The third and final day of fashion week began with evening shows and some serious star spotting at the IVY show.
It was also a well attended evening, with fashion’s bright stars Sara Shahid, Maheen Kardar and Maria B making an appearance to support the platform. One also saw the extremely fashionable Zara Peerzada making a stand-out polka dot appearance (fashion needs a hundred more like her to inject oomph to the red carpet). Another wow look came in the form of fashion model Rubab, who made sure she caught every camera’s eye in her knee high sequined boots and crisp white boyfriend shirt. A little bit of sass never hurt anyone!
Fun fact:Â Every third lady in Lahore either wears false eyelashes or has had permanent eyelash extensions done.
Back to fashion, it was another overall pleasant day, starting and ending on especially high notes with Faraz Manan and HSY and even in between, while collections from Nickie Nina and Hira Ali had their hits and misses, they were by no standards insufficient. Republic by Omar Farooq sent out yet another sharp menswear collection, which gave men in the audience #groomgoals for the lack of a better word.
In detail…
Faraz Manan
Collection: Al-Hambra
“This is my city and I have deep respect for this platform,†a smiling Faraz Manan said after his successful showcase yesterday. We were just as delighted.
It was a pleasure to have Faraz Manan back on the PFDC runway after 7 years since his last PLBW outing. Needless to say, Faraz has grown exponentially as a designer since then, something that was evident in his restrained palette, his impeccable structure, silhouettes and finish and his ethos which was definitely world class. This was a collection that would do wonders in Pakistan and would do wonders for Pakistani fashion in the world.
Nickie Nina
Collection: Noor Mahal
Having fun with colour and craft, Nickie Nina were at their classic best as they played with tiered silhouettes that incorporated block prints, layered diverse fabrics and a combination of embroideries onto ensembles that worked quite well.
Republic
Collection: Hunar
As impeccable as always, Republic by Omar Farooq lay out a complete wedding wardrobe for men. It started with sherwanisand ended with sharply cut suits and never for a moment did Omar let his eye for detail or bespoke precision slip. The lighter toned palette, in my opinion, was absolutely regal, especially the jackets and sherwanisthat were embroidered in the finest gold silk thread to create embossed motifs that could just as well have been splashes of gold paint.
The secret:Omar had created his own fabric, which was woven on the handloom and then treated with multi-head embroideries as well as hand embroidery, that were made to look embossed. It was intricate and beautiful; the kind of attention to detail that couture merits.
Hira Ali Studios
Collection: Snap Trapped
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This was Hira Ali’s first complete collection showing at fashion week and it was a statement and a half. People often mistake wedding wear for pure bridals but it is, in fact, everything that girls and boys would wear to weddings. This particular collection by Hira Ali, definitely created with a younger crowd in mind, would be apt for a bachelorette party or a post dholkihangout, preferably at a destination wedding. By no stretch of imagination was it conventional; it was a fun take at wedding wear, kind of poking tradition in the eye. I don’t know how many girls would dare though.
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HSY
Collection: Zmarei
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A surprisingly short and focused collection made for the HSY grand finale and I must say, both the collection and the quick execution was refreshing. Sheru did bring out KPK stars Khumaariyan for live music – what would an HSY finale be without some gimmickry – but it worked wonders for the beat and pulse of the show. Music plays such an important part in keeping audience spirits and energy up; more on that later.
The collection was youthful, colourful and fun. It had the elements of an HSY signature: multi-tiers of embroidered fabric, a little bit of flounce and a little more of tradition, but it also had new energy, almost like a new lease on life. HSY menswear, as always, was near-perfect. The only slip in narrative, I felt, was the styling; while the turbans and funky eyewear made a ‘millennial’ statement, if you may, it was unnecessary and distracting.
- All photographs by Faisal Farooqui and his team at Dragonfly
