PLBW Day Two: The evening shows end the day on a high

Day Two of the PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week (PLBW) moved from an earlier contingent of grouped shows with fledging, newer brands like Ahmad Sultan, J&H Studio, Tayab Moazzam Studio and Asma Aslam and Saira Rizwan to an evening segment of established names. 

 The earlier shows, from what was heard were not particularly fit for the ramp. The evening slots featuring The House of Kamiar Rokni, Misha Lakhani, Sania- Maskatiya, Mahgul and Sonia Azhar were almost, all great.

The House of Kamiar Rokni

 Newly back from the Golestan Province in Iran, Kamiar Rokni designed a collection - as an ode to his Persian Heritage. Not unlike Moonrise last year, this was another stellar collection with a fresh veneer. The collection had a wide array of silhouettes including flared pants, sari and jacket, skirt and crop top along with conventional lenghas. The devil was in the details however, with dupattas that had kiran edging, scalloped details and were very interestingly stitched to the shoulders of the outfits they were a part of. 

 Gota, mirror-work and embroidery of delicate flowers was seen in a lighter color palette with hues including baby pink, powder blue and pistachio green with his two finale bridals were in a cardinal red unlike the two from last year which were in white. Rokni kept it retailfriendly but real and honest to his artistic vision – a bridal balancing act that he seems to have mastered.

Misha Lakhani

 When a Misha Lakhani show starts, the mood of the room changes, the walk of the models is different and a sense of stillness prevails. The mood arises from a designer who’s evidently comfortable with her aesthetic and has established it and continues to play to her strengths year after year. Pairidaeza may have been a flash black to her previous collections with crushed lenghas, ruffles on skirt but it displayed the elegant glamour that Misha’s known for so well. 

 Ideally, the designer should have stayed away from reusing her designs from last year. Especially because in the current milieu of bridal wear designers, she is someone who has a recognizable signature and a fashion forward vision. Here’s hoping that her next collection has more innovation within her wellloved signature style. 

 Sania Maskatiya

A recognizable name in bridal fashion that has continued to show at every fashion week, year after year Sania proves why brides (and grooms) flock to her studio. Her womenswear was a true collection for brides that ran the gamut from the shaadi, mehndi to the formal ghazal night and is bound to sell well in her stores. Always designed with great finesse, the designer knows how to cut a neat silhouette and to work it with her own aesthetic. Maskatiya’s was also a collection that featured menswear alongside bridals, aptly titled in that regard – Dilara (a promise between two beloved). Her menswearwas solid andwell fit as it always is, and not an afterthought like other primarily womenswear designers often have. 

 Sonia Azhair 

 It was unfortunate that Sonia Azhar’s designs were part of a lineup that included some of the best collections of PLBW. There were many things wrong with her designs; net backs in a beige colour, the hackneyed gown silhouette and other embellishments like pointed beads that didn’t belong in a bridal showcase. The highest point of the show was when Mansha Pasha walked for Azhar but managed to get no response from the crowd. We wondered if the crowd was stunned into silence from the clothes or didn’t recognize the actress in them, who was visibly struggling to carry the weight of the clothes.

 Mahgul 

 Saving the absolute best for the last, Tales of Bijin by Mahgul is going to be remembered as her comeback after her debut collection. It was so great to see what comes from the creative visionary being back at her atelier doing what she does best, without the weight of Sapphire’s retail cycle pulling her down. The showcase opened with Mushk in a jamawar dress, followed by green pants and a belted shirt over another – two silhouettes that felt fresh and new to the wedding wear realm. 

Following these two, each silhouette was unique in its style; slinky dresses under jackets and the best of them all, the sari pants combination tied together with a corset blouse. The colourpalette was experimental with green, oranges and red and blacks worked in together and embellishments that had a clear thought process behind them. Mahgul brought Mehreen Syed back to the ramp as her showstopper and to end the show the former supermodel brought Mahgul forward to take a well-deserved bow.

 – Photography by Faisal Farooqui and his team at Dragonfly