KARACHI: The three-day Fashion Pakistan Week (FPW) 11 Winter/ Festive ’15 kicked off on Saturday with seven designers and labels showing each day.

The week got off to a slow start with Shehla Chatoor opening the day one with All The Raj collection also featuring shoes, clutches and jewellery by the designer who is also celebrating her 20 years in fashion.

All The Raj featured motifs and symbols strongly reminiscent of the British Raj era and worked on similar sensibilities to produce outfits that spoke of vintage luxury and cultural sophistication. It was all represented in a brilliantly produced show reel that preceded the showing of the collection. While the designer kept the festive evening wear base beige, she showed a splash of colour in duppattas and deviated from the norm by way of silk print borders on heavily embellished shirts.

The menswear was represented by print Jodhpur pants featuring a coat of arms symbol with a deep red velvet jacket setting it off perfectly. More from Shehla featured an extravagant pink creation with a trimming of fur and further employed the use of leather in a two-tier embellished skirt and the showstopper which was a heavily worked beige number with gold work featuring stork symbols. The kimono effect was also particularly visible in some of the cuts.

The Toni & Guy hair show put forth latest innovative trends in hairstyling while also featuring outfits by Sania Maskatiya and Gulabo by Maheen Khan. While Sania came up with colour blocking in her superb winter collection featuring drastic and innovative cuts, Gulabo was represented by a newcomer’s flashy take on the label which is known for shock value. Both the collections were an instant hit.

Ayesha Farook Hashwani journeyed to Greece and drew inspiration from the art, dieties and architecture to produce festive evening wear on an earthern palette. The result was too much drama, little innovation or invention.

Tena Durrani added outfits to the typical bling factor and the only thing out of the ordinary was her choice of personalities to feature her showstopper pieces.

Fashion school graduate and amateur Hisam Malik chose the platform to make his debut in festive wear but failed on count of vision and finesse. For someone who rose above the rest to claim the winner’s prize during his days as a fashion student, Hisam can certainly not be written off just as yet due to a visible streak of pure genius, and one hopes to see something truly ‘wow’ in the coming days remain intact for now, but just not in bridals.

Sana Safinaz closed the day with Russian Roulette that was an experience in romanticism and exoticism. Playful with layers and lots of structure, the collection was further accentuated by a collection of Outhouse Jewellery. It featured velveteen prints in striking, vibrant colours and designs, and was bold and unabashedly unapologetic in its approach to design. The jackets remained the focal point of the collection seeped in luxurious elegance.

Day Two

Wardha Saleem chose Zargul (Golden Flower) for the opening act on the day two with traditional block and screen printing on formals, bridals and separates. Attention to detail in her signature style was apparent throughout the line which comprised rich velvets and other bridal fabrics featuring richly embellished sleeves and elaborate bridal lehengas. It was all played out with Zeb Bangash’s vocals resonating in the backdrop and Maya Khan and Osman Khalid Butt making an appearance in showtopper creations.

Maheen Karim brought Karachi into full focus in her fashionable, masked masquerade tribute to the city by the sea. Luxury fabrics in a range of silhouettes paired with hand-crafted jewellery by Saima Akram accentuated slinky evening gown with a plunging neckline, jumpsuits with short blouse, and a dazzling fusion of print with stone encrustment on black.

Obaid Sheikh’s Russian motif-inspired theme was also touted as a fusion of the East and West and a tribute to the craftsmanship and culture of the subcontinent. It was paired in different ways to create different looks but still remained somewhat confusing to the fashionistas present.

Elan was all about flora and fauna and unabashedly played on the close to nature theme with prints and imagery inspired by giraffe print patterns with radical cuts and symmetry, making it exciting, inspiring and bold all at the same time.

Nida Azwer’s bug-theme collection was way too high on the bling factor and luxury fabrics, and seemed odd in its approach to festive wear given the gritty nature of the theme. It spoke volumes of the designer’s keen eye on commercial success through and through.

From Tuscany With Love by Huma Amir Adnan of FnkAsia and Deepak Perwani showed in succession. The day three will feature designs by Umar Sayeed, Zaheer Abbas, Delphi, Zainab Chottani, Faraz Manan, Nauman Arfeen and Nilofer Shahid. The hair & make-up of the models on all the days is by Sabs Salon and choreography and show direction by Frieha Altaf.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2015