Of lust, poker cards and a geisha

Thirteen students of Asian Institute of Fashion Design displayed their collections in Karachi.

KARACHI:

Thirteen students of Asian Institute of Fashion Design (AIFD) displayed their fashion collection on March 4. The designs were presented before a jury consisting of Frieha Altaf, Adnan Pardesy, Rizwan Beyg, Aamna Haider Isani, Ambreen Khan and Yousuf Bashir Qureshi aka YBQ.

“You have to bring revolution in the Pakistani fashion world. The responsibility does not lie on my shoulder any longer for I am old, it lies on yours”, said The fashion designer YBQ while addressing the students.

The collection, that was a fusion of eastern and western styles, featured both day and evening wear.

AIFD student Aneeta Nasir’s theme was lust in which she toyed with blood red colour with bold but not revealing cuts. According to Nasir, she tried to, “find a balance between lust and lovemaking. Lust is desire that people have, for me it should be tasteful not vulgar.”

Amna Iqbal’s theme was based on angels. Iqbal’s inspiration came from: “The concept of purity that strikes one’s mindset when one thinks of heavenly creatures.” She experimented with white and pink colours.

Aalish Mansoor Ali’s theme was ‘Fantasy’: “On creatures who live in a fantasy world, the inspiration lies in the good and bad. I have focused on this in my colour theme; it’s either absolute black or pure white.”

Anam Ahsan’s ‘Electric Butterfly’ was based on: “Fantasy that any teenage girl might have.” She used vibrant colours in her outfits, which looked more like spring with emphasis on butterflies.

Wajeeha Burney’s theme was ‘Poker Cards’. Burney highlighted the reason behind playing poker on female apparel: “it was to show the independent woman, to focus on individuality and freedom of expression.”

Damia Sheikh’s theme was Aristocrats. “19th Century British men and their lifestyle. Though the colour tone is subdued, it emanates an attitude that I experimented with,” said Sheikh.

Shireen Ghazal brought Reptiles to life by her imagination, stating: “I have used earthen themes for my reptile creations.”

Sandaleen Zaheer Khan’s theme was a geisha and she used green, pink, blue and golden colour.

Hiba Hashmi’s theme was a real life park in California called Death Valley. “It was the place where gold miners would disappear, today’s it’s a park. So my inspiration comes from dark years towards light years,” said Hashmi

For Adil Amir Ali, the theme was ‘Pandemonium’ toying with dark red, sun bright orange and wild black. Ali said that his collection was inspired by: “Demons who have their own charms and invite you to the world of sin.”

Nimroz Ali experimented with Space Age, his colour palette remained golden and shades of blue. He extensively explored: “space age, space exploration and space technology.”

One of the most unique collections was that of Adeel Iftikhar who worked on regional motifs using Sindhi embroidery called Gajj, which was vibrant. “Truck art too, takes regional craft beyond ones imagination,” said the artist.

Another interesting collection was from Sidra Nasir. One Night in Paris took cues from a young girl’s visit to the French capital. Nasir was inspired by 1920’s and brought to the forefront the classic French dress, complete with accessories.

Accepting what YBQ said and which rings true was the fact that: “If they say it’s not wearable and it has no market, tell them creativity has more to do than wearibility, for everything sells.”

“Before you are a designer, you are an artist and you need to find inspiration in your inner heart,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2011.