PBCW day 2: Fashion takes a back seat as showstoppers steal the night

Showstoppers of the night were a dance performance by Bodybeat Productions.

LAHORE:

Day 2 of the Pantene Bridal Couture Week followed a mehendi theme that could be observed in the décor of not only the red carpet and entrance area but also the ramp.

As the extravagance of the theme set the mood at the red carpet, the collections themselves were a great disappointment. Instead, the showstoppers of the night were indeed the highlight of an otherwise uneventful evening. Bodybeat Productions presented a prolonged mehendi performance featuring Hassan Rizvi, who wore a yellow kurta with a beautiful green dupatta by Ali Xeeshan, and model Rabya Chaudhry, who wore a cerulean blue Waseem Noon outfit. As a remix of “Teray Tu Mera Door Jan Nu” blared through the speakers, the performers stormed on stage and initially earned lots of cheers and hoots from the audience due to the high-energy moves. Unfortunately, the crowd’s interest dwindled as the sequence became too long. Rabya Chaudhry could not match actor Sana’s expressions and enthusiasm from the previous night. Luckily enough, the selection of songs was fun enough to keep the mood light throughout the night.

Cara

The Jodhabai collection opened the second act of the evening. Layered shirts and Cinderella-like off the shoulder sleeves in black really did not give a promising start to the collection. However, in keeping with the mehndi theme, the designer showcased vibrant colours such as shocking pink, red, green and ivory. The bridals again, saw blacks and chattapatti but nothing really stood out in the collection. Cybil wore a crushed chiffon lehenga in beige which was brought alive with a second candy pink heavily worked dupatta. The gorgeous Mahnoor Baloch was the show stopper for Cara, and strutted down the ramp in a white and red lehenga.

Ammar Shahid

A recent Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design (PIFD) graduate put out a disturbingly unharmonious collection. The marriage between red and black throughout the collection did not quite mesh well. While the silhouette of the collection remained long and floor skimming, we did not see any innovation or design concept. The designer’s attempt at heavy bridals translated into outfits full of overwhelming embellishments that looked too much of a mess to look pretty. The elements that stood out in the collection were the stylised turban with an extended stole over the red sherwani and the navy blue lehenga choli worn by Mehreen Syed. Even though the outfit lacked structure and had uneven volume, the bronze and blue combination and the embellishment showed that when given an opportunity, Ammar Shahid could possibly create one attractive piece and not a collection.

Saira Rizwan

This was a collection inspired by Persia, and really uplifted dull spirits on Day 2. While the only thing Persian about the collection was a black velvet overcoat modeled by Fayeza, the block print textured pants definitely stood out. The simplicity of the pants, lehengas and ghararas was a welcome change from the over embellished canvases. Ayaan modeled a silver worked shirt with black velvet edging paired with a deep purple dupatta. The shredded luppa edgings on the dupattas gave an old school feel to them. Neha modeled an interesting paanch lara haar-inspired outfit in green with textured capri pants. This was definitely the most subtle collection in terms of embellishments on Day 2, a breath of fresh air after some dreadfully over done heavy bridals. The designer focused on pants instead of just shirts, and even brought the traditional gharara back on the ramp.

Ali Xeeshan

Super sultry Mathira opened Ali Xeeshan’s show with a scintillating dance performance. After we saw the voluptuous TV show host shake a leg at the Lux Style Awards earlier this year, she wowed the audience with her moves to “Man Mohini” from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Her neon pink choli and sunflower yellow skirt gave a very Basanti feel to her getup. While Ali Xeeshan showed the same collection as he did at PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week and a few pieces from the year before, he seemed to be selling his production house more than his clothes. “I want to show you how you should have your wedding and how you can style your wedding to look regal and fun,” he said. The presentation was definitely interesting; the flare and drama went up more than just a few notches as the models perched themselves on a dewan that had been placed in the middle of the ramp. It seemed that all the pairs that slowly made their way to the dewan were posing for a family portrait at a typical wedding event. Fauzia came on stage wearing granny spectacles to represent the presence of elder relatives at weddings; Nadia Ali carried an adorable infant who was alert throughout the show. With his fantastic play on colours and elaborate styling, Ali Xeeshan brought the wedding alive with his showmanship.

Rani Emaan

While Sanam Marvi performed in a floor skimming heavy green and beige outfit, Rani Emaan closed the first act by presenting the Nauratan collection. The designers showcased a relatively better collection than what was seen earlier on in the night. Nadia Hussain’s green and plum outfit had an unusual vibe and was a welcome change after all the red and the black that was seen earlier on in the evening. The ramp was star studded as Gia Ali and Hira Tareen were followed by Qasim Yar Tiwana and Asim Yar Tiwana, who walked out wearing black sherwanis with gorgeous dupattas over jeans with their arms around Hum TV’s morning show host Sana.

Hijab

This was yet another disappointing series of outfits on the runway. With peek-a-boo shirts and capri pants and a wide spectrum of colours such as black, white, pink and red being used, the kaam, cuts and concept was unimpressive. It is interesting to see how the colour black is so popular with designers for bridal wear. Hijab presented black angarkhas and flared shirts in cutwork lace and chiffon, and even opted for a black edging at the hemline of a red shirt. The only thing that stood out from the collection was a cut out red sari blouse modeled by Fayeza Ansari.

Kosain Kazmi

This new designer presented a chattapatti collection with jamdani shawls. Interestingly, he also opted to use black with his chattapatti, the other colours being orange and maroon. In keeping with the mehendi theme, the Kazmi’s outfits had some prominent yellow, rust and mehendi green pieces. Other than that, his collection had a lot going on. Red outfits adorned with silver embellishments and far too many layers somehow did not harmonise well. Kazmi’s look for men was more casual, with sherwanis worn over jeans. While some of the embellishments on the men’s outfits were over the top, there were some fairly simpler and wearable sherwanis as well.

A slideshow pictures from day 1 can be seen here.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2012.

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