BCW ends on a high note!

Day 3 of the Bridal Couture Week culminated with designers showcasing attire for brides as well as for grooms.

KARACHI:

Style360’s Bridal Couture Week’s (BCW) finale was a phenomenal success, owing to the fact that the crème de la crème of Pakistani designers brought some of their best collections to the ramp. And though the earlier two days were bride-specific, day three was about both brides and grooms.

The opening collection displayed in the evening was by Deepak Perwani. His traditional wear showcase, although cohesive, didn’t make the kind of statement one expects from a designer of his stature. That’s unfortunate, given that he gave a memorable and spectacular finale two years ago at Fashion Pakistan Week 1, with his famed Milan collection.

The first face of Perwani’s show was none other than fashion photographer Tapu Javeri. Dressed in a black sherwani and holding a camera in hand, the crowd cheered widely when he appeared on the ramp. Perwani has recently ventured into women’s wear and while there is great confidence in what he designs for women’s prêt wear, he appears to be faltering a bit with fashion’s biggest market: Bridals. Yet, he managed to create some trends that one could pick up on with his sheer self-embossed churidaar, trailing crystal ball tassel and dhoti worn over a sherwani for a more rustic look for the groom.

Following Perwani’s exhibit was BCW’s only jewellery show by Reem Abbasi, of Keepsakes, where she showcased an entire range of contemporary to traditional jewellery that hinted at the increasing popularity of polkis in bridal jewellery and stood out for its creative use of precious and semi precious stones with a minimum use of gold. A maala used as belly chain over a sari and another maala created with ruby strings received much adulation.

Amongst the list of collections that dragged aimlessly were Shaiyanne Malik, La Chantal and Mehdi. Shaiyanne Malik, as always, disappointed the audience with her trite and discordant designs and colour aesthetic. The collection was repetitive and off the mark, it featured her signature angharkha on lehengha look which in the hands of a more skilled designer could look rather regal.

Saba Waseem’s label La Chantal, one felt, catered to the Gulf market. Her collection, with abaaya-esque embroidered gowns and togas, best suited a bride for formal evening wear. A motif of peacocks and butterflies was present in her collection, which made it all the more interesting and a classic combination. For Waseem, it seems, the old-traditional gota still plays an integral part in a wedding trousseau, because she opted for it in her very own creations!

A brand that did manage to elicit some admiration at the finale, however, was Memona Manan’s brand Rouge. It worked around a champagne colour base and showcased a range of attire from Grecian togas to traditional bridal ensembles. There was an extensive use of diamantes in the form of embellishments on the bridal outfits. Pieces that stood out were sheer organza pants, a heavily embellished red bridal and a marigold orange with one cuffed sleeve and the other sleeve flaring out like a bell.

Mehdi is a name that has gained prominence through bridal publications for his intricately worked bridals. But his collection used the same conventional colour schemes, which he has been employing since the inception of his brand. Some of them were variations of green with beige and tea-pink, whilst the groom collection had brown sherwanis with black Jinnah caps. It is time he experimented with more unique combinations to breathe new life into his art.

BCW 2011 was a success by all means; it was what the fashionistas were looking out for. But beyond that, bridal couture is a huge industry in India and in Pakistan and the concept itself should get a boost. The next BCW has been scheduled for September this year.



Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2011.