grand ending to a grand affair!
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PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week
T
he Pakistan Fashion Design Council in collaboration with Sunsilk presented PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week. There were collections from 25 design labels in the fashion week, six Voile Shows, and an exhibition area at the Expo Centre, Lahore. The PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week was produced, choreographed and directed by HSY and his team with Maheen Kardar Ali and Zara Shahjahan for front stage management. Mohsin Ali and Akif Mahmood managed the exhibition area. Stylists for the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week were Shammal Qureshi and the team at Toni & Guy, Khawar Riaz and Maram & Aabroo. Fahad Hussayn and Ali Xeeshan worked alongside the style teams for hair and makeup, Kamiar Rokni and Asim Naeem oversaw green room, backstage management while ofďŹ cial photography was by Faisal Farooqui and the team at Dragony. Media partners for the event were HUM TV and Style 360 and event sponsors were Sunsilk as title sponsor with further patronage by Lux, Ponds, Zong and Bank Alfalah. The event was coordinated by the Rteam, with foreign buyer and media management by Latitude and PR by Lotus.
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The fifth consecutive PFDC Fashion Week was held in Lahore in Expo Center, last week. The four days were attended by the crème de la crème of Lahore. The makeup and styling of Day 1, was done by Tony and Guy and Day 2 by Khawar Riaz. The management of the entire event was rather sluggish. The break between the segments, which was announced to be of twenty minutes, lasted for an hour. And as always there were no queues and people were pushing each other. A lot of people complained about the sound quality of the videos played for different designers when they were telling about their collection. Nickie n Nina did the opening of the first act. The collection called Royal Military, was inspired by their late father and as the name suggests it had a military touch to it. It was refreshing to see use of fewer fabrics used in all the attires. The main colours used were khaki, red and black. Most of the pieces were accessorized with medals and badges and were embellished with embroideries. The second collection was by Azeeza Desai, whose collection called Inheritance dint have anything worth mentioning. The last collection, which I think was the best was of Karachi based designer Tazeen Hasan. The collection entitled Evocative was all about spring. The colour palette was diversified, it varied from pastels to the colours of the season-neon. Act 2 had Elan doing the opening with its collection Flights of Fantasy and Mohsin Ali doing the ending with Baran-e-Ishq, while the former was inspired by Chinese designs, the latter took its inspiration from spring. In between these two, came on the runway MUSE, whose collection was the best. The colours, cuts and designs were all very chic and wearable. Interestingly all the collections in day 1 consisted of women’s wear only.
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Day 2’s first act had Akif, Noman Afreen and Asfia & Nabeel. Akif’s collection called Glamazon was inspired by the glamorous women of today. He used luxurious fabric along with woven gold threads, which was good but could not beat his own collection that he showcased at the PFDC Fashion Week in Karachi. One could easily tell that the designer clearly had the fact in mind that this collection was for Lahore. Noman’s Rags to Riches was nothing to shout about. Asifa & Nabeel’s collection named Leaves of Fall was diversified both in terms of colours and cuts. The best thing I liked about their collection was cropped jackets that are extremely in vogue. Act 2 started with Ammar Belal’s collection called Reunion 2012 inspired by the youth of Pakistan. I think if the collection was labeled High school reunion, then it would have been better since all the creations gave the feeling of school. The dance performance choreographed by the dance maestro Wahab Shah, added life to the otherwise slow day 2. Next was Zonia, whose creations were inspired by the American Native Tribe Inca. This collection was unusual yet interesting. The idea was to blend the Inca tribe traditions with flashy colours. The finale of day 2 was by Fahad Hussayn who collection Paranoir comprised of men’s wear and women’s wear. He took both the mourning colours of our society, black and white and came up with a very graceful collection. The use of crystals was very prominent. The third day of PFDC Sunsilk Fashion show began with a complimentary hair styling and makeup touch ups with Nabila’s salon. This time the management did a reasonably good job in managing the crowd. One thing that they have never been able to do is to start the show on time. After waiting for almost two hours the show began with Maheen Kardar’s Karma Pink collection. The Spring/ Summer 2012 women’s wear collection entitled Seussical was inspired from the literary works of children’s author Dr Seuss. Maheen used vibrant and striking bold colours in her collection, though the collection infuses life into your wardrobes, it reminds of a young girl living in a candy floss world. But it’s all right to have fun sometimes. Maheen always knows how to grab attention as she introduced cute kids on the ramp who were wearing trendy Karma outfits and making audience love them more than the clothes. The Hair, makeup, styling and direction for the show was by Asmaa Mumtaz. Following Karma’s show was Somal Halepoto’s women’s wear collection entitled Qudrat. The collection was inspired by tropical birds, more specifically, their plumage which is fresh, bright and liberated. The collection was imbued with rich colours across a diversity of fabrics such as raw silk, chiffon, chamois with an emphasis on appliqué, thread work and block print detailing. The styles ranged from halter cut sleeves, straight shirts, round damans to flowy panels draped shirts, baggy sleeves, loose pants and tights. I was expecting some mature designer walking the ramp but to my surprise she was very young. Contrary to her age, her clothes on ramp were inspiring. Act 1’s finale show was by students of the PIFD. The collection represented creativity and innovation in garments achieved through pattern, draping and sewing skills taught at the PIFD. It covered the diversity of ethnic to chic and from traditional to audaciously prêt. The crowd waited for almost an hour for Act 2 and it was opened by FNKAsia’s collection, which was the biggest disappointment. Even though the theme was bold and catchy, the dress-line was not good. The collection paid homage to the African-Amercian women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth and her message of equal rights for women. Her legendary words ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’ were incorporated as the soul of this collection, which passionately addressed the women of the world, especially Pakistan. The show began with a narrative by Huma Adnan’s daughter Parishae Adnan on the struggles of Soujouner Truth. Bohemian in mood, the collection drew on a vivid indigo, Indian yellow, fertile green and ancient terracotta palette. These colours were blocked in bellowing hoods, lacy pockets and drawstrings to set the strong and rebellious mood of the collection. The second show of Act 2 was Hammad-ur-Rehman’s women’s wear collection entitled Sij Ubhran which translates to sunrise, drawing inspiration from the Tharpakar district in Sindh. Through his collection, Hammad represented the idea of transformation through different colour shades similar to those present in each sunrise. To this end, the designers sunrise colour palette included coral, tangerine, yellows and fresh greens while black was the predominant colour used as a background for vibrant embroideries. The third day ended with the collection of Ali Xeeshan entitled Bano Rani. The designer represented this journey through his surface embellishment and emphasized on the elongated torso, which was eloquently depicted in the collection. Maram
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and Abroo did justification with their makeup on models; they selected natural colours to bring out the natural beauty of our girls while Toni & Guy did hair styling.
S a d a f Malaterre & Anjum Alix Noon opened Day 4 with their collection entitled T h e Blackbird One. The beautiful blend of flowy soft fabric such as silks with superbly structured cuts was a treat. Boho chic by day and glamorous during evening soirees, Sadaf Malaterre’s fashion aesthetic captures the free spirit of a woman. Funky colours had been mixed with earthy tones. Some bold unconventional prints attracted a lot of attention. Models in flats and sandals on the catwalk were a welcome break. Following this was Sania Maskatiya with her prêt-à-porter women’s wear S/S 2012 resort collection titled Uraan. The collection was based on the concept of flight and movement in nature. She used digital and screen prints, exclusive embroidered fabric in
an array of hues, light and airy fabrics such as chiffon and cotton nets with rich, luxurious chamose silks. The collection had both long and short shirts with pajamas of various widths. Musician Kiran Chaudhry walked the ramp for Sania. Her winking of the eye has sort of become her trademark which is not looking too cute anymore. Then came Zara Shahjahan who literally brought all the flowers of Spring onto the ramp. Printed shalwars, shorter lengths of shirts and pant ghararas with patchwork were part of the collection. The collection was entitled Pretty Please. The inspiration behind her latest collection was to have the wearability factor for a common woman in mind. It used summer fabrics like pure cottons and lawn. Maheen Kardar Ali tried to inspire the audience to give Zara a standing ovation but she was the only one standing! The House of Kamiar Rokni is a design house that always has too many expectations and hopes lodged onto it. But Kamiar’s collection, though not bad at all was only just that. It was not something that can be described as highly creative. The fabric used was a burst of prints and flowers which was quite refreshing. The colour combos were superior and highly sophisticated
but the designing left something for wanting. It was entitled Sweetest Taboo. Kamiar said that it was based on his and Tia’s memories of the 1980’s. Luscious Cosmetics teamed up with The House of Kamiar Rokni for exclusive giveaways. Republic’s luxury prêt 2012 collection entitled Tears for Fears, drew inspiration from the World War 2 and Post War era. It was inspired by the industrial and working middle and upper classes. Designer Kamiar Rokni, stylist Shammal Qureshi of Toni & Guy and jeweller Taimoor Chaudhry of Damas walked the ramp as Republic’s showstoppers. The grooming of the male models was done masterfully! It was a long and tiresome wait for the final segment of the fashion week especially when the audience felt exhausted. But everyone felt that HSY was worth the wait. The finale by the House of HSY with his Prêt Deluxe 2012 collection, drew inspiration from the luxury resort lifestyle of the Mediterranean. Chiffons, grips and linens were used infused with lace. There were variations in lengths. The trademark elegance of HSY shone through. Different forms of embroideries were amalgamated into each other. The styling for the collection was by Asmaa Mumtaz. It won HSY a lot of praise and concluded the fashion week perfectly.
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