Day 2: Bridal Couture Week

Zainab Sajid and Indian designer Rabani & Rakha stole the show.

KARACHI:

The Pantene Bridal Couture Week (BCW) failed to wow the audience for a second night in a row. The  second day of the event was, however, saved by Zainab Sajid, the Indian duo Rabani & Rakha and by some parts of Hijab’s collection.

Zainab Sajid

Zainab Sajid’s collection was fit for brides who fantasise about royal weddings. The detailed work primarily done with silver wire and grandiose cuts — from overcoats to ghararas — made the collection fit for a traditional queen. The designer fused hues of red, turquoise and purple with dull gold and silver to create fairytale impression on fabric.

Humayun Alamgir

Alamagir’s line of men’s sherwanis was a decent collection, with fine cuts and styling. Silk was the most dominant fabric in his eastern line that was dedicated to sherwanis with different lowers from chooridaars to shalwars.  His western collection comprised of typical black, well-fit three-piece suits.

Hijab

Hijab, by Misbah and Saba, was divided into three colour categories: white, black and peach. Though the line had some great pieces, it still failed to bring forth something that the audience had not seen before. The colour scheming and the cuts were all too typical to leave an impression on fashion lovers.

Shamaeel Ansari

Shamaeel Ansari’s collection toyed with the Persian motif on silk. The ensembles were mostly in  brown and beige. An avid fashion follower would know that Ansari has remained true to her roots. The designer sticks to her signature style almost ritualistically and tries to reinvent it for every showcase.

Ruby Shakeel 

Shakeel’s collection was like a bad wedding dream. The garish embellishments and poor colour scheming made one’s heart and eyes hurt. All of the ensembles had excessive (read: unnecessary) use of drapery or embellishments, which made the entire collection look confused and all over the place.

Saim Ali

Ali’s collection was confusing and one wondered if it was really meant for brides. From poor choice of fabric to below average colour scheming, the collection looked like a failed effort on Ali’s part to fuse ethnic fashion with western wear.

Rabani & Rakha

The merger of Shibani & Rahul Rastogi’s brand Rabani and Gautum Rakha’s label Rakha resulted in a fashion delicacy. Greatly inspired by Pakistani fashion, the Indian duo presented a net line, comprising of flowy shirts in white and Indian saris and lehengas that made one miss the cultural blend found in pre-1947 India.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2012.