After a very impressive start a-day before at the House of Shamaeel Anasri, expectation were quite high for the main event of FPW17 Winter / Festive. With new management, new public relations firm, new media partner, new set of sponsors and a new venue, expectations were higher than anticipated, but all turned sour before leaving the venue.
Red carpet was to start at 06:30pm, but hardly any guests arrived by 07:30pm and very few celebrities were spotted on the red carpet, which crowded by photographers, cameramen etc. Not many celebrities besides fashion fraternity chose to come.
main event was to start at 07:30pm, but started a bit after 09:00 pm and it seems as FPW is losing it charm, instead of progressing further and mastering the craft of managing events of this magnitude, the management of FPW failed miserably. After being in business for ten years they could have improved, but they chose not to.
Inside the main event hall, air-conditioning didn’t seemed to be working efficiently. Ramp was designed in T-shape and seating arrangements were such that they gave a very hollow looking feel to the show. Throughout the show there were just too many vacant seats here and there. Overall it was a stark contrast between this show and the ones held previously.
Among few positives points of the show was the flow of the show, which was at par with previous ones, choreography was spot-on, designers showed some very brilliant looking dresses and most of models walked the ramp perfectly, whereas show-stoppers should learn to walk the ramp too.
First to hit the show was Misha Lakhani who showcased her creations which were a mixture of mughal styled fused into modern Indian eastern styled. Looked very elegant and very sophisticated.
Next in-line to showcase her creations gorgeous and beautiful Aamna Aqeel whose creations titled ‘Palace Wonderland’ had a royal feel to it. Bridal dress worn by Mehreen Raheel was one the best creation of Amna Aqeel closely followed by sari wore by Nadia Hussain. On the final note Amna Aqeel being a head taller than most of the models, walked the ramp with such ease and confidence that she literally outshone almost all the models with her stark beauty and her elegant walk.
Erum Khan was next to showcase her talent as a dress designer, her creation titled as Bridal Odyssey’ had too much to them but even then was the best show of the evening. Sunita Marshall was first with a very elegant and royal looking dress which made her look like a princess Raja’s darbar from twentieth century. Rabya Chaudary also adorned one the best dress from Erum Khan’s collection.
Husan Ara by Obaid Sheikh was due next which had a pure eastern feel to it, Areeba Habib and Maha displayed some of creative work of Obaid Sheikh, while his other work had feel good effect to it too. His show stopper Ghana Ali could have walked better on the ramp, but she sure did adorn one best creation of Obaid Sheikh.
Saira Rizwan’s collection Glitterati had its highs and lows with Sunita Marshall again stealing the limelight with best creation from Saira Rizwan closely followed by Fouzia Aman who wore something of a new type of creation, a new type of sari. On Saira Rizwan’s show, finally got to see a zero sized model in Pakistan for the first time. A zero sized model seemed too good as here we get to see too many plus size models. Showstopper Sumbul Ibqal wasn’t even recognizable to most of the crowd as they didn’t even budge at her entry nor did she impress with her shabby walk.
Last to showcase on day one was Suffuse with Jaipur & CO, with collection called Asteria and first dress looked more like a very fashionable and expensive sleeping gown, followed by some Cinderella type dresses. Mehreen Raheel displayed the best dress created by the team at Suffuse. Jewellery for this show was by Jaipur & Co.
On the concluding note, not a very promising first day of Fashion Pakistan Week 2017, let see what comes up on day two.
Kamran Hashim's Blog 