|  Casa
Hamza VIP lounge
The young and hip Hamza Tarrar of Casa Hamza fame created the perfect
getaway for the media, buyers and designers - the VIPs of any fashion
week: a swanky and sophisticated Casa Hamza Lounge that served as
a much needed breather between shows.
Replete with organic fancy food and mocktails, the lounge provided
a comfortable, relaxed and a rather chic corner for people to liaison
and mingle. Many a collection was critiqued and applauded in the
confines of the lounge and quite a few business ventures took birth
there. After all the best conversations do flow around plush lounges
and yummy delicacies. What's more, the sparkling white décor
was teamed elegantly with glamorous iconic chairs, akin to the famous
Elizabeth Taylor chair with her hugely popular pose from 'Breakfast
at Tiffanys'.
Since the PFDC Sunsilk fashion week was all about being Pakisatani
and showing it off to the world, Hamza created chairs for local
icons of the fashion industry like Freiha Altaf, Tapu Javeri, Sehyr
Saigol, Sara Shahid amongst various other designers. A uniquely
fabulous way to honour all those in the front line of fashion week
in the quintessential Hamza Tarrar way.
National Anthem
Nothing says we are proud Pakistanis like the National Anthem, and
when, to everyone's surprise, the first day first show began with
this poignant reminder of our identity, we all stood tall to salute
the soil and its finest talent. Many lip synced and sang out in
full force but many also deemed the gesture cheesy and obsolete
as a relic of their school days.
However in times of despondency and negativity as we live in now,
the national anthem served to ignite the dimming embers of nationalistic
pride and patriotism and most importantly, to be grateful for managing
to put together a platform for our nation's talent inspite of all
the debilitating odds. If the Fashion Pakistan week showcased collections
like 'Salute' in Karachi, the PFDC Sunsilk fashion week in Lahore
whole heartedly embraced its identity as 'Pakistan' (and not PAK.
IS. TAN as an odious corporate sponsor's perennial commercial kept
reverberating throughout the show).
Giveaways
Who doesn't love goodie bags and that too designer goodies as gifts!
The most exciting aspect of the PFDC Sunsilk fashion week was, without
a doubt, the lovely glossy handbags that guests departed with.
Reminiscent of Oprah Winfrey, who began the trend, the highlight
of each evening, apart from the shows, of course, were gleaming
bags of lovely gifts of chocolates (Elan and Khaadi); candy floss,
colourful corsage and a whistle (Nomi Ansari); silk printed and
cotton khaddar scarves (Nida Azwer and Khaadi respectively); Luscious
eye shadows and Nirala Mithai (HSY); deodorant sprays and samples
of designer perfumes and moisturisers (Scentsation); and tee shirts
(Sublime T. and Ammar Belal).
It was a sweet and rather thoughtful gesture that left all audience
members who received these gifts elated, but most importantly, it
was a great business move that left all and sundry wanting for more.
So for days after the event, attendees beamed and retold the story
for what they received generating brand awareness through that invaluable
marketing organ: word of mouth.
Musical
Performances
Overload, Strings, and Ali Zafar: imagine what a treat it was! And
to add more to the excitement, a live circus and a Michael Jackson
act courtesy Sonu Dangerous! This was one fashion week that seriously
brought the groove out and the house down with its various performances.
The musical couple Meesha and Mahmood of Overload opened the fashion
week with their powerful throaty rendition; Sonu Danegrous got the
begums, models and guests dancing and leaping out of their seats
in full 'Thriller' mode; Strings flirted with the audience with
eye contact and their signature soulful melodies; and Ali Zafar
wowed with his boyish charm. If only the prince of pop Atif Aslam
(who was busy shooting Shoaib Mansoor's film) was there, the crowd
would have certainly gone ballistic in ecstasy and those who scoff
have the Ensemble show in Karachi as a glaring reminder of how quickly
societal nerves fall apart under the magic of an affecting performance.
With Strings and Sonu Dangerous in the house, these carefully crafted
musical acts drifted us all away to another time and place and we
all swayed in unison to the power of the music. Each collection
was made memorable by these performances and showed the level of
creativity and cohesion the industry can demonstrate at large-and
to what powerful effect! if all aspects of the design industry unite.
Show Stoppers
The Fashion Pakistan Week in Karachi certainly set the trend for
show stoppers both young and mature, with designer friends and stylists
walking for each other to show their support, which then saw the
PFDC Sunsilk Fashion week following suit.
Most collections presented their piece de resistance with their
final ensemble and a show stopper, which unfortunately at times
denigrated to a show flopper. While many such as Deepak Perwani,
Tapu Javeri, Tariq Amin, Feeha Jamshed, Hadiqa Kiyani, Maliha Naipaul
and Sadaf Malaterre certainly know their way around the ramp and
added oomph, many fell painfully flat. Of course the most exciting
show stoppers were the musical performers themselves, yet Lahore
lacked the kind of magic and excitement the show stoppers in Karachi
managed to create. The shows should transform with these electrifying
personalities walking the ramp, but local plastic socialites cannot
replace star power. Nonetheless there's always a next time and those
celebs that did walk managed to get the crowd roaring in approval
and delight.
The cutest gesture however was made by Nida Azwer whose collection
didn't quite hit the mark, but her last few pieces culled from Mughal
architecture and heritage were beautifully caricatured onto her
last few garments that models walked in with little children from
SOS Village hand in hand.
The kids wore their own specialised ensembles with tiny elephants,
palkis, motifs and flowers intricately embroidered on their traditional
clothing of sherwnais and lehangas. It was the sweetest way possible
for Nida to launch her children's line (if she does delve into it
that is) but most importantly it showed that fashion doesn't exist
in a pompous elitist vacuum, but can be used for a purpose. The
radiant smiles on the childrens' faces that day said it all.
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