It was one of those hot Sunday afternoons when the heat visibly radiates from the concrete ground, much like steam rising from a hot skillet. But an invitation from Nomi Ansari, on behalf of L’Oreal, was enough for Karachi’s fun-lovers to arm themselves in summer wear and head out to Café Verde where the designer’s successful collaboration with L’Oreal Paris Excellence Crème was being celebrated. Titled ‘Ambassador of Fashion’, this was one in a series of alliances that the brand hopes to build with successful fashion designers in Pakistan. With colour in his chromosomes, who better to begin with than Nomi Ansari?
L’Oreal’s Musharaf Hai, Moazzam Ali Khan with brand ambassador, Mehreen Syed
The man can achieve the impossible, apparent in the turnout despite the sweltering heat. And where there is Nomi, there has to be fun. The afternoon took off to a slow start but the party began once several icy cocktails had been downed. The platform for live music became a stage for karaoke acts, starring Nomi himself, Anoushay Ashraf, Nadia Hussain and Deepak Perwani, who all know how to let their hair down no matter what the temperature. Caught in the moment by Tapu Javeri’s voyeuristic lens, you will undoubtedly see the video on Instagram sooner or later.
Ali Kazmi with Anoushey Ashraf
The afternoon also became a melting pot of various odd and interesting conversations. Nomi shared that he would be showing at the PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week in September, which is reassuring because he’s one of the few designers who manage to inject fun onto the runway. His last showing featured a Salman Khan doppelganger, who by the way has been in high demand ever since Salman Khan’s hit-and-run case started making headlines last week.
Several models shared their plans to backpack their way over to Bollywood and one even confirmed that she was in talks with top producers as we speak. We’ll reveal who and what once the dotted line is signed, as talking about it, she said, “would jinx itâ€. Makes sense.
Shaniera Akram in a summery Deepak Perwani
With an event titled ‘Ambassador of Fashion’ there had to be style and indeed there was oodles of it. Nadia Hussain turned up in tall and Amazonian glory, in a sorbet-shaded jumpsuit. Her truck art clutch was eye catching and innovative. Shaneria Akram stood out as the only (natural) blond around and carried a Deepak Perwani dress as the perfect way to beat the crippling heat with style. Nomi Ansari dressed the troupe of models in his creations and they all wore a gorgeous range of sparkling diamond jewellery by Sherezad Rahimtoola. But when it came to style, no one beat the designer himself. He remained cool and unruffled in a waistcoat and jacket, defying summer odds as someone who does not perspire. The only other person who challenged his composure and style was L’Oreal’s Moazzam Ali Khan, who even braved his signature cravat. “Years of experience and built-in air conditioning†is what he put it down to. The rest of us spent the afternoon gasping for streaks of cool air blasting from the struggling air conditioners.
Nadia Hussain does florescence all the way
At the end of the day it all boiled down (pun-alert) to the Gemstone Collection, which is what it’s called: a triad of colours that Nomi Ansari selected for L’Oreal’s Ambassador of Fashion campaign and worked with Saba Ansari and Nadir Feroz to develop an eye catching fashion visual for. What we have taken years to realize is that fashion and beauty go hand in hand; you really can’t have one without the other which is why it is imperative for women to work on their beauty regimes just as committedly as they do on their wardrobes.
– Photographs by Faisal Farooqui
