Fashion Pakistan Week Day2: Zaheer Abbas comes out on top

Making up for yesterday's relatively uninspired shows, day 2 at TFPW was a high-energy affair that saw a few flashes of genius on the ramp.

Zaheer Abbas was the best of the night but there were several collections with merit.

Amir Adnan kicked off the evening with his Shah Zadeh collection. The essentially ethnic collection featured prince coats and jackets layered over kurtas as well as sherwanis and waistcoats.

Adnan’s double layered kurtas were particularly intriguing. He used principally earthy colours with jewel-like tones as accents. Opulent embroidery inspired by the Shah of Iran was used sparingly and with wit, for example as an embroidered tie. Adnan instead relied on rich silks and banarsi fabric to give his pieces a luxe feel. This was a colourful collection with crisp silhouettes and impeccable finishing, firmly aimed at the lucrative wedding market.

Sanam Chaudri followed with an intricate formal collection that was full of delicious details. Her layered, draped cuts were complemented by rope like belts and embellished trousers. She used lace, cutwork, net and 3D embroidery to great effect in her pieces and her “desi chic” silhouettes were appealing.

The last few pieces were more formal and figured jarring tones of oranges, pinks and crimson. While these latter pieces continued with the theme of cutwork and 3D embellishment, they threw off the balance of an otherwise beautiful, if busy, collection.

Nevertheless, Sanam’s fresh, contemporary take on Eastern formals and her gorgeous detailing made this an interesting and bankable collection. Her embroidered trousers, in particular, will be coveted by many.

Jafferjees was next up and their collection was a wasted opportunity. Wardha Saleem and Nubain Ali put together some excellent outfits for the presentation using soft prints, solid colours and laser cut capes.

Jafferjees bag collection however did not live up to the occasion. These bags were novelty bags at best — boxy & unattractive with bright, clashing colours. Instead of introducing modern, fashionable bags Jafferjees sent out a gimmicky seasonal collection that was ultimately unimpressive.

Abdul Samad brought the first half to a close with a crazy, energetic and slightly risqué collection. There was nothing boring about this menswear.

Abdul Samad started out with monochrome outfits — black & white suits, leiderhosen and a white outfit with black tie-strings. The last one looked like a cross between a martial arts outfit and a lunatic asylum uniform.

One of three celebrity models, Zurain Imam, set the tone in a black jacket with startling cut-out back.

Shezad Roy and Hassan Rizvi also walked for the designer’s quirky show.

The second half of his show was all vibrant Technicolor, with outfits like a bright purple sherwani and orange dungarees. There was some substance under all the madness. Samad’s tailoring was sharp and there were interesting details like pleated tucks on trousers. Very few of the outfits were wearable but Abdul Samad did show both originality and skill. It was an irreverent and memorable show but not a collection that will have many takers.

Zaheer Abbas opened the second half after a break that was barely a pause. His Primavera collection was unquestionably the collection of the night. It was outstanding on all fronts using drapery, cut and embellishment to great effect. One particularly memorable outfit was white-on-white bolero embroidered with birds that was paired with harem pants.

Abbas showed a variety of cuts including gowns, billowing skirts, organza capes, jackets and boleros. The predominantly white collection was accented by touches of gold, white-on-white embroidery, a jungle print and some subtle multi-coloured embroidery.

Another paired a jungle print crop top with a short pleated skirt and an asymmetric jacket. The collection proceeded seamlessly from white gowns to printed ensembles and ended with a showstopper featuring a white skirt with coloured birds embroidered on the bottom. Great stuff from Abbas.

Caanchi & Lugari were next and the less said about their show, the better. Their presentation of the latest Bugatti collection was all unimaginative polo shirts and boring trousers. It was barely worthy of a mall fashion show and certainly not up to fashion week standards. The show was crying out for both styling and imagination.

Gul Ahmed on the other hand showed that there can be a place for high street brands at fashion week — their Avanti collection completely looked the part. Despite being the second all-white collection of the night, it had presence. Using lawn, chiffon, silk and jacquard, Gul Ahmed’s team exhibited a variety of texturing and draping techniques. They used gold accents and showed a range of silhouettes, with some interesting dhotis, jackets and asymmetric cuts in the mix.

For the most part though this was a fun, modern Eastern collection with trendy creative elements . There were a few dreary outfits that could have been edited out – particularly a pedestrian peshwaz and some fitted tunics. The few overly-formal shaadi-type outfits should have been replaced by contemporary daywear or edgier luxe pret. Daywear is, after all, one of their key markets and Gul Ahmed’s pret is a wardrobe staple for many. Gul Ahmed has no plans to retail this collection at present though many of the pieces would work well as part of their formal pret.

Fahad Hussayn brought Day 2 to a close with his grandiose Domionatrix Decoded collection.

More couture than luxury pret, the collection featured heavy embellishment and dramatic styling. It showed flashes of genius and plenty of craftsmanship but it was over the top. Fahad sometimes has a tendency to let the drama of his creative vision get the better of him. He is best when he reins in his inner goth a little but didn’t do so this time around.

The collection was a continuation of his couture collection for the PFDC Swarovski couture weekend but those elaborate pieces would have been better left out of the show. There was some well-crafted, elegant summery pret at the core of this collection that got lost amid the ostentation of those extravagant couture ensembles.

Overall Day 2 had more of a buzz about it. The event was packed to the rafters, with latecomers sharing seats and this time round, very few left before the end of the evening. While the bizarre theatrics of Abdul Samad’s showcase stood out for the wrong reasons, there was some depth on the ramp on Day 2 of TFPW.

All photographs have been taken by Tapu Javeri

Salima Feerasta is a freelance journalist and the creative force behind style blog karachista.com. Follow her on Twitter @karachista

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