Comfortably cruising ahead, the Spring/Summer 2015 edition of Telenor Fashion Pakistan Week proved that the event may have successfully overcome the rocky road to stability but at the same time, designers have slid into a secure lull when it comes to creativity.

This tall glass of bubbly was just as full as it was empty.

As an event the Telenor Fashion Pakistan Week Spring/Summer 2015 hit all the right notes. It had an impressive lineup, it was timed and disciplined perfectly and it created the right noise when it came to local and international coverage. With 7:30pm quoted as starting time, a busy and stylishly bustling red carpet at 7 ensured that the shows were on time, more or less. Unfortunately, the punctuality of an event like fashion week, however welcome it may be, cannot be its biggest achievement. That mantle belongs to content.

The TFPW lineup boasted some of fashion’s biggest players like Shamaeel, Body Focus Museum, Sonya Battla, Sania Maskatiya, Deepak Perwani, HSY and Zara Shahjahan but at the same time also missed FPW haute favourites like Gulabo by Maheen Khan, Shehla Chatoor, Sana Safinaz and Maheen Karim. While Sana Safinaz will be showing at the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week next week, the rest have decided to sit out the season altogether. It’s like they’re on a long summer break and one wonders how this would be acceptable anywhere else in the world.

There were also credible, yet misplaced names like Lala Textiles, Gul Ahmad, Caanchi and Lugari and Levi’s; their presence diluted the high impact that strong collections make at fashion week. These may be successful brands in their own right but they are utilitarian at best. They don’t even make it to high street, let alone qualify as trend setting unless there’s some hidden sartorial mystery (lost on one) in the white tees and dress shirts that Caanchi and Lugari showed. The only way Jafferjees and Al-Karam made themselves relevant is by crossing over to the design realm by signing on credible designers like Wardha Saleem and Sania Maskatiya respectively. The designer collaboration immediately added gumption to these two showcases.

One understands the need to make economic sense of fashion week (commercial brands pay up to five times the price that designers pay to show) but that comes through sponsors not sponsored content. With a title sponsor - Telenor – finally on board and big brands like Maybelline also involved, Fashion Pakistan should have afforded to impose stricter selection criterion.

The single most glaring omission of a selection criterion was in the Bank Alfalah Rising Talent (BART) show. This fabulous initiative has helped put talented graduates in the spotlight, also awarding many of them as much as half a million rupees to start a business. They get publicity, coverage and financial aid. But what they offered in return, in this particular edition of the show, was costume and clothing that emerged as gimmickry instead of garment. It was one of the worst Rising Talent showcases ever seen, considering this is the same platform that has gone from strength to strength in recent times. Simply comparing it to the BART show at the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week last year proves how ridiculous this one was.

Moving on, the TFPW lineup had fairly impressive names like Sadaf Malaterre, FnkAsia, Madiha Raza, Amir Adnan, Sanam Chaudhri, Zaheer Abbas, Wardha Saleem, Inaaya, Daaman, HSY, Zara Shahjahan and Deepak Perwani holding the audience high in anticipation. These brands may have fallen short of our pick of fashion week’s Most Outstanding Collections (featured on Style pages 34-37) but they all inspired interest and fascination for what they would offer.

The refined aesthetic and impeccable finish on Sadaf Malaterre’s blushing summer collection was as petite as the designer herself. FnkAsia, in a change of heart, went from its usual folkloric craft-based clothing to simpler summer wear and was refreshing. Madiha Raza, the highly anticipated winner of the 2014 Millennial Show, put out some creative laser-cut detailing. Amir Adnan’s collection of traditional grooms wear was innovative and well constructed with some fantastic bejeweled detailing in unexpected places.

Sanam Chaudhri’s offbeat formalwear offered some interesting cutwork and chikankari in silhouettes than can best be described as fusion; Wardha Saleem’s Lotus collection was pretty on a palette of soft pastels. Zaheer Abbas and Daaman both offered white palettes, the former being luxurious in its cut and drape while the latter restricting itself to smart, wearable and affordable ready to wear. From Inaaya’s rilli accents to Zara Shahjahan’s cross-stitch collection and from Deepak Perwani’s club mix to HSY’s sharp DJ mix menswear, the line up was a smorgasbord of individual creative expressions, as it should always be.

The most theatrical expression, of course, came from Yousuf Bashir Qureshi whose collection appeared to be the means to an end, the end being putting on a good show. Seeped in Sufic galore, the visual imprint was stunning and perhaps required to pick up the face (and pace) of an otherwise practical lineup.

The biggest problem was that most of these expressions had déjà vu value, they were repetitive and offered very little in terms of innovation. One felt that designers played it safe; there was a lack of experimentation or boundary pushing this time. Even YBQ has done these dramatics before. Sadaf Malaterre and Wardha Saleem’s silhouettes were predictable. Deepak Perwani’s collection left a lot to be desired; it was smart but there was none of that Frieda magic.

If the TFPW lineup impressed with the names on it, then those names came with high expectations that were not entirely met. There were hardly any wow moments, no starbursts and in fact the only oomph in every show came with the edgy and experimental styling. Nabila’s hair and makeup team offered much more in terms of innovation whether it was asymmetrical contrasting braids, puffs of turquoise eye shadow, white contouring or Swarovski eyebrows.

Having established itself firmly, fashion week has to take itself to the next level and in this case, that means inviting buyers from at least the South Asian and Middle Eastern region where the market for Pakistani fashion is huge. One saw a couple of random buyers at the venue but there was no planned buying activity: no display stalls, no interactive VIP areas and no costing cards. I remember one of the very first editions of FPW, when Malaysian designer Eric Choong from Malaysia showed; he brought with him a complete brochure of his collection with outfit details, coding and pricing. That’s how you reach out to buyers. Ours is, understandably, a third world industry but it has been testing the waters long enough to dive in now. Fashion Week has to sink or swim as professionally as fashion weeks do all over the world. Two dozens socialite buyers are not enough to roll out the runway and red carpet for. It is time to target professional buyers and take the game ahead.

Fashion Week has been a learning curve for Pakistan’s fashion industry; now in its seventh year it has been around long enough to push itself into third gear. One felt a sense of complacency settling in, in terms of collection creativity as well as event management. But now that TFPW has managed to acquire solid footing, it must edge itself out of the comfort zone and tighten its strings: the council must bring in buyers and facilitate trade activity, the designers must up their ante and take out time to create. And most importantly, the selection panel must stop handing out slots to the highest bidders and exercise strong quality control.

 NOTE - The Telenor Fashion Pakistan Week has announced dates for its next event. TFPW Winter/Festive 2015 will be held in Karachi on October 1, 2 and 3 and will forecast winter wear and occasion wear for 2015/16.

Runway photography by Tapu Javeri
Red Carpet Photography by Kashif Rashid
Hair and makeup: Nabila (N Pro and N Gents)
Publicity: Latitude