What’s up FPW’s sleeves

As FPW gets set to up the city’s glamour quotient, we take a sneak peek into the showcase’s offering.

KARACHI:

Winter’s coming and so is Fashion Pakistan Week (FPW). The Autumn/Winter installation of FPW, scheduled from November 25 to November 27, promises whiffs of winter glamour and, hopefully, a much-needed break from heavy-duty bling that we saw enough of at the PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week last month.

Over a course of the past few years, FPW has emerged as a platform for some of the country’s finest fashion. The Fashion Pakistan Council (FPC) has stayed true to its aim of putting out two fashion weeks a year, one for each season. The fashion week this time has a few appealing designs up its sleeve. Here’s a peek at what’s brewing at FPW:

The ‘Millennia’s’ up and coming

In an effort to promote fashion’s young talent, the Millennial Show will serve as a precursor to FPW, taking place two days prior to it. “The designers showcasing in Millennial are not fresh graduates. They are professionals who are in the process of establishing their labels, but need a platform to hone their skills,” explains FPC CEO Wardha Saleem. “They have been selected purely on the basis of merit. We are even introducing a new choreographer,” she adds.

Five capsule collections will be shown and, hopefully, this won’t boil down to a fun but far-too-wacky line-up a la ‘Rising Talent’ showcases. Wardha notes, “How can we expect new designers to improve without giving them a chance to showcase their work?” An admirable thought, really, and we hope Millennial serves up some exciting, spunky fashion.

Glamour’s night out

With the wedding and party season right around the corner, FPW’s participants are all for upping the glitz and glamour quotient. At a glance, expect cocktail dresses, gowns and a consistent flow of capes, cloak jackets and wraparounds to parade down the catwalk. Given the varied aesthetics at play, there probably won’t be much repetition.



Most notably, there’s Adnan Pardesy delving into classic monochromes, Sanam Chaudhry spinning courtly, vintage elegance while paying homage to her maternal grandmother, and Maheen Karim nailing evening wear with the finesse that is her definitive claim to fame. Faraz Mannan, the sole participant from Lahore, is showcasing a cruise collection focused on separates, and Shehla Chatoor is dabbling with leather in a line inspired by Japanese art and weaving techniques. Nida Azwer’s designs are dedicated to the Renaissance. Ayesha Farook Hashwani creates luxe evening-wear with ‘Baroque’ and Zaheer Abbas leans towards risqué minimalism with ‘Neo-Nude’. Maheen Khan celebrates Karachi, ‘With love’, Sadaf Malaterre imprints her bohemian signature onto structured luxury-wear, FnkAsia showcases folk inspirations, and relative newcomer Aamna Aqeel ‘Breaks the monotony’ with fusion-wear. And since we can’t get enough of SanaSafinaz, the brand is putting out two shows: a bohemian line by Ather Hafeez and a sophisticated wardrobe, envisioned by Mohsin Saeed. Also showing are DnF, Ishtiaq Afzal Khan, Gul Ahmed and Levi’s.

The long-ignored modern man

And the often lackadaisical realm of menswear may just manage to spruce up at FPW. Nauman Arfeen, among others, is set to showcase his penchant for intricately embroidered eastern wear, and Emraan Rajput is bringing out a military line. Deepak Perwani has switched focus from womenswear to ‘Everything but the girl’ – a menswear line devoted to the dapper, party-hopping modern man.

Backstage magic

Stylist Nabila and her N-Pro team take over styling for the entire fashion week. The N-Pro team has long proven its mettle in creating standout catwalk looks. Occupying the director’s helm, once again, is everybody’s favourite showman, Hassan Sheheryar Yasin. HSY may not be showing a collection at FPW this time, as he had done this spring, but it’s good to know that he’ll still be wielding the drama, magic and razzmatazz from behind the scenes. 

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, November 17^th, 2014.

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