Fashion Pakistan Week 2017 opened its doors for the fashion fraternity on Wednesday. This marks the 10th year of fashion for the Fashion Pakistan council, and the runway saw many new as well as established names take stage to present their collections. However, its FPW’s introduction to new talent that became the highlight of the evening.
Nauman Arfeen
InstepREport
Fashion Pakistan Week 2017 kicks off; Bank Alfalah Rising Talent steals the limelight.
Karachi: Fashion Pakistan Week 2017 opened its doors for the fashion fraternity on Wednesday. This marks the 10th year of fashion for the Fashion Pakistan council, and the runway saw many new as well as established names take stage to present their collections. However, its FPW’s introduction to new talent that became the highlight of the evening.
Menswear
FPW Day One saw a lot of menswear designers, especially those who aren’t afraid of taking risks. Nauman Arfeen proved his strong command over craftsmanship with his Wild Wild Vest collection. Asymmetrical cuts and unstructured traditional silhouettes ruled the runway and while Arfeen has become a little predictable in his display of rustic designs, he has simultaneously created a signature that works.
Arsalan Iqbal stuck to his signature style, which is emphasis on fabric. His collection, Nocturnal relied heavily on jacquard fabric in blacks and greys, and provided well tailoured ensembles. One could argue that black and grey isn’t a very summery colour, but men mostly play it safe, opting for either black or grey when it comes to the colours they wear for formal wear.
It was Humayun Alamgir’s debut collection that dared to defy a lot of conventions. Titled Ayaash, Alamgir’s collection incorporated the use of a lot of embroidered velvet jackets and silken bow ties. Alamgir also blinged up his men’s line by using a lot of gold, silver and black sequins. Too flashy for some? Perhaps, but it would appeal to the spotlight seekers.
Bank Alfalah Rising Talent
Bank Alfalah Rising Talent is always successful in helping the fashion fraternity discover emerging names in fashion but FPW17 proved to be one of the best shows in terms of rising talent. Four talented fashion students put their fashionable feet forward with four distinct and well thought out collections.
Tooba Chottani displayed her love for painting and the fine arts by putting together a collection that did exactly that. Models walked out draped in hand painted fabrics that looked like large canvases trailing behind them. Thankfully, Chottani opted for a fresh colour palette appropriate for spring, using hues of green, blue, and purple.
Areej Iqbal proved her love for music with her collection and put it together in an innovative and fashionable way. She chose a pale pink to complement black and white and designed the prints using the audio wavelength.
Geometric prints and futuristic cuts were Fatima Abdul Rauf’s focus for her collection and we loved how she used a dash of apple green to liven up the otherwise monochromatic ensembles.
Zafar Ahsan Naqvi’s collection was very well conceptualized as he paid a unique homage to Karachi and its landscapes by using digital prints and nets to paint a picture of what Karachi looks like.
Summer Festive for women
It’s all about colours this season as all the collections for women were bright, flirty and feminine. Ayesha Farooq’s focus was on the modern, contemporary woman. The collection, titled La Plage, featured a variety of embroidered pantsuits and jumpsuits, and while the silhouettes weren’t too fresh, the prints that incorporated beachy elements, such as seashells and corals, definitely were.
Huma Adnan’s Avian collection for FNKASIA revolved around a soft colour palette of light pastel shades, with delicate embroidery and floral motifs. There was a lot of summery colour, but just as much confusion at the same time. However, FNKASIA upped the glamour with Sarish Khan, dressed in a floor length embroidered gown that was perhaps the highlight of the entire collection.
Fashion Pakistan Council’s new CEO Nida Azwer showcased a collection, titled Susleme, and stayed true to her design aesthetic; she sought inspiration from the vibrancy of Uzbek textiles to bring innovation to her work. While Azwer excels in the use of pastel shades, the designer opted to go for bold and bright reds and oranges this time. It was a mixed bag.
Tena Durrani’s collection, The Debut was the grand finale of the evening. Belted jackets, bustier crop tops and ruffled pants dominated the contemporary collection. Durrani’s work was a welcome break from heavy embellishments as she focused more on prints and fabric instead of embroidery. That said, she played it very safe and showed nothing that was too memorable.
–Photography by Faisal Farooqui @ Dragonfly
Areej Iqbal
Tena Durrani
Ayesha Farooq Hashwani
FNKASIA
Zafar Ahsan Naqvi
