Fashion week fizzles out

The last night of Fashion Week in Karachi ended in the same low-key, disappointing manner that it had begun.

KARACHI: The last night of PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week in Karachi ended in the same low-key manner that it had begun.

The entire evening was a series of disappointments. Even the finale collection by designer Hassan Sheheryar Yasin (HSY) had none of the electricity that characterised his own show at fashion week this spring.

But there were many more puzzling questions at hand.

Why was HSY’s resort wear collection almost entirely in black — a far cry from the jewel tones and fun clothes that one would pack while going on vacation? In a departure for the brand, the collection used cotton and some of the designs were beautiful.

But a few good designs does not constitute a great show, and the presentation lacked the electricity one expects from a well-established brand like HSY’s and the finale show of a four-day event. It didn’t match up to the mood of his previous finale show or the celebratory mood at Deepak Perwani’s finale show from Fashion Pakistan Week in November 2009.

Other designers who disappointed on the final day included Ammar Belal, whose collection ‘Concrete Jungle’ was a tribute to New York and inspired by the city’s architectural landmarks. Ammar Belal’s brand is known for stylised jeans, a skill that he utilised heavily in his previous collection but used sparsely in this one. Sadaf Malaterre did what she does best — cocktail wear that is funky and fun. From tie-up tops to her signature short dresses, Malaterre presented a flirty collection in juicy hues of fuchsia, red and orange.

Sobia Nazir, on the other hand, made one fatal mistake. Her designs looked all too similar to the flowing dresses made by designer labels such as Sana Safinaz. Had she used the printed fabric in a more innovative way, it would not have looked like an unoriginal mess.

Maria B’s ‘Tribal Militias’ collection — replete with models marching and saluting on the runway, toy guns and boots — featured some interesting separates. Zeba Bakhtiar walked the runway for Maria B and looked ravishing even in military-inspired garb.

Teejays’ Feeha Jamshed has proved time and again what a design powerhouse she is and demonstrated the evolution of the brand at PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week. But the majority of the designs were old and have been shown at previous fashion weeks. Many of the tunics have been hanging in the Teejays store for many months now. Fashion week is meant to showcase new collections, and not rehash previously done work.

Despite this, Teejays had one of the most praised collections of the night with fashionistas clamouring to find out where they could snap up the outfits from.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2010.