PIFD graduates: Making their way to the market

PIFD says farewell to its graduating batch with a scintillating show.

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design (PIFD) held a fashion show on Sunday, July 24, at its campus located near Expo Centre in Lahore.

(Read: "PIFD goes national")

The school, which has produced many renowned designers for the country, exhibited the final collection of 35 students of Fashion and Marketing, Merchandising, Fashion Design and Textile Design from the class of 2011.

The collections showcased a blend of traditional and western designs depicting architectural inspirations with references to buildings like the Taj Mahal. The designs varied with themes based on Kalash culture and F1 racing. The diverse themes were reflective of the fact that the graduating designers were aware of global, as well as local, fashion trends.

While many of the creations featured sleek and all-weather looks, it was the inclusion of themes that were based on Pakistani culture which received appreciation from the audiences.

“I see a great potential in the fashion industry now,” said Nilofer Shahid, a fashion designer who was also one of the external examiners of the graduating class. “It has gradually improved since 1995. Now the work is being done at a different level, they are working on inspirations and they are familiar with the global trends and cuts,” she added.

The young designers’ works were also reviewed by a jury comprising of the fashion industry’s bigwigs like Deepak Perwani, Kamiar Rokni, Nilofer Shahid, Rizwan Beyg and Sehyr Saigol. Though the jury had to select the top designers, the judges later spent extra time with them to ensure that they garnered a personal understanding of every student’s designs.

The top few designers selected from the class will mark their debut in the upcoming Pakistan Fashion Week. Winner of the show, Zonia Anwar’s collection Aurora Luminescence: The Glowing Murk, was what the designer calls “an amalgamation of two tremendous natural wonders to achieve a man-made termination in the form of four experimental garments”. According to Anwar, the inspiration for the silhouette in her design had come from unique bioluminescent mushrooms.

Another talent and the runner-up of the show, Raza Muhammed Batur’s collection was a surreal visualisation of society’s good and evil side. The outfits had a very contemporary feel.

The other runner-up, Muhammad Irfan Ali was inspired by the Punjab, with touches of Indian Rajasthan and the Cholistan desert. The collection featured vivid colours and traditional embroidery.

While introducing the graduating class to the audiences, PIFD’s Principal Hina Tayyaba emphasised the effort that went into developing the designs displayed at the show, adding that it was important that the young designers explored their cultural heritage. She said that it was always harder to sustain culture, because it took an added effort to explore the culture and differing fashions.

“Initially, the students were not exploring their cultural heritage. It was after some students took the initiative that this trend changed,” said Tayyaba. “Students have taken inspiration from far-flung areas. It’s difficult because, unlike western history which is more documented, you have to research through archives and look at the ancient buildings to find inspiration and imagine something new.”

Minister of Commerce Makhdoom Ameen Fahim and HEC Director Sohail Naqvi were present at the event.

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