Pakistanis participate in Colombo Fashion Week 2011

KARACHI: The most anticipated event in the fashion calendar ­­­is finally here — the first day of the HSBC Colombo Fashion Week (CFW) 2011 took off in style last week at the grand ballroom of the Colombo Hilton.

While designers like Fahad Sheriff, Laksala, Asanga, Gaurav Gupta and Sonali took turns to show their work at the ramp, the peak of the show was when Rizwan Beyg from Pakistan displayed his breathtaking collection.

The designer also took this opportunity to launch his first men’s wear collection and, for the first time in the history of the Colombo Fashion Week, four Pakistani models became part of the extravagant fashion celebration. The four models that went on to participate in CFW 2011 were Arsalan Javed, Muhammad Ali Gill, Fayeza Ansari and Nadia Ali

Arsalan Javed is the first model in the history of the Pakistani fashion industry to have debuted at the Colombo Fashion Week 2011. Ali Gill is another newcomer to the industry as has only done three shows within native bounds before making it to an international forum.

On the other hand, Fayeza Ansari is among the top ranking models of Pakistan. The model has not only won awards for, best emerging talent but she also stole the show at the  Colombo Fashion Week with her outstanding walk and poise.

While Nadia Ali may not have been as experienced as Ansari, she made her entry into the field four years ago and has been known for her fabulous posture. The model was recently praised by Chief Organiser of the event, Prasad Bidapa, as having the “the greatest walk on the ramp”

Overall, it was a revelation of what is yet to come, and one can only hope that the CFW continues to promote new talent. PR

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2011.