What’s fresh at PSFW?

Here’s a look into what to expect at the upcoming fashion week in Lahore.

KARACHI: The upcoming Pakistan Fashion Design Council (PFDC) Sunsilk Fashion Week (PSFW) in Lahore promises some high fashion moments.

The fashion week has progressed to the efficiency of well-oiled machinery and the designer line-up is brilliant, with a few new designer lines and collaborations springing out amongst PFDC’s usual suspects. Here’s what’s new at PSFW this time around.

Deepak Perwani zones in on Lahore



As bonds grow stronger between the country’s two disparate fashion councils, Deepak Perwani, a mainstay of the Karachi-based Fashion Pakistan council, opts for the first time to show at a fashion week by PFDC. His collection will feature clothes for the modern Pakistani woman, an extension of what he showed last month at Fashion Pakistan Week in Karachi with a more bohemian edge.

“I’ve had a shop in Lahore for the longest time and being part of a fashion week there will only help consolidate our retail presence,” explains Deepak, very sensibly. Deepak’s last few lineups have featured predominantly wearable, retail-friendly clothes that can be purchased right off the racks. However, with successive Spring/Summer showcases at two closely-spaced fashion weeks, it remains to be seen whether Deepak will make the all-too-common mistake of bringing out a repetitive collection, we hope we don’t end up seeing more of the same!

Jewels à la Shehla Chatoor



Shehla Chatoor is a powerhouse with her high-end luxe and this time, she fuels the glamour with a delicious line-up of statement jewelry. One has often appreciated Shehla’s penchant for creating entire looks on the catwalk. Her slinky, sophisticated designs have always been set off by coordinated shoes, clutches and those long, dangling, gold chains that have now become her signature.

With her debut ‘Shehla’ jewelry line, the designer steps up her accessorizing skills to dazzling jades, corals, black onyx, druzy and opals on cuffs and eye-catching necklaces. The inspirations traverse the heritage of the Himalayas, with Buddhas and pretty Kashmiri flowers embedded on beaten metal alongside chains and velvet and leather finishings. The sneak peek has bowled us over, and with Shehla promising to keep prices economical at an exhibition scheduled right after fashion week.

Fashion’s wild child thinks pretty: Mohsin Ali designs for ‘Libas’



He’s the spunky young designer collaborating with a brand well-known for its pretty feminine sophistication. Mohsin Ali’s PSFW collaboration with Sehyr Saigol’s ‘Libas’ is going to be interesting simply for the two very divergent design aesthetics it will be merging. It’s no secret that Sehyr Saigol and the PFDC have been very supportive of Mohsin as he slowly and steadily builds his designing career. The liaision with ‘Libas’, he says, is his best work experience yet. “I have had a free reign to design and access to the most beautiful fabric and craftsmen.” The collection, he promises, is a synergy of Libas’ quintesential elegance with his love for psychadelia. With Sehyr Saigol overlooking this line-up, this is one collaboration to look forward to! The collection is already in production and will be in stores shortly following fashion week.

The House of Arsalan Iqbal’s ‘Odyssey’ into womenswear



Retail hopping from Karachi to a shiny new flagship store on Lahore’s M.M. Alam road and regularly showing at fashion weeks, the House of Arasalan Iqbal is a new label that’s pulling out all stops to establish a strong fashion presence. The brand launched its women’s prêt last year, but this is the first time it will be aired out on catwalks; the ‘Al Femme’ line, comprising of 15 apparels for women, as part of the ‘Cargwar’ collection.

Inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, the lineup is essentially unisex, mostly monochromatic and includes cargo pants, jumpsuits, variations of the shalwar and structured linen jackets. Arsalan and his creative head for womenswear, Fayez Agariah, have refrained from taking the easy route of embellishing through embroideries. The focus, instead, is on trendy craftsmanship with rivets, spikes, quilt detailing and bursts of technicolor jewels. The clothes will be accompanied by a range of shoes including boots, flat pumps, high heels and wedges. It remains to be seen whether this debut collectione will manage to make a mark on the PFDC’s platform, where it will be rubbing shoulders with some of the country’s finest. From the retail viewpoint, it’s commendable that prices begin at Rs 5000, and the line will be available on the very next day following fashion week at Arsalan’s store in Lahore.

Maliha Rehman is a fashion and lifestyle journalist with an obsessive, compulsive need to write. Log on for more updates on Twitter
@maliharehman.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2014.

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