PLBW Day Two: Where did the spark go?

Fashion enthusiasts kept waiting for the magic they witnessed on Day One.

LAHORE:

If Day One at the Pakistan L’Oreal Bridal Week (PLBW) made one sit up and take notice, Day Two did the exact opposite and made you wish you hadn’t gotten out of bed to be a part of it. Lahore-based designer Fahad Hussayn’s edgy yet regal presentation, however, saved the day and made the whole experience a bit palatable. However, Hussayn’s latest collection missed the grandeur that was created by Hassan Sheheryar Yasin’s animated choreography and Quratulain Balouch’s soulful vocals at the Bridal Couture Week earlier this year.

What we couldn’t get from a dramatic choreography, we got from Hussayn’s opening video that was as provocative and sexy as the collection itself. Titled ‘Raat Rakh’, the collection held the apprehensions and anxiety that the wedding night embodies which Mani Ratnam’s popular scores, played out in the background, complemented to perfection. Backless blouses with knots at the back, black bindis (forehead decoration), prominent eyebrows and full-blown skirts-cum-lehengas, added drama to a collection that stayed true to Hussayn’s love for black and deep hues.

With the finale pieces, worn by models-cum-actors as well as L’Oreal Paris spokespersons, Aamina Sheikh and Meesha Shafi, Hussayn cleverly showed how a lehenga can be used to create two separate bridal looks. The collection also included skirts and lehengas, churidars and fitted pants with wide-legged shalwars and short, fitted kameezes from the bygone era. Long trailing maxis with trinkets at the ends of tube sleeves and a whole anthology in black for men were also part of this line.

However, Reama Malik, Emraan Rajput and Maria B’s collections failed to impress the audience with their design philosophy. Malik’s jewellery had a few stunning polka sets, but then nothing that one had never seen before. The ecru collection, models were wearing while showcasing Malik’s jewellery was lent by famous designer Zaheer Abbas.

One was truly speechless upon witnessing Rajput’s garish interpretation of bridals in his collection titled ‘Vedaas’. Constructed mostly with jamawar in a clashing colour palette (a shocking fuchsia sherwani) replete with male models adorning bridal jewellery, this was a line that needed serious rethinking in terms of the ill-fit ensembles and their outlandish colour schemes. Even Hamza Tarrar’s lovely marigold-studded ramp couldn’t help the collection much.

Apart from that, it was disappointing to see Maria B deliver such a blase collection after her brilliant pret showcase earlier at the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week. One understands that Maria B is a major retail brand and it needs to cater to a mass clientele, but still, using a bridal week platform to present a typically commercial collection is not befitting for a designer. Maria B played it very safe with delicate hues of tea pink and ivory but managed to showcase one exquisitely lovely jora that opened her show. But from that point on — as the colours got deeper — Maria’s ensembles became too busy. Her collection lacked a signature style and were overly embellished with multiple ornamentation techniques. Except for the foray of the jumpsuit, Maria offered nothing new to the bridal game.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2011.