It was a good day for young designers.
Fashion Pakistan Week Day One had several established names – Ayesha Farooq, Huma Adnan, Nida Azwer and Tena Durrani (she has been around for quite some time despite this being her fashion week debut) – as well as a spate of menswear designers. Nauman Arfeen, Arsalan Iqbal and Humayun Alamgir who may not have all been everyone’s cup of tea but did deliver what they’re known for. What impressed me most in this day of fashion, however, were the students.
BEST OF DAY ONE
The Bank Alfalah Rising Talent showcase, which had fallen from merit last year, made a more than impressive comeback by featuring four students with tremendous potential. All four capsules by Tooba Chottani, Areej Iqbal, Fatima Abdul Rauf and Zafar Ahsan Naqvi were thought provoking, well constructed and promising. Students are the future of Pakistani fashion and these four from PIFD, AIFD and IVSAA reassured that the future was in better hands than what it seemed like last year. My personal favourites were Areej Iqbal, because her silhouette construction was strong and Zafar Ahsan Naqvi, because his interpretation of his theme in use of texture and colour was insightful.
Areej Iqbal
Zafar Ahsan Naqvi
MOST OUTRAGEOUS OF DAY ONE
I saw a video message from Umar Akmal wishing Humayun Alamgir on his fashion week showing and after seeing the collection, titled Ayash, I saw myself envisioning Akmal in each and every one of the flashy suits the designer had created. In what could be perceived as a cry for attention, the well constructed pieces did go out of their way in OTT-ness. Any room of doubt was erased by his accessories, which included a gold mini-croc and an oversized star. With Weend’s ‘Starboy’ playing in the background, it was evident that Alamgir was eager for some stardom. Did his collection merit the applause? Maybe if it had been shown in Vegas.
I’m a m@$%^@f&*ing Starboy’ is what Humayun Alamgir seemed to be saying.
MOST (BARELY) FAMOUS
At the risk of sounding elitist, there were no real stars on the runway yesterday, except for maybe Syra Shehroze, Danish Taimoor and Imran Abbas. What? Wait…didn’t someone say stars? I rest my case. There were several starlets, who apparently have huge social media presence (which is why they are relevant) but I couldn’t recognize any of them except for the aforementioned few. Imran Abbas, by the way, was barely recognizable thanks to his ever-changing face. And there was an Urdu One segment dedicated to a film called Mehrunisa V Lub You but again, at the risk of sounding elitist, it’s not a sight I expect to see at fashion week. I have to say that FPW pulled a BCW here.
Meherunisa V Lub You…NOT. Maybe in the cinema but not at fashion week.
- Photography by Faisal Farooqui
