Curtain call: PSFW 2016 bows out
Show culminates with blend of pret, high-street and voile showcases.
Show culminates with blend of pret, high-street and voile showcases. PHOTOS: PUBLICITY
LAHORE:
The third and fourth day of Pakistan Fashion Design Council Sunsilk Fashion Week 2016 witnessed a mix of pret, high-street brands and voile shows. The high-street brands comprised MBM, HSY Limited, Shirin Hasan, Sobia Nazir, Hang Ten, DSS, Umer Iftikhar and Denizen. The fashion extravaganza was wrapped up by voile shows featuring Alkaram, Khas, Warda, House of Ittehad, Harmony and Gul Ahmed.
Khaadi Khaas
Collection name: Translucent
Khaadi returned to the ramp after two years with a collection in collaboration with Swarovski titled ‘Translucent’. Over the past two years, the brand has focused more on affordable prêt and unstitched fabric but ‘Translucent’ was Khaadi’s declaration that the brand can be fashion forward and is not just interested in being your average cash cow. With Khaadi Khaas, its luxury prêt line, Shamoon Sultan put out a blinged out, mainly monochromatic collection festooned with hints of neon. The designs that stood out included asymmetrical cuts, the black and yellow pants with a high slit and the embellished jumpsuit with an asymmetrical yellow top attached to it. Statement earrings donned by the models were also a visual treat. The brand experimented with this collection and it worked, most of it anyway. The collection could do well when it comes into their stores dotted all around Pakistan.
The House of Kamiar Rokni
Collection name: Fashion DNA
We thank our lucky stars that ‘Fashion DNA’ at London Fashion Week came up right before PSFW this year. Else, this incredible prêt collection by The House of Kamiar Rokni may have never seen a local fashion week outing. While restraining their predilection for colour, the trio played with luxe ethnic fabrics of jamawar spruced up with rilli and karandi in addition to organza and tissue. The collection was what an international showcase rooted in Pakistani cultural and traditional references should look like. The offerings were styled flawlessly, with various layered pieces that could work as separates as well. With a colour palette comprising white, gold and bronze with pops of pink, models also sported pink eye shadow with minimal makeup that tied together the entire collection.
Zonia Anwaar
Collection name: Kievan
Anwaar’s fifth showcase at PSFW drew inspiration from Ukranian art with floral and cross stitch patterns. Working with reds and blues on a white base, the designer put out a laid back, resort collection that could easily be worn to a summer holiday. A couple of items could also be accessorised to be worn to a formal occasion, such as Amna Babar’s top with puffed sleeves. Tassels that were seen on sleeves, hemlines and even bags brought a flirty and fresh feel to the collection. The collection along with the tan coloured bags and belts designed by Anwaar in-house could do well if the designer decides to up her retail presence.
Zara Shahjahan
Collection name: Sartorialist
Shahjahan’s showcase was another laid back collection based on a colour palette of tea pinks, interspaced with a couple olive shades. From oversized kurtas, crop tops and long flowy dresses to slouchy jackets tied with belts, each silhouette was different. The models wore dull gold accessories which proved to be a winning combination with the colours that Shahjahan used. Although retail friendly, the collection was not fashionably ground-breaking and was reminiscent of previous collections by other designers. Misha Lakhani comes to mind whose signature brand ethos is akin to the ‘Sartorialist’. Infact, one particular design bore too much resemblance to one of Lakhani’s designs and Shahjahan had to issue a statement officially retracting it from her collection, declaring it won’t be reproduced “out of respect for the brand.”
Saira Shakira
Collection name: Yasatis
Speaking to The Express Tribune prior to PSFW, the designer duo shared their collection would be “a journey of the breaking free of stereotypes through clothing”. However, it seemed that in trying to do so, the collection was more confusing than cohesive. It started on a high note with Rabia Butt’s outfit, featuring mauve pants with black embellishments, coupled with a waistcoat and black tie. However, what brought down some of the numbers in the collection was the puzzling mix of geometric prints, distracting zigzag lines, bows and embroideries. With so much going on in the designs, the eye could not pick a vantage point to admire. However, Saira Shakira should be applauded for continually experimenting and attempting to break bounds with every collection.
HSY
Collection name: Be Yourself
‘Be Yourself’ started with a fashion film starring the designer himself, model Mehreen Syed and the new brand ambassador Bilal Ashraf. The video features Hassan Sheheryar Yasin (HSY) playing match maker to Ashraf and discussing the perfect woman for him. Syed appeared in different avatars from a Spanish female matador, to a Japanese geisha and a ‘society girl’ taking selfies which allowed the designer to show his divergent inspirations. The final presentation showed quite a few striking elements, from an embellished Spanish matador inspired jacket to quilted midriffs, embellished wings on the back of jackets and ikat hoodies. HSY always provides a befitting finale, whether the fashion is on point or not, and he didn’t disappoint in that regard this time either.
Deepak Perwani
Collection name: Return of
D Philosophy
Perwani’s collection alluded to the Fix It political campaign in Karachi that came out through Alamgir Khan’s efforts earlier last year. After the showcase he shared with The Express Tribune, “Fashion is a black canvas that can be used to highlight and define the times you live in. Fix It is very relevant to Karachi and we were inspired by it.” The collection displayed a variety of silhouettes from impeccably draped satin dresses, jumpsuits and tailored suits that said ‘Fix It’ with pops of glitter. The stand out numbers were a pair of black pants with billowing yellow draping on them and a white top with a short in the front and long at the back hemline with yellow pants that also had ‘Fix It’ running across them.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 15th, 2016.
The third and fourth day of Pakistan Fashion Design Council Sunsilk Fashion Week 2016 witnessed a mix of pret, high-street brands and voile shows. The high-street brands comprised MBM, HSY Limited, Shirin Hasan, Sobia Nazir, Hang Ten, DSS, Umer Iftikhar and Denizen. The fashion extravaganza was wrapped up by voile shows featuring Alkaram, Khas, Warda, House of Ittehad, Harmony and Gul Ahmed.
Khaadi Khaas
Collection name: Translucent
Khaadi returned to the ramp after two years with a collection in collaboration with Swarovski titled ‘Translucent’. Over the past two years, the brand has focused more on affordable prêt and unstitched fabric but ‘Translucent’ was Khaadi’s declaration that the brand can be fashion forward and is not just interested in being your average cash cow. With Khaadi Khaas, its luxury prêt line, Shamoon Sultan put out a blinged out, mainly monochromatic collection festooned with hints of neon. The designs that stood out included asymmetrical cuts, the black and yellow pants with a high slit and the embellished jumpsuit with an asymmetrical yellow top attached to it. Statement earrings donned by the models were also a visual treat. The brand experimented with this collection and it worked, most of it anyway. The collection could do well when it comes into their stores dotted all around Pakistan.
The House of Kamiar Rokni
Collection name: Fashion DNA
We thank our lucky stars that ‘Fashion DNA’ at London Fashion Week came up right before PSFW this year. Else, this incredible prêt collection by The House of Kamiar Rokni may have never seen a local fashion week outing. While restraining their predilection for colour, the trio played with luxe ethnic fabrics of jamawar spruced up with rilli and karandi in addition to organza and tissue. The collection was what an international showcase rooted in Pakistani cultural and traditional references should look like. The offerings were styled flawlessly, with various layered pieces that could work as separates as well. With a colour palette comprising white, gold and bronze with pops of pink, models also sported pink eye shadow with minimal makeup that tied together the entire collection.
Zonia Anwaar
Collection name: Kievan
Anwaar’s fifth showcase at PSFW drew inspiration from Ukranian art with floral and cross stitch patterns. Working with reds and blues on a white base, the designer put out a laid back, resort collection that could easily be worn to a summer holiday. A couple of items could also be accessorised to be worn to a formal occasion, such as Amna Babar’s top with puffed sleeves. Tassels that were seen on sleeves, hemlines and even bags brought a flirty and fresh feel to the collection. The collection along with the tan coloured bags and belts designed by Anwaar in-house could do well if the designer decides to up her retail presence.
Zara Shahjahan
Collection name: Sartorialist
Shahjahan’s showcase was another laid back collection based on a colour palette of tea pinks, interspaced with a couple olive shades. From oversized kurtas, crop tops and long flowy dresses to slouchy jackets tied with belts, each silhouette was different. The models wore dull gold accessories which proved to be a winning combination with the colours that Shahjahan used. Although retail friendly, the collection was not fashionably ground-breaking and was reminiscent of previous collections by other designers. Misha Lakhani comes to mind whose signature brand ethos is akin to the ‘Sartorialist’. Infact, one particular design bore too much resemblance to one of Lakhani’s designs and Shahjahan had to issue a statement officially retracting it from her collection, declaring it won’t be reproduced “out of respect for the brand.”
Saira Shakira
Collection name: Yasatis
Speaking to The Express Tribune prior to PSFW, the designer duo shared their collection would be “a journey of the breaking free of stereotypes through clothing”. However, it seemed that in trying to do so, the collection was more confusing than cohesive. It started on a high note with Rabia Butt’s outfit, featuring mauve pants with black embellishments, coupled with a waistcoat and black tie. However, what brought down some of the numbers in the collection was the puzzling mix of geometric prints, distracting zigzag lines, bows and embroideries. With so much going on in the designs, the eye could not pick a vantage point to admire. However, Saira Shakira should be applauded for continually experimenting and attempting to break bounds with every collection.
HSY
Collection name: Be Yourself
‘Be Yourself’ started with a fashion film starring the designer himself, model Mehreen Syed and the new brand ambassador Bilal Ashraf. The video features Hassan Sheheryar Yasin (HSY) playing match maker to Ashraf and discussing the perfect woman for him. Syed appeared in different avatars from a Spanish female matador, to a Japanese geisha and a ‘society girl’ taking selfies which allowed the designer to show his divergent inspirations. The final presentation showed quite a few striking elements, from an embellished Spanish matador inspired jacket to quilted midriffs, embellished wings on the back of jackets and ikat hoodies. HSY always provides a befitting finale, whether the fashion is on point or not, and he didn’t disappoint in that regard this time either.
Deepak Perwani
Collection name: Return of
D Philosophy
Perwani’s collection alluded to the Fix It political campaign in Karachi that came out through Alamgir Khan’s efforts earlier last year. After the showcase he shared with The Express Tribune, “Fashion is a black canvas that can be used to highlight and define the times you live in. Fix It is very relevant to Karachi and we were inspired by it.” The collection displayed a variety of silhouettes from impeccably draped satin dresses, jumpsuits and tailored suits that said ‘Fix It’ with pops of glitter. The stand out numbers were a pair of black pants with billowing yellow draping on them and a white top with a short in the front and long at the back hemline with yellow pants that also had ‘Fix It’ running across them.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 15th, 2016.