Fashion Pakistan Week: Most designers play it safe on final day

FPW came to an end on Tuesday with 12 designers, a high-street brand showcasing their Autumn/Winter 2012 collections.

KARACHI:

Fashion Pakistan Week came to an end with 12 designers and a high-street brand showcasing their Autumn/Winter 2012 collections on Tuesday evening.

While Maheen Karim, Rizwanullah, Emraan Rajput, Delphi, FnkAsia and Misha Lakhani presented their fall looks for this year with complete collections, Karachi’s six — designers Shamaeel, Amir Adnan, Sadaf Malaterre, Maheen Khan, Deepak Perwani  and Shehla Chatoor — showed a few pieces each for the finale. After a fantastic display of cuts, colour and creativity on Day 2, the final day had more misses than hits in terms of mind-blowing creations. Most designers stayed true to their labels and didn’t venture too far out of their comfort zone.

Delphi

Nida Tapal’s collection for Delphi stood out for re-inventing crochet and playing up the sexy material to look ethereal. Tapal used crochet in various forms, from little black dresses and ponchos to halter cut gowns and saris. There was even a beautiful ivory and gold ankle-length shirt with a plunging neckline, modeled by Maha, that shimmered under the lights. Another gorgeous piece, modeled by Fauzia, was an ivory outfit with a glittery sequined bodice and straight A-line shirt in crochet. The silhouettes were refreshingly narrow, and the dresses had an international appeal with their edgy cuts and soft colours. Tapal kept her colour palette limited to soft pinks, ivory, black and grayish silver, and chose to let the sequins and delicate crochet do all the talking. A grey crochet cape with silver sequins looked stunning over a simple silk inner shirt and chooridar. Tapal successfully re-did a dying craft and beautifully announced that crochet is not passé, but here to stay!

Emraan Rajput

Emraan Rajput transported the audience to the ‘70s retro style with candy coloured jackets with pants and shirts in matching hues. Rajput toyed with vibrant hues from yellows and oranges to blues, and introduced pleats on his jackets. Apart from experimenting with colours, Rajput presented red hot pants with a matching shirt and white jacket that was modeled by Mehreen Syed. His collection brought a burst of colour to the ramp, and was a safe choice without much diversity in fabric or texture.

FNK Asia

Huma Adnan’s collection ‘Out of Africa’ was a treat. In earthy tones, Huma presented her line with a bang in earthy tones played up with colourful fringes, and beads. There were dresses, shalwars, shirts and lovely bandanas in burnt orange and red that gave a truly African feel to her coherent collection for FPW. Standouts included a deep red dress in jersey material which was fitted till the waist and flowed out creating a fun swish of volume till the calf. The bags and belts in shades of yellow and orange with an adornment of beads were also fun and went well with the collection. Overall, ‘Out of Africa’ was a pleasant surprise from FnkAsia, which has given us something to remember and broken away from the mundane work of the past.

Maheem Karim

Maheen Karim’s ‘Luxe’ collection played with fabric and texture without diverging too far from a colour palette of gold, black and red. Sana Sarfraz opened the show in a military style chiffon jacket which had beautiful gold kaam appliquéd on the shoulders and front. Maheen skillfully used textured gold fabric on cowel necklines of straight knee-length dresses that had neatly embroidered flowers in pastel shades across the front. The same gold and black textured fabric was used as a toga like one shoulder dress draped to create volume at the side and front. Rabya Chaudhry modeled a structured pants and shirt suit in Shanghai silk with beautifully embroidered jacket lapels. A deep green jumpsuit with work on the front panel of the bodice looked well-stitched and elegant (a similar one was worn by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy in orange at the Gucci Awards in Venice this year).

Misha Lakhani

After wowing the crowds at PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week with her old India-inspired collection in Lahore, the young fashion designer presented her Autumn/Winter ready to wear collection for FPW. Her display echoed the signature Misha Lakhani aesthetic; delicate, well-stitched and simple outfits in blacks, silvers, rusts and ivories that focus more on a sophisticated and neat silhouette than avant-garde designs. Lakhani seems to have a taste for minimal frills and embellishments, and chooses instead to introduce soft layers in solid colours in satin and silk. Her digital prints in navy blue and ivory were used as pleated skirts in dresses and as panels in a structured kurta. Standouts were her floor skimming dresses that were belted at the waist and soft, loose rust coloured pajamas in a lovely satin. Cybil modeled a beautiful black and white satin dress with a straight silhouette that had a gorgeous net back with black beadwork.

Rizwanullah

One usually expects Rizwanullah to present an over-the-top, unwearable but creative and outlandish collection. He is a designer who is not afraid to experiment with any material, and has in the past presented a collection made from henna on bed sheet fabric. Having said this, Rizwan’s collection for Day 3 was very sober and quite unlike his eccentric style mantra. He brought forward an entire collection in black chiffons, silk and cotton with a basic digital print that was used in different ways. A black playsuit modeled by Rabya Butt had the digital print on the front panel; Fauzia modeled a poncho which bore the same print on black and Neha wore a sheer net top with the print used on the cuff of the sleeves. Apart from the print, Rizwan played with rillie and mirror work on some volumised outfits as well. Unfortunately, his collection lacked the usual craziness and magic his name is associated with. As someone said during the announcements, it does seem like the bad boy of the fashion industry has finally grown up!

The Karachi Six

In the finale, six of Karachi’s most prominent designers presented their pieces on the ramp:

Maheen Khan

Fashion doyenne Maheen Khan stayed true to her signature style of understated elegance. She used beige with bright reds and pinks to create layers and ruffles at the front, presenting well-stitched and structured outfits. A lace cape modeled by Nadia Ali over a champagne coloured tunic and textured gold pants was simple, yet elegant.

Sadaf Malaterre

Malaterre opted for light colours on soft fabrics, with which she re-lived some kamdani moments in her collection. A beige halter cut dress with layers at the front and a sexy sequined sari blouse with a beige sari were standouts.

Amir Adnan

Amir Adnan stayed true to his signature style with sherwanis in gold, black and red with a touch of bridal embroidery. His collection seemed a bit out of place in a ready to wear fashion week, but one supposes that he presented what he is best at.

Deepak Parwani

Deepak showcased some smartly stitched jackets and sherwanis in black with a hint of black embellishments.

Shamaeel Ansari

Shamaeel stayed true to her gold, rust and red colour palette and worked it beautifully in elaborate loose jackets and coats with voluminous trails. Shamaeel is a master at cuts and structure, and an oufit, modeled by Ayyan, with a gold sequined front and a beautiful back in Kashmiri embroidery-inspired digitally printed crepe silk was breathtaking.

Shelha Chatoor

Shehla’s ‘Chinoiserie’ collection used fur with gold and black fabric with bold gold motifs and digital prints. Her collection was definitely the sexiest from the six big names that showed, with Chinese figures in digital prints used with black to create form-fitting dresses and shirts. She also used separates well by piecing together a digital printed jacket with an olive shirt, black hot pants and chunky gold accessories.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2012.

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