Lahore. It’s the city that blossoms with bursts of passion in every floral cluster that paves its sidewalks. It’s the city that welcomes spring with lush green grass and the fragrance of wet earth at dawn. It’s where sexy grey clouds threaten to drizzle any minute and where hail storms in, craving attention like a glistening trophy. This is Lahore, which hosts the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week, this time every year.

The city’s beauty doesn’t end at nature; it filters into fashion week, the red carpet, the ramps, runways and front rows that sparkle with high voltage glamour. This year was no different. Fashion Week attendance was bedazzling, with the Saigols and the Manshas turning out in their finery. It’s where entertainment’s brightest stars made head-turning appearances: you had Fawad Khan walk out for Omer Farooq (Republic), Ali Zafar in the front row for Zara Shahjahan, Juggan Kazim and Meesha Shafi showing loyalty to their favourite designers. Meera made an unexpected, pleasant guest appearance, much to the delight of the mainstream press.

The designers were another tier of sparkle. You had the gorgeous Maheen Kardar Ali taking control of front stage management; the ever-sublime Sara Shahid stepping into her role as spokesperson of the PFDC with panache. You had Khadijah Shah (Elan) along with Kamiar Rokni and Rehan Bashir - undoubtedly two of fashion’s best-dressed men - in the front rows and Ali Xeeshan making a friendly appearance with his pug named Pugli tucked in his pouch. The only problem: they were all sitting fashion week out, albeit in the front row. They should have been up there, showing strength in numbers.

Amongst all that glitz and glamour, the beauty and the discipline (unprecedented well-timed schedules), the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2015 suffered, if you may, for lack of enough solid content.

Maheen Kardar Ali (Karma) and Sara Shahid (Sublime) were exhausted; perhaps the Crystal Couturier show held two months ago was partly to blame. Khadijah Shah (Elan) was apparently too busy with lawn and her involvement with Sapphire. The House of Kamiar Rokni claims to have moved away from pret and Khaadi, a PSFW regular, was inexplicably missing while also being unavailable for giving a reason why. Ali Xeeshan, whose theatrics we missed on the runway, had to sit it out due to PFDC’s justified disciplinary action. There had to be some consequences to assaulting a journalist last year.

The bottom line of so many designers missing in action: the lineup suffered.

Another pickle was repetition of designers; there were at least seven established names that showed at the Telenor Fashion Pakistan Week as well as the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week, all within a span of two weeks. Some had even participated in the Style PIA initiative as well as the Crystal Couturier show and the TDAP showcase. In an industry deprived of economic as well as creative resources, designers who had spread themselves too thin appeared exhausted. Why did they do it?

"Honestly, we didn’t have much faith in TFPW," one designer spoke to Instep on conditions of anonymity. "The council said they’d do fashion week on time but we weren’t confident till the very end. Fashion Pakistan council has pulled up its socks and has gotten bigger and better but we didn’t know it would pull through till the very end, which made us very nervous. PFDC is always a pleasure to work with because it’s a grander show, it’s more organized and the synergy about it makes it better. I admit that the lineup was weak this time but there’s something about the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week that will always make it our first choice. That said our team was under undue pressure due to back to back shows and we have decided to never to put ourselves under that kind of pressure again."

Another designer said that to show at both fashion weeks was the diplomatic thing to do, even though it brought the brand’s production to a screeching halt for a month.

The councils are now at a crossroad where egos must be put aside to benefit the larger interest of the collective fashion industry. Now that Fashion Pakistan is becoming a fashion week regular, it makes no sense to have four council-led fashion weeks in a year: TFPW Spring/Summer, TFPW Winter/Festive, PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week and the PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week. Designers simply do not have the time, resources or capacity to do it all and one already senses a clash up ahead when the Bridal/Festive season kicks in.

"Ideally PFDC and FP should work together because both councils are struggling for better content," said Umair Tabani, GM brand Sania Maskatiya when approached for a solution for design and fashion week exhaustion.

Ideally. It’s a pretty word but it is synonymous with Utopian. Despite being the heart, hub and soul of the same country, Lahore and Karachi have historically never been able to work together successfully. Their politics are divisive and that national character seeps into the fashion industries as well; both councils have failed to see eye to eye.

That said, Karachi-based designers who show at the PSFW have realized that the investment made in showing in Lahore is well worth it.

"The participation fee of showing in Lahore is the same as showing in Karachi," Tabani shared with Instep, quoting a figure of PKR 150,000 as the ballpark participation fee. "We always fly five to six people out and stay at the Nishat Hotel. So PSFW costs us an average of 150,000 per day. Add to that the cost of the collection - we make about 40 pieces and they’re edited down to 16. But the good thing is that it’s all worth it. Nothing goes waste."

Lahore based designers who own stores in Karachi feel the same way; Zara Shahjahan showed in both Karachi and Lahore, as did HSY and Fahad Hussayn. But should they have to make that extra investment, to the same media pool and to the same set of buyers? No. Sana Safinaz and Misha Lakhani decided to show only in Lahore; Iman Ahmed (Body Focus Museum), Sonya Battla and Shamaeel showed only in Karachi. Ideally, and we’re back to that Utopian word, all these fantastic designers should show their spring/summer luxury/prêt on one united platform and their Wedding/Festive on another. United, they would make such a powerful face of fashion and only the councils can create this united platform. The question is, who’s going to bring the councils together?

- Photograph by  Faisal Farooqui