What makes Fahad Hussayn so angry?

You know that there’s a Fahad Hussayn show in the offing when you roam off backstage and encounter a model whose face is masked by a large number of diamontes and metal sequins.

“I can’t really talk,” she told me as I clicked at her face with my phone and floated out the image onto the Internet. Further ahead, there’s a table cluttered with large golden head accessories, waiting to be propped upon models’ heads before they take to the runway. It’s surreal, fantastical and quintessentially Fahad.

Even the show’s title pays ode to the designer’s love for epic fantasies: Hoshruba: Dara Shikoh aur Sunehri Churail. Leaving the theatrics aside, Fahad also creates beautifully crafted clothes that invariably reflect his signature. It’s an enticing concoction of drama meets fashion that makes one look forward to his shows – as I did, at the recently culminated PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week (PLBW).

Unfortunately, you also know that there’s a Fahad Hussayn show in the offing when you hear quite a bit of shouting backstage. The designer’s temper is notorious and sitting in the audience, it was noticeable that something had gone amiss. Damage control was quickly implemented and the show – the finale for the three-day PLBW - that followed was beautiful. But for Fahad, it was marred by the fact that he had gotten angry again.

What makes him so angry, I asked him later, when he has created an enthralling collection for the fashion week finale?

“It’s just that I work very hard,” he says. “I invest a lot of time into every collection, devising everything from the prints to the embroidery to the accessories for the catwalk to the write-up and the music.

"For this collection, I got posters created to go with the storyline and booked my celebrity showstoppers months beforehand. Mikaal Zulfiqar and Amna Ilyas were actually going to perform a part of the story on the catwalk and it is only when I realised that there wasn’t going to be a head ramp that I dismissed the idea.

"Saad Sultan especially produced a song for the show which was then sung by Ali Sethi and Zeb Bangash. Even the backdrops were specially created. Then, after so much time and energy, when things go amiss backstage, it makes me angry.”

One could put it down to bad luck. Fahad’s finale was on a day that was thronged by celebrities on the catwalk. The backstage area inevitably got clustered by media trying to interview the actors once they had left the ramp. According to the designer, he tried to keep things at hand but ultimately, he had to take a stand.

“When there is a star there, even your own tailor leaves his work and goes off in the quest of a selfie,” laughs a now chilled-out Fahad. “I couldn’t access my clothes or the turbans for the men that I had particularly taken pride in. A lot of the styling got late. Some of the accessories I had created got lost and when my show started, three of the models weren’t even dressed.”

“By the time they got ready, the segment in which they had to walk had already ended and I told them not to go on to the catwalk. It was harrowing. One of the outfits that I couldn’t showcase had been my favourite. It had taken a year and a half to create. How could I not be upset?”

Kamiar Rokni, spokesperson for the Pakistan Fashion Design Council (PFDC) observes, “Fahad is generally very tempestuous and so, he’s the worst person that this could have happened to. He is very emotionally invested in his collections and doesn’t want to delegate when it comes to putting in the final touches. As a designer, I understand why he was upset and I wouldn’t have liked it if it had happened to me. Then again, these things happen and sometimes you just have to roll with the punches.”

“When there is a star [backstage], even your own tailor leaves his work and goes off in the quest of a selfie,” laughs a now chilled-out Fahad.

Regardless, Fahad’s show exemplified how catwalk theatrics can go hand in hand with great fashion. Even the profusion of celebrities that he sent down the catwalk couldn’t draw attention away from the labyrinthine handwork and unique amalgamations within his designs.

“People often don’t notice things which is why I opt for celebrity showstoppers,” he explains. “Once I have their attention, they begin to appreciate the designs. The celebrities who took part in the show for me actually believed in my theme, the story it narrated, the drama it sought to create and the traditional music that assisted in the narrative.”

“Fashion week is exhausting, though. Perhaps I shouldn’t have taken the finale slot,” he admits. “I am very particular about the way I want my show to be. It’s why I like opening acts. They give me time to have everything ready just the way I want it to be. The Pakistan Fashion Design Council has always been very kind to me and in retrospect, I am glad that the show went well although I do have some sad memories of it.”

Till another fashion week, then. “I have technically learnt how to deal with people,” vouches Fahad.

But hell hath no fury like a designer scorned – especially if the said designer is Fahad Hussayn.