Dawn Images

Fashion Pakistan Week Winter Fiesta 2015 took flight with high hopes. The designer lineup looked promising, fashion week brunch and lunch invitations helped build hype and social media buzzed with exuberant sneak peeks and Snapchat videos.

Karachi was already in full swing with the onset of winter party festivities, bolstered by the promise of high fashion glamour at the supposed ‘it’ event of the season.

These hopes plummeted dismally with the first day of FPW 2015.

A designer line-up that seemed stellar on paper veered often towards the disappointing, the mundane and occasionally, the downright ghastly. It seemed implausible that some of these collections had been edited at all by the Fashion Pakistan Council before being allowed out on the runway.

Much better than the fashion was the celebrity quotient on the catwalk: Ayesha Omar for Shehla Chatoor, Imran Abbas and Syra Shehroz for Sania Maskatiya, Sarwat Gillani for Gulabo and Maria Wasti and Zhalay Sarhadi for Tena Durrani.

The front row, unfortunately, was not as star-studded. With the exception of the political celeb factor provided by the Bhutto-Zardari siblings, the front rows seated a milieu of journalists, bloggers and sponsors’ friends. Where were the rock-stars and the movie stars and starlets that make fashion week fun?

It’s a good thing social media has developed a predilection for photographing themselves. FPW’s Instagram feed is currently littered with some very well-heeled journalists and bloggers on the red carpet. In the absence of celebrities, just click at yourself!

Moving back to the catwalk, here’s the lowdown on Day One

Shehla Chatoor

Celebrating her two-decade long career, Shehla Chatoor put her best foot forward with ‘All the Raj’, a bridal line inspired by pre-partition British rule and ranging from classic silhouettes to the slinky and the cutting-edge. The designer had hitherto refrained from showcasing her bridals in order to retain exclusivity and it is good to see her step into the limelight with what is, quite evidently, her forte.

With remarkable flair, Shehla put forward multiple tiered leather skirts, off-shoulder blouses with exaggerated bell-shaped sleeves, shimmering saris, elaborate tunics with wavering hemlines, dhoti shalwars, slinky halter tops, trailing capes, fur wraps for a wintry effect and lehngas, constructed from embellished net stitched over a quilted cotton lining in order to create the requisite fall.

Delicate, painstakingly crafted hand embroideries merged with design elements that are quintessentially Shehla: leather lattice-work, tassels, peek-a-boo slits and a color palette that varied from deep burgundy to green, off-white, pink, gray and black.

Just as striking was the jewelry which included spiked teekas, dangling pearl earrings, polki neck-pieces and earrings and matha-pattis. Shehla’s in-house jewelry line may be relatively new but it is certainly a classy, stand-out option for the adventurous bride.

The shoes — high-heeled and hand-embroidered — provided the finishing touches. A riveting, gorgeous respite from the oft-hackneyed bridal market, Shehla Chatoor can be counted on to diligently create complete looks and deliver. With this line-up, she proved herself as a bridal designer powerhouse and set fashion week rolling to a promising start.

Sania Maskatiya in collaboration with Toni & Guy

Quite tangential to Shehla’s bridal finery was Sania Maskatiya’s well-cut, refreshingly young vibe. Treating crepe and raw silk, the designer rocked a line of ruffled, overlapping, color-blocked capes and jackets.

These were absolutely winter must-haves and are bound to sell like hot cakes when the business-savvy brand shortly brings them to their stores.

Ironically, since the show was undertaken in collaboration with Toni & Guy, the hair hardly managed to get as much attention.

Loose side-braids, careless locks and messy, stylish buns were dexterously styled by Saeeda Mandviwala. Celebrity showstoppers Imran Abbas and Syra Shehroz added oomph but even they weren’t necessary to make this line-up a hit – the clothes managed to do it, all on their own.

Gulabo in collaboration with Toni & Guy

In contrast, the hair was possibly the main highlight in Gulabo’s line-up.

Quite unexpectedly, the brand lost out on its much-loved, frivolous verve and ventured into a mish-mash of floral digital print, unflattering fitted net, slinky pants and occasional glimpses of the gorgeous polka-dotted and striped indigenously woven Koya fabric that designer Maheen Khan is working hard to revive.

There were elements that worked but overall, Gulabo lost its sass and became too loud and confusing to be fashion-forward.

Ayesha F. Hashwani

Time and again, Ayesha Hashwani has proven her mettle at merging luxe with retail-friendly silhouettes and yet, this time, she spiraled down to a line that was emphatically hit-and-miss.

In accents of green, black, deep purple, brown and yellow, many of the outfits were reminiscent of designs earlier seen on the runway while others presented combinations that were far too gaudy to work.

Viewed as a line of separates, the collection did have its redeeming elements: a brilliant yellow and purple printed cape, a short quilted jacket, a deep blue thigh-high dress smattered with sequined embellishments, drain-pipe pants with print and minimal embroideries and a long skirt slit up to the knee, printed with Grecian imagery.

Overall, this line was hardly cutting-edge and simply did not do justice to Ayesha’s designing prowess.

Hisham Malik

Hisham Malik won in the Bank Alfalah Rising Talent category at this year’s PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week and debuted this FPW on to Karachi’s runway with a veritable bridal assault. Untidy finishing, bad fitting, unattractive color combinations and an overindulgence of flounces and fur defined the collection.

Hisham is still new to the field and it will take some time for him to develop a sound aesthetic. This, however, doesn’t imply that the FPC should allow him on to the runway alongside veteran, established names. The collection required editing or perhaps, could have been edited out altogether from the designer line-up. A shorter list of designer participants is better than a mediocre one.

Tena Durrani

Tena Durrani’s biggest disadvantage was that hers was the only other bridal line, aside from Shehla’s collection, to be showcased on Day 1 (Hisham’s strange concoctions have to be considered negligible).

Compared to Shehla’s well-honed regal signature, Tena faltered towards a collection that was, at best, market-friendly.

Working with a color palette of light hues interspersed with the occasional black and deep red, Tena created silhouettes that were nothing new - saris, lehngas, long coats and knee-length shirts - and interspersed them with heavy-duty sequined embroideries. Formal and traditional, this was bridal-wear that would appease the safe, conventional client but would set no new trends.

Sana Safinaz

With bursts of vivacious flora and fauna, Sana Safinaz played with velvets, silks, satins, appliqués, pleats, scallops and embroideries. Velvet pants were particularly on-trend as were the rather delectable quilted-silk and cotton jackets, beaded hand-made florals and gold gilded printing.

However, many of the silhouettes, fabrics and colors were far too similar to the brand’s earlier designs. Sana Safinaz have a penchant for sophisticated elegance but it is time, now, for them to shake things up, tweak their silhouettes and delve into newer design realms.

As expected from the designer duo, it was a strong collection that will sell well amongst their massive customer-base. And yet, it was certainly not their strongest.

Here's looking forward to a more satisfying showing today, at Day 2!

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