HSY celebrates 24 years with a solo show in old Lahore

You knew that it was an HSY show, from the moment when the car wound into androon Lahore and stopped at a turn road where illuminated golf-carts stood to take the guests further inwards into narrower alleyways.

The venue for the show was the 250 odd years old privately owned Syed Wajid Ali Shah haveli, opened up for a show for the very first time, resplendent with lights and rose petals.

A steep, winding staircase lead to an open-air courtyard where the doors to the rooms were splayed open to reveal antique furnishings and heirlooms and then, higher up, a rooftop where a DJ spun out music and refreshments were served.

It was the kind of venue that had guests reaching for their cellphones, recording videos and reveling in the many photo-ops; the kind of place that just needed to be Insta-storied out to the world at large. The kind of place that just had to be the location for HSY’s first solo outing, celebrating 24 years in the business. It played host to the kind of show that had one murmuring, ‘This is the kind of energy one needs at a fashion show!’

It is essential that a solo show should epitomise the soul of a brand and that is precisely what Shero’s ‘Mohabbatnama’ did. According to the designer, he was paying homage to his city Lahore and the love that it had showered upon him over the years. It was also, one felt, an ode to his years as one of Pakistani fashion’s foremost showman, with the audience comprising his many friends and supporters through the years. He choreographed an extensive lineup of 74 outfits that were absolute HSY – the beiges, the greens, the navy blues, the whites and ultimately, the quintessential reds.

Mehreen Syed, Shero’s friend and longtime muse, started things off, wearing a lehnga worked with beige embroidery and sequins and a lightweight net dupatta bordered with kiran and gota. Following closely behind her was the dimpled Bilal Ashraf, also a friend of the designer’s and a mainstay at his recent shows.

In small colour-coordinated segments, the wedding regalia was showcased. The men wore well-tailored Nehru jackets, sherwanis and jackets, following a subdued palette set off by embroidery in beige and dull gold. There were plenty of lehngas with occasional appearances made by sleek long jackets and tapered knee-high shirts.

Embellishments ran heavy except on the dupattas, which were predominantly net, worked with light smatterings of sequins. The accessories glittered – teekas, earrings and rings fashioned from faux kundan with strands of motiya dangling below them.

The final few outfits were modelled by individuals whom the designer declared had been with him from the very onset of his journey; models Nadia Hussain, Zainab Qayum, Natasha Hussain and Abdullah Ejaz, photographer Shahzad Raza, journalist Andleeb Rana Farhan and Shero’s sister Afshan Samii who had been the model for his first ever fashion shoot. Delivering the final coup de grace was actress Reema, yet another HSY favourite, in a maroon peshwaz with spurts of green and mirror-work.

Very much in the limelight was the sheer joie de vivre. Shero is, after all, ultimately a showman. At the very onset of the show, he invited Salima Hashmi to read out a letter on Lahore written by her father Faiz Ahmed Faiz. And then, he choreographed, drawing the eyes quite as much as the models as he grooved to a well-selected soundtrack and threw kisses here and there. The models were all smiles and so was the audience.

In fact, the drama wielded by the designer is almost always so riveting that everything, even the clothes, fades out in comparison. This does not mean that ‘Mohabbatnama’ didn’t have its standout moments. It was all invariably wedding wear and as a result, silhouettes remained traditional with minimal experimentalism.

Could the collection have been more stellar should he have had experimented with silhouettes, newer embroideries or introduced new palettes? Certainly. Did he veer a bit too much towards the safe and retail-friendly? Yes, probably because most wedding-wear customers are only interested in traditionally safe clothes. Would it still have been refreshing had he, for the sake of the catwalk, delved towards newer territory? Definitely.

And yet, what stood out was the HSY signature singing out loud and clear in the very well-cut, aesthetically pleasing clothes, the venue, the décor. A distinctive ethos has become a rare thing with designers often spinning out collections and shows that are far too reminiscent of the work of others and it was good that Shero strode to his own beat, rather than to any other’s. One expects that people will buy this collection because of its unique identity, the fact that it is instantly recognisable as Shero’s.

Whispered often within the audience was that this show, with all the hype and hoopla it generated, could be indicative of the demise of fashion weeks and onset of individual showcases. I find that highly unlikely. A solo outing is a grand project to take on and involves extensive expenditure. It isn’t economically feasible for most designers to fly solo year after year especially when they can simply benefit from the media mileage, infrastructure and more affordable participation fees offered to them by fashion weeks.

One doesn’t know if HSY will revert to fashion weeks for his next few shows for he stated this solo outing was particularly in celebration of his 24 years in the business. This, in fact, was somewhat curious – why was the designer endeavouring to celebrate 24 years in the business when the normal practice is to commemorate 25? Here’s the classic Shero response: “I know that in the 25th year, I’ll be fixated with my own achievements, which is why I chose to dedicate this year to different inspirations. ‘Knight’ at PSFW focused on women’s empowerment, ‘Musafir’ was dedicated to millenials and ‘Mohabbatnama’ is in celebration of the wonderful city that I call my home.”

There could have been no better celebration or indeed, no better, more exuberant culmination to a season that has been exhaustingly cluttered with fashion weeks and shows. May Shero – and his shows – go on.