Runway trends to remember

A loot at what's hot this season.

LAHORE: PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week came to a close after four days of exciting fashion presenting looks for Spring/Summer season of 2013. While there were many key elements on the runway, some trends stood out more than others. Here are some of the trends from PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week that are touted to be hot this summer:

Neon and lots of it



Neon was big at PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week. While designers like Sara Shahid of Sublime used jolts of electric neon in pure solids. Shehla Chatoor used silky, calmer hues with abstract prints. Yahsir Waheed used neon belts, accessories and tops to complement his funky truck art-inspired collection.

In the prints category, Mohsin Ali constructed pieces out of fluorescent geometric prints for his collection titled Luminaty.

Truck Art



If you thought truck art was a thing of the past, think again. Just when we thought truck art was done and dusted, it got completely reinvented by Rizwan Beyg and Yahsir Waheed.

Truck art was quite a popular and recurring theme back in 2009 and 2010 but ultimately ran its natural course and slowly got phased out until PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week.

Yahsir Waheed did kimono tops, shift dresses and hand bags with truck art-inspired art work on them but it was the catchy lines printed on them that really stood out. On the other hand, Rizwan Beyg picked a colourful mesh of prints usually spotted on the side and back of trucks and used it in jackets, belts, thigh-high boots and handbags.

Monochrome



Stripes, check, herringbones and houndstooth; monochromatic print was a recurring trend on the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week runway. While many designers used monochrome in their collections, Feeha Jamshed was leading the pack. In her collections inspired by different eras of 20^th century, Feeha’s pieces sported monochrome in profusion in long maxi dresses and jumpsuits.

Also doing monochrome was Sublime by Sara Shahid and Maria B. While Maria B incorporated black-and-white in form of zebra prints with a sleeve here or a top there, Sublime featured jumpsuits and long tunics in silk with monochromatic stripes.

Accents of Leather



Leather lends a certain toughness and fierceness to a garment. Since leather is a primarily fall/winter fabric and is more suited for cold climate, its excessive use won’t work for the scorching summers of Pakistan. Designers added subtle leather details in their collections that added to the oomph. Feeha Jamshed’s collection featured leather trimmings on the back of long tunics that added sex appeal to her otherwise covered up look while Shehla Chatoor used leather fringe and skirts in her luxury prêt collection.

Clinched at waist



The Spring/Summer 2013 look is all about long, lucid tunics with a little structure added of belts. That was the look helmed by many designers on the runway, including Misha Lakhani, Sania Maskatiya and Maheen Karim.

Misha’s Grecian sari dresses and maxi dresses were accentuated with clinched waists with trim belts. Same was the case with Sania Maskatiya whose Aghaaz collection was styled by Maha Burney with leather and metallic belts. Belts were an intrinsic part of Shehla Chatoor’s collection whose models sported in-house made accessories with the Shehla Chatoor signature emblem.

Pearl Baubles



Pearl trinkets as embellishments and add-ons were seen frequently on the runway.

Maheen Kardar of Karma was at the fore-front of it with her Great Gatsby-inspired 1920s collection that featured pearl baubles as intricately embellished details on sleeves and jackets.

Elan by Khadijah Shah had wide sleeves made of pearls while Muse whose collections are always about rich luxe looking details had plenty of it in their collection titled The Gardens.

Chunky Necklaces



The PFDC runway didn’t only provide trends for clothes.There were palpable trends in the accessories department as well. Chunky necklaces were one of them.

From Sana Safinaz and Maria B to Adnan Pardesy, Maheen Karim and Khaadi Khaas, giant neck pieces were quite a thing at PFDC Sunsilk fashion Week. For Sana Safinaz, these neck pieces are part of their recently launched high-street and prêt stores. Khaadi Khaas’ collection came with neck pieces that went with the East Asian inspiration behind the collection. At Adnan Pardesy’s show, models sported metallic accessories that were tough and very edgy.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2013.

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