The fashion calendar is brimming over with events, and if you have a full fashion week looming in the near future, the thought of attending ‘yet another show’ prior to it can best be met with desultory enthusiasm. However, this was not the case with Divani’s standalone couture presentation taking place in Lahore.
Divani’s BagheBahar show, set at the opulent Baroodkhana Haveli in Old Lahore, was set against a rosy backdrop with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s live performance and Mahira Khan and Ali Zafar as the evening’s celebrity show stoppers. There was initial buzz of an attendance of Indian stars but of course, under the circumstances, that was beyond far-fetched.
INSTEPREPORT
Indian haute couture brand Divani makes its first foray into the bridal fashion scene in the country.
Lahore : The fashion calendar is brimming over with events, and if you have a full fashion week looming in the near future, the thought of attending ‘yet another show’ prior to it can best be met with desultory enthusiasm. However, this was not the case with Divani’s standalone couture presentation taking place in Lahore.
Firstly, standalone shows are always a welcome respite from the usual fashion week roster that tends to paint each designer with the same broad brush stroke. They allow a brand greater control over the ambiance, the way the brand and clothes are presented and the styling that can be afforded. The onus then is on the brand and the designer to put their best foot forward.
Mahira Khan floated through the evening, defying all gravity that must have weighed
her down in that heavy ensemble; it made her look more professional than the models.
Having viewed Divani’s clothes up close at the time of its launch nearly a month ago, we were quite excited by the prospect of seeing them in a couture presentation. The clothes have a theatrical flair that lends itself to runway drama well. The venue was also appropriately opulent, with the brand having chosen Haveli BaroodKhana in Old Lahore as the setting for their show.
Despite making a calculatedly late entrance (we added an hour to the designated time, given that it’s Lahore and things have a penchant for being delayed) we waited for a further hour before the show looked like it was ready to roll. However, we must take a step back and describe the décor before diving into it.
One walked into the haveli papered with flowers. Towering walls covered in roses and bathed in the warm, romantic glow of candlelight provided the backdrop for the event. The flowered walls seemed very reminiscent of Raf Simon’s debut show for Dior in 2012 and we were impressed to see international aesthetics seeping into our local scene. However, what would’ve made an even better impression would’ve been to see the sublimity carried forward in the execution as well.
Anam Malik covered her trip and fall with expertise and decided to pose while sitting
her segment out. It was quite an filmy moment.
The fact that a veteran team was involved in putting the show together makes it harder to forgive the lack of punctuality or the hiccups that plagued the presentation. It’s a standalone show with a limited number of models, no hair or makeup changes and all day for the team to put the show together. Considering it was slated to start at 9 p.m. at night, the fact that the first model walked out after 10:30 p.m. is rather appalling.
Apart from the recurring theme of a lack of punctuality, the show seemed to move forward in spurts. The first six models walked out one after the other and then there was another ten minute break in the presentation, though what the break was for and why it interrupted the already tentative narrative is a mystery for the organizers to solve.
Once the show resumed it did pick up pace and things moved much more smoothly, though not entirely in a seamless fashion. The female models seemed to struggle with their walk, even veterans like Nooray Bhatti and Cybil Chowdhry were seen tottering at points. Were the clothes exceptionally heavy or was it the uneven, cobbled courtyard at play? Another mystery.
What was commendable though was seeing model Anam Malik trip near the posing dais and turn a twisted ankle to her advantage by gracefully sitting down and posing as opposed to striking a pose while standing.
The presentation’s most delightful moment though came with Mahira Khan who wafted around the courtyard as though she was floating on clouds in a breezy spring dress. She made the walk and the couture look effortless, a feat that our professional models couldn’t quite manage last night. Guess there’s a reason why Khan is a superstar.
The entire fashion presentation was accompanied by a live background score, provided by none other than the indomitable Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. There were pitch issues in the beginning but after the sound team figured out an appropriate decibel to play at those were resolved and Khan’s soulful tenor resonated across the walls, making the balmy evening bearable.
Coming now to the couture itself, it’s important to preface the review by stating that Pakistani approach to embellishment is quite different from the route India takes. Our designers work in pastel shades or bright, punchy hues accompanied by crystalline adornment or intricate embroidery. The Indian ethos, from what we could gauge is very different.
The colour palette was mostly dark; black, a subdued shade of maroon, teal and faded blues. There was a mix of gota work, three dimensional flowers and sequin splatters while the highlight for us were the cut-crystal fringes that were used to finish chaddars, embellish crop tops and even served as unifying accessories for styling. Based on just the show though, the clothes failed to wow us. Maybe our expectation was too high or their beauty is in being viewed up close but from their jaunt across the haveli, Divani’s couture left more to be desired.
As an opening act, we’d rate the launch higher than this recent couture presentation. Don’t get us wrong, the show was far from being a disaster and had some strong moments but none of the dazzling magic we had hoped for. However, we only wish that the team takes this a starting point and continues to return with better, bigger and timelier productions.
