Wardha Saleem's cheerful brides were the highlight of FPW Day 2
A sigh seemed to be heaved across the auditorium as the second day of Fashion Pakistan Week (FPW) unfolded.
Finally, there was some bona fide fashion on the catwalk, a few trends could be spotted here and there and some well-conceived collections showed promise of becoming best-sellers. Credit goes to designers Sanam Chaudhri, Wardha Saleem and Deepak Perwani for this much-needed reprieve from a disastrous first day.
The rest of the designer entourage fumbled from the good, to the bad to the ugly. Having sat through the previous day’s shows, one had sadly come to expect this.
A smattering of celebrities and designers added some spark to the red carpet – a smiling Feroze Khan, actor Alyy Khan, director Asim Raza, politico Sharmila Farooqui and designers HSY and Umar Sayeed.
However, the oomph that had once defined the FPW’s of yore was still missing. Where was the rest of Karachi’s crème de la crème? Why was the ambiance so lackluster? Was fashion week not the ‘it’ place to be anymore? Or perhaps, is fashion rendered commonplace due to over-exposure, not the ‘it’ thing anymore?
Socialite attendance notwithstanding, fashion weeks are ideally business-centric events and it was good to see the ramp-to-retail model put into motion. On the first day, it was announced that designer Aamna Aqeel’s collection is going to be available at the Ensemble store in Karachi from the very next day. On the second day, high-street brand HEM's showcase was followed by an announcement that their clothes, too, will be stocked at the multi-label. The business of local fashion finally seems to have found direction. All that is needed now is better fashion.
And based on second day of FPW, this may just be possible – in some cases, at least…