The bright and the trite

Latest TBCW sees wedding fashion at its commercial best but without lasting effect

LAHORE:

Just when we thought this season’s Telenor Bridal Couture Week (TBCW) would make it to our list of no-hopers, the second and third days salvaged the event. Offering a mixed bag of bridal ensembles, the two days could be viewed as a showdown between the old and the new. While a string of emergent designers outpaced fashion heavyweights on the second day, veterans stole the limelight as the show culminated on day three. Wedding fashion remained at its commercial best and designers sent out collections that had mass appeal but lacked any lasting style statement. Out of the nine designers showing each day, there were a notable few that didn’t fail to impress.

Day two saw Anees Malik play with whites and contrasted them with neons —  a risk that paid off. He paired dull gold banarsi lehengas and dupattas with plain neon cholis, and crisp white ones with bright banarsi cholis. Malik understood what elements to play down while accentuating a few, which is what made his collection stand out. That being said, the finishing of the outfits was less than perfect with fraying ends of dupattas. But he should be applauded for bringing a slightly off-beat aesthetic to a platform that is essentially mass-centric.

For her label Teena, Hina Butt tried to experiment with cuts, putting forth the off-shoulder kameez and jacket with crop top trends, but the sheerness of the offerings made them less impactful and unsuited for wedding-wear. There were some noteworthy elements in the collection, such as the layered net and chiffon lehenga sported by her showstopper Uzma Khan and the yellow separates featuring a crop top and pants. This was bang-on trend with the co-ords fad taking the world by storm and would look smashing at December weddings.

Hina Butt’s yellow separates were bang-on trend

The Islamabad-based Rani Emaan surprised many when she put out one of the better collections of the night. The embellishments were intricate and detailed and the clothes effortlessly transitioned from pastels to dark hues to ivory. Although she put out trousseau as well as bridals, Emaan unfortunately broke no ground in the department where her forte lies. She did, however, give a taste of how conservative desi wear could be made trendy.



Humayun Alamgir riveted attention on day two with a profound groomswear collection. The line featured a tad many embellishments but the colours remained classic and regal with maroon, black and ivory dominating the palette. Although he didn’t show any ground-breaking trends, he put out clothes that would do commercially well at best. Imran Abbas walked the ramp as showstopper for the designer, and diverted attention from the mediocrity of the clothes to an extent. He wore a long kurta and a churidar under a sherwani coat with gold embellishments.

Day three featured Nilofer Shahid’s “journey of self-realisation” through her show that was opened by Humaima Malick. The line featured all the glamour of vintage bridals along with some trousseau pieces in earthy tones. A pleasant surprise was the last three pieces she put out, dresses in gorgeous emerald green and blues modelled by Cybil Chowdhry, Fayezah Ansari and Sunita Marshall. They are sure-fire go-to sartorial choices for the upcoming red carpet events in the country. After showing at Fashion Pakistan Week and TBCW, it’s clear that Shahid is back with a bang after an extended hiatus.

Fahad Hussayn’s collection could be called the best of TBCW. He stayed true to his dramatic aesthetics but opted for a lighter colour palette than he usually goes for. The darkest colour he dabbled with was a deep purple, an unusual colour for bridals and one that was interesting to see. In his groomswear collection, the double-sided chaddars added a regal touch to the sherwanis.

Zainab Chottani’s offerings were reminiscent of her FPW collection from this year but while that had showed an interesting play on colours and sparked with ingenuity, this one veered too much towards predictable silhouettes and a colour palette to leave a favourable impression. The collection is, however, expected to do commercially well.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2015.

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