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Laam Fashion Week (LFW) is returning to the runway for its second edition on Friday and this one’s going to be much bigger than the last.

In a press release issued on Tuesday, organisers said they would be hosting 43 shows with over 50 established fashion labels participating alongside independent designers, contemporary and high-street labels, manufacturing and retail-ready brands and emerging talent.

The first show in the four-day series, LFW Presents: Starry Night, will bring together 21 designers, with each “presenting one look inspired by the night sky at its most alluring”.

Another show, presented in collaboration with the Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design, will bring 10 young designers onto the runway with capsule collections.

High street fashion labels will display their work as part of LFW Edit, with several marking their fashion week debut with Laam. Participating labels include: Almirah, Aramis Haijaan, Beygum Bano, Collected XX, Dhundli Zameen, Dreams of Arthur, Edenrobe Ceremonial, Hathghar, KIBO, Project 1959, Sadhbarg and U&I - Umer Imrana.

Some of the highlights of LFW this year will be individual showcases from some of Pakistan’s most prominent fashion designers. Participating designers include:

• Ali Xeeshan
• Deepak Perwani
• Duno by Hassan & Yahsir Waheed
• Emraan Rajput
• Erum Khan
• Fahad Hussayn
• HSY
• Jugnu Studios by Hussain Rehar
• MIHHA
• Mo by Mohsin Tawasuli
• Mohtaram
• Parishae Adnan
• Rici Melion
• Saira Rizwan
• Sania Maskatiya
• Souchaj by Mehak Junaid

Longtime fashion designer Nilofer Shahid will be the star of this edition’s LFW By Invite Only show, where her label Meeras will present the collection Tapestries in the Looms of Time. This follows Rizwan Beyg, who led the segment in the first edition.

LFW will also showcase participating retail-ready and manufacturing labels from the second run of its Ramp Readiness Programme. Twelve of these labels will display their wares in a special showcase, LFW Retail Runway.

The fashion week will take place in Lahore from October 23 to 26 and is directed by designer Hassan Sheheryar Yasin. Following its runway-to-e-tail model from last year, shows will be livestreamed on the Laam app, where patrons from around the world will be able to purchase the clothes on display. Shows will also be streamed on ARY Plus.

As per the press release issued on Tuesday, Laam’s CEO Arif Iqbal said, “Laam’s mission is to showcase the best of Pakistani fashion to the world. Our platform does that by letting people anywhere shop Pakistani fashion.”

His co-founder Amir Iqbal said the runway was just one part of the journey and the second, equally important part was “what happens after the show: how brands connect with customers, how collections translate into commercial opportunities and how designers gain access to wider markets”.