Fashion wins the Lux Style Awards 2013

In China for summer, I was unable to attend the Lux Style Awards yesterday but thanks to Twitter, technology and good friends in the right places – that would be official photographer Faisal Farooqui at Dragonfly – I did manage to enjoy the red carpet live stream and I got a set of pictures soon enough to put up on the blog. Not the same as being there, but good enough! The winners were being tweeted out all night (very late for me here in China) and while I did expect Humsafar to sweep all TV awards – which it did for satellite serials – there were some strange and some pleasant surprises waiting in the fashion categories.

To each category there are five nominations and out of those five, one wins and four lose. So, usually there is one winner and four whiners. Less then often, the losers will be gracious and concede defeat gracefully. But more often, they’ll smile, exit the event and then let loose a flood of disappointment on their Facebook walls. If you’re looking for some quick entertainment (the bitchy kind) it would be a good practice to stalk nominees who have lost or people who were never nominated, invited, called, cajoled, mollycoddled or pampered. From them you will get the other, darker side of the Lux Style Awards…and yep, it does sound like sour grapes.

What you have to appreciate is LSAs commitment to fair judgement in recognizing excellence in the fields of music, film, television and fashion. When there are no mainstream films to celebrate, the LSAs give the category a miss altogether. Luckily for us, there is never a scarcity of fashion. In fact, fashion weeks and the boom in fashion retail have ensured that each category get richer and more competitive year after year!

BEST MODEL (FEMALE)

I am delighted for Mehreen Syed who won Best Model though truthfully, I thought Cybil would and hoped Amna Ilyas could. But Mehreen’s body of work is vast and it’s high time she was recognized and awarded for it. I’m happy for her that the votes swung in her favour.

BEST MODEL (MALE)

Another surprise and boy, how the voters have changed their favourites! Shahzad Noor won this year, toppling the most prolific male model – Abbas Jafri – and others out of competition. Now, who is Shahzad Noor, you might ask? The honest answer is, I don’t know. I do however, after stalking his Facebook page today, recall seeing him on the catwalk (impressively so) and I do remember some of his campaigns. So good for him. It’s always good to have another name on the limited rostrum of male models.

BEST FASHION PHOTOGRAPHER

As predicted, Guddu Shani, or rather Shani bagged it yet again! For the strength and sheer volume of his portfolio and the fact that he’s one of those few people who work quietly and professionally, I’m delighted that Shani got to take his second award home tonight.

BEST HAIR & MAKEUP ARTIST

I did predict Nabila and her creative team would win and she did! No one has managed to nurture an empire so effectively as she has and not many people will be able to achieve what she has any time soon. Nabila thinks out of the box and executes ideas perfectly; she knows and shows style. That said, it would’ve been equally pleasant had the voters thought out of the box (as they did with Male Model) and boosted Shammal Qureshi, who was valid competition. But as Nabila tweeted later, she’s never not won when nominated…so that’s just tough luck for competition.

ACHIEVEMENT IN FASHION DESIGN – LUXURY PRET

Surprise or shock, no one can deny the validity of this award but that said, EVERYONE expected Shehla Chatoor to win this one. Can’t complain either way though I have to say that Shehla was a lot more visible last year, with her showings at Veet as well as Fashion Weeks and collection campaigns. Her shortcoming, I guess, would be Lahore, where she debuted only this year, and that’s where she probably lost votes. Iman of Body Focus, on the other hand, has shown at PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week as well as FPW and has retail presence at the PFDC Boulevard. It made all the difference. And there’s no denying the fact that her design acumen is impeccable…it’s good to see the Luxies honouring excellence here.

ACHIEVEMENT IN FASHION DESIGN – PRET

Body Focus again! Now, how do you explain that? As much as I adore BFM and regard Iman as one of the most talented designers in the country, I do think Sania Maskatiya truly deserved this one. Sania was super prolific all of 2012, she participated in fashion weeks, did the campaigns regularly, launched periodic collections…did everything right and was very visible throughout the year. And she was visible with good design that critics wore, appreciated and wrote about regularly. For BFM to win Pret was a bit of a surprise.

BEST MENSWEAR DESIGNER

This is the difference that one strong, unforgettable show can make. Because while Ammar Belal shifted to New York and was AWOL for a better part of last year, he won because he has the brains and design acumen to conceptualize it. ABCD, the patriotic sportswear collection, won him this award and I do hope he returns to justify it and influence the way most men (especially sportsmen) dress in Pakistan. I have to say that this is another award that goes to excellence in the category because in the entire fashion industry, no one has Ammar’s original and spot on sense of style!

ACHIEVEMENT IN FASHION DESIGN – LAWN

This is a strange category because lawn, as printed fabric, cannot be evaluated as fashion unless we talk about fashion designers dabbling in lawn and the impact they have on the way it is worn. That’s where the fashion element comes in. So while all five nominees had beautiful lawn prints last year, the way Sana Safinaz have influenced the way lawn is fashioned in Pakistan remains unprecedented. And their award was 100 per cent expected and accepted.

BEST EMERGING TALENT

A tough category, Saima Azhar – better known in the industry as Sam – picked up Best Emerging Talent yesterday. I think Sam is beautiful and has a face that reminds you of Angelina Jolie. She photographs very well too. However, she isn’t that great on the runway and cannot match the best in her walk. While I wouldn’t begrudge her this award, I dis expect Misha Lakhani to win for making such a strong debut last year. Obviously, the voters didn’t think so.

BEST HIGH STREET BRAND

Has any other brand ever won this category? Perhaps once or twice but regardless, High Street Brand can be rechristened the Khaadi Award because no other brand has the visibility, the consistency of design and growth, the look and the loyalty that Khaadi inspires. It is Pakistan’s first and till now, only mega fashion brand. If the designs of their ready to wear had started to look tired then even that changed last PFDC Sunsilk Fashion, where the collection was simply wow. Kudos to Shamoon Sultan for upping his ante and progressing in the right direction.

Leaving you with some visuals of the show…

All photos, unless specified, by Faisal Farooqui at Dragonfly.