A big crowd turned up at a live music concert and fashion show at the Lok Virsa.
The event was staged by the students of the Fashion and Textile Design, National Institute of Cultural Studies (NICS) at the open-air theatre.The catwalk began with a presentation of men’s clothing — the fabric woven on handlooms in Swat.Shamoon Hashmi, a popular television anchor while conducting the show told the audience about a project that was run in Swat and Malakand Division for reviving local craft following the military operation against militants.“Zamurrud Khan, the Managing Director, Pakistan Bait-ul-Maal played a key role by providing sufficient funds for the project aimed at reviving weaving on handlooms in the Swat region,” Hashmi said.“A lot needs to be done to rehabilitate the livelihood of the locals through tourism and craft development programmes.”The gorgeous, bold and confident Sam was the show stopper. Her presentation and posing on the stage was well appreciated by the audience. Her looks and figure went well with all the clothing lines.Sila, Candy, Mini, Aksa and Zari were among those who did well on the ramp and won big applause for their professional mannerism. Their jewellery was done by Amoon.Among the male models Bilal, Arsalan, Asghar Adam, Sunny and Zubair attracted attention. They are all locals and showed great potential.All models presented the clothing lines of MSQ, Ufaq and Riverstone. All three designers have introduced fresh designs and colours this summer. MSQ brought a range of party and bridal wear for women while Dulha presented special stuff for the bridegroom.Muntaha Shaharyar of NICS who was the team leader, told Islamabad Dateline: “About 25 models both male and female took part in the catwalk. All of them were amateurs selected through a recent NICS talent hunt. They performed quite well despite this being their first time on the ramp.“The show was aimed at giving hands-on-job experience to the students so that they could learn the basics of fashion marketing and event management. Despite some glitches, the show was a big success. The next time, the students would be more confident and mature,” she said.The performance of the Alag music band was great with pop singing but with a blend of semi-classical nodes.
Shaan Khan, the lead singer, known for his song Dhokay Bazi, also sang some of the songs already composed and sung by other popular singers.The Rawalpindi-based Rohaan Abbas, who gained prominence through Indian music competition show Chotay Ustad gave mature performance.It was indeed a masterly performance by Abbas who is a grandson of the renowned singer Shaukat Ali.Aina was the other musical band of the evening. This group of four has recently emerged and is attempting to make its mark on Islamabad’s music scene.Speaking about the show, chairman of the NICS Rauf Khalid said: “We gave full opportunity to the students to do whatever they wanted to do. It would help discover their hidden potential to run the shows and learn management techniques too. They might have made many mistakes, but it was a learning experience for them.”The show was turly a good beginning for some young models who looked quite confident on the ramp. – Dateline
