KARACHI: The PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week reached its third day, showcasing more seasoned designers and debutants on the ramp. In attendance were media, celebrities and business delegates of fashion. Day 3 was structured into 2 acts in which a total of 6 designers showcased their prêt porter collections.
Act 1
The Day opened with Adnan Pardesy’s menswear and womenswear collection entitled “Coquetry” which took inspiration from the muslin fabric, perhaps the purest and simplest fabric and indeed the staple fabric of the Indus Valley Civilization 7000 years ago. From being used by ancient Greeks and Romans for robes, to swaddling babies in Egypt to Marie Antoinette’s scandalous portrait in a muslin gown to being a cloth of the masses in both Medieval Europe and the Sub-Continent, Muslin is known to protect its wearers from both heat and the cold. Indeed it is this history and its inherent qualities of unique smoothness and delicacy that inspired Adnan Pardesy to treat this fabric with couture techniques of construction, texturing and dyeing.
The next show was PIFD student Batur with his first ever collection, “Entrapment”, designed to capture both creativity and wearability for Pakistani women. “Entrapment” strived to represent both softness and edginess with the use of fabrics such as cotton, a variety of silk, organza, chiffon, lace and georgette. Silhouettes were an essential focus of Batur’s collection. Yahsir Waheed showcased his menswear prêt-à-porter collection entitled “Back to Life” at the fourth PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week. Yahsir’s collection drew inspiration from the era of the Indus Valley Civilization.
Indeed the driving force behind Yahsir’s collection was the designers’ quest to understand the great Indus Valley civilization and what it reflected. For “Back to Life” Yahsir Waheed based his silhouette in loose tapered pants with tailored double breast jackets with a more casual baggy look for the day wear. Traditional fabrics such as cotton, linen, ajrak with natural dyes and hand woven fabric were used. The designer also created knitwear with special paper yarn for this collection.
Act 2
Act 2 was opened by Khaadi Khaas’ S/S 2012 prêt-à-porter collection, “The City Within”. The collection took inspiration from the city of Karachi, and showed varying themes in print, pleated fabric and irregular hemlines. Graphic compositions of asymmetry were juxtaposed with cultural affiliations to challenge the nature of the fabric and bring out the textured complexity intrinsic to today’s life and style. The second show of Act 2 was staged by Hammad-Ur-Rehman who presented his debut womenswear collection at PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week entitled “Zarrkhanam”.
His collection was inspired by his childhood fondness for his favourite clothing, the Pashtun vest and its associated motifs. Through this collection the designer aimed to showcase the age old craft by amalgamating it with military elements to create a bold and regal collection. A wide array of fabrics such as Boski linen, cotton, organza, tissue and crinkled sheer fabric were used.
Day 3 closed with Ammar Belal’s finale collection entitled “Disco Inferno”. The collection drew inspiration from the disco fever of the 1970’s, specifically referencing John Travolta in his iconic ‘Saturday Night Fever’ suit and his signature ‘strut’ outfit, which mark the sharp tailoring techniques applied to the androgynous part of this collection.
Diane Keaton in her groundbreaking look for ‘Annie Hall’ served as a portrait of the ideal Ammar Belal woman, not afraid to wear the pants in any relationship. The collection included 15 different prints; polka dots, gradient stripes, graphic florals, and paisleys paired together in 5 colour variations marking the explosion of colour that was so prevalent during the days at Studio 54.
‘Swirl’ paneling was used throughout the collection to join transparent chiffons with opaque silks which gave a variation in textures while maintaining the fluidity of the outfits.The collection also marked a major shift away from the primary silhouette from last year’s King of Pop collection as it promoted flowy, high waisted, flared leg pants along with slouchy, bohemian tunics. – Nation
