The fourth episode of PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week commenced on October 20. The Pakistan Fashion Design Council (PFDC) and Sunsilk took their fashion week to a bigger business platform teaming up with Expo Pakistan and in collaboration with the TDAP. Expo Pakistan is organised to explore trade avenues in the country and endeavours to serve as a thoroughfare to commercial and cultural diversity of Pakistani products and services hoping to promote export. Thus the PFDC’s association with TDAP for Expo Pakistan looks to further help institutionalise and formalise the Pakistani fashion industry specifically, guiding it towards the processes necessary to become a part of Pakistan’s exports globally.
Day 1 of PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week was structured into 2 acts, which featured 3 ramp shows each with 5 distinct designers and a show by the students of the PIFD. Day 1 was attended by leading media and fashion personalities, journalists and buyers who had flown in to attend Expo Pakistan.
ACT 1: Act 1 of PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2010 was opened by Maria B and her womenswear prêt-à-porter collection for PFDC Sunsilk Fahion Week entitled ‘Neo Natives’. The designer drew her inspiration from ancient world cultures from Aztec to Persia to fuse a global identity for the women of today. Through this collection the designer looked to project a world full of love, acceptance and respect for each other’s cultures and identities. Neo Natives spoke for the urban women of today, world travellers confident in their identities and capabilities. Talking about her brand and collection, the designer said it was internationally relevant and affordable fashion for modern Pakistani woma”. Renowned television host Shaista Wahidi and designers Yousaf Bashir Qureshi and Rizwanullah walked the ramp for the designer.
Act 1’s second show belonged to the debut collection of young designer Zonia. Her menswear and womenswear collection was entitled Aurora Luminescence – The Glowing Murk which was inspired by an amalgamation of two tremendous natural wonders to achieve a manmade termination in the form of experimental garments, which are a concoction of colour inspiration from Aurora waves and the silhouettes are attained by focusing on bioluminescent mushrooms which are ruffled, frill yet composed. The attributes of all garments differ in light and dark.
Next on the runway was Karachi based designer Zaheer Abbas with his womenswear collection for the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week entitled Myth. For this collection Abbas had drawn inspiration from elements of art and architecture along with Roman sculptures influenced by ‘wet drapery’, a term used by art historians to describe cloth that appears to cling to the body in animated folds while it reveals the contours of the form beneath. Based in pure chiffon, the collection carried motifs such as pillars, vases and acanthus leaf embroidered in antique gold and copper, creating a true synthesis of inventiveness and practicality.
ACT 2: Act 2 was opened by Karachi based designer Nida Azwer with her womenswear collection for PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week entitled Foliaceous which drew inspiration from the textures and hues that surround her. Based in a flowy silhouette using fabrics such as cottons, linens, silks and organza, the collection marked the designers’ foray into textures where she explored the textures of fresh leaves using traditional techniques such as cutwork accentuated with lace in the earthy tones of green and blue.
Next on the Karachi runway was the Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design [PIFD] where six students, Farwa Zaheer, Ridah Syed, Rubab Haider, Maryam Jaleel, Asma Iqbal, Komal Afridi, Safa Tariq and Saba Ijaz showcased their indiviual pieces and capsule collections.
The first day’s finale was by designer Akif Mehmood showcasing his womenswear prêt-à-porter collection for PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week, called Mast Patang, inspired by the Pakistani kite flying festival of Basant. His collection looked to capture the joyous nature and festivity of the occasion. In this collection he harked back to his childhood memory of congested old Lahore buildings where thousands of colourful kites were being flown from every roof top.
