KARACHI: The bomb blast on Thursday evening made no dent to the show scheduled for the second day of the Pakistan Fashion Design Council’s Fashion Week.
Although the organisers cancelled all breaks that came in between the shows shortening the overall duration of the event, they expressed their resolve to go ahead with the programme by opening the event shortly after the explosion.
The designers who showcased their collections included Asifa and Nabeel, Nida Azwer, the graduating class of the Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design (PIFD), Khadija Shah from Elan, Moeed Yousaf and Faryal Aftab from Muse, and Zara Shahjana from Libas.
The event began with Asifa and Nabeel showcasing a collection, titled Romulus. They had singers Shahzad Roy and Hadiqa Kiyani walk the ramp for them at the opening.
The collection had a classic, chic sensuality as the models walked down the ramp clothed in often draped, pleated dresses in ivory white, eggplant purple and navy blue among other colours.
Nida Azwer’s collection was inspired by Chinese motifs and was titled ‘Auspicious Musings’. The collection contained her straighter silhouette, puffed shoulders, loose sleeves and her use of silkscreen printing.
From white, black, deep red, yellow, the outfits also contained small oriental details such as the Chinese collar and the motifs that were printed often on the upper back or on the sleeves of the garments. The collection contained an essence of Nida Azwer’s fantastical debut effort.
It was announced that the national assembly has recently awarded a degree status to the PIFD.
The students presented a very creative collection, the highlight of which was a model who seemed to wear a large, brown and round dress that resembled a burnt onion.
When she went towards the middle of the ramp, she unhooked her dress and it dropped all to the floor to reveal a heavily layered gown. The moment encouraged a shocked response from the audience followed by applause.
Khadija Shah from Elan showed a collection that was simple and very wearable with the straighter, less voluminous silhouette and closed hemlines.
Muse’s collection was mostly western wear and reflected confusion between the designer’s inspiration from the fashion of the seventies mixed with everything that was wrong with the fashion of the eighties.
Zara Shahjehan showed a collection that was inspired by her grandmother, a silver screen star Husna, and the style of the city of Lahore in the sixties.
Her collection had shorter lengths and closed hemlines coupled with creative diamond prints and embroideries on the clothes. Sehyr Saigol from Libas showed a classic black and white collection with hints of colour here and there.
She predominantly focused on slimming down the shirt volume and the pajama while presenting a classic collection perfect for both everyday wear and formal lunches. The collection also displayed a liberal use of sheer fabric.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation collaborated with the PFDC in making the wish of a very young Khadija, a thalassemia patient, true.
Her wish was to walk down the fashion runway as a designer. Khadija did indeed walk down the runway, clad in one of Libas’ outfits and modelled quite fiercely for the photographers at the end.
She was given a standing ovation.
