KARACHI: Pushing geographical boundaries with Japanese artistry with ingenious elements, desig­ner Shehla Chatoor showcased Misaki (Beautiful Blossom) inspired by handpainted folding paper screens and the art of basket-weaving, leather interweaving, braiding and the Samurai warrior’s element of armour. She juxtaposed gold mesh fabric with blacks and other hues to conceive a collection that stood out in terms of creativity and ingenuity. The attitude to carry off the complex design philosophy was perfected by supermodel Iraj who lent the much-needed oomph appeal on the ramp to make it all come alive.

Alpha -- The One Who Commands was the theme of Emraan Rajput’s menswear with select womenswear where he showed outfits in military browns and greens in myraid cuts and structuring. The collection featured overlapping button-down jackets, hooded tops, with flared tops for women tied at the back. Overall interesting, what it lacked was diversity and needed to be matched with contrasting separates to make it truly stand out. A brave effort nevertheless.

Sanam Chaudri’s Lady of Bano inspired by her grandmother was for every woman, defining her feminity and guarding her virtue. The collection featured quite a few standouts such as a gold on ivory number, sheer fabric tops, a Victorian-era cut jacket, brocade slim-fit pants, an oversized collared jacket with flared sleeves in black velvet.

Huma Adnan for FnkAsia showed a vibrant, colourful line that could be worn as separates as well as together to form a complete look. The designer is known to work with local ethnic rural artisans which gives her work an ethical fashion appeal and is a cut above the rest.

Siyah Sufaid by Deepak and Fahad put on the ramp the starkness of black on white and vice versa in stunning monochromatic theme outfits for both men and women that ranged from cottons, silks and leather. Prominent in the segment were a cropped strapless poncho worn by Iraj, quilted menswear jackets, high-waisted pleated pants worn with a short jacket in women’s wear and a zippered down jacket worn by Omer Shahzad among other highlights. The dynamic young designer duo received a thumbs up from fashionistas.

Psychadelic patterns and weaves with abstract imagery defined Adnan Pardesy’s Labyrinth collection which focused on cuts and bore the designer’s signature style in luxury couture. The design elements here were quite varied and spoke of a wide range of influences.

Finally, Everything but the Girl by Deepak Perwani put on the ramp smart menswear by playing with the jacket to make it a more popular fashion statement in a variation of fabrics, textures and cuts. The segment also saw Sikandar Rizvi of Zanders Café and Madam Noor Jehan’s grandson walk the ramp for the designer.

The last and final day of FPW A/W 2014 will feature Faraz Mannan, Maheen Karim, Maheen Khan, Nauman Arfeen, Nida Azwer, Sadaf Malaterre and Sana Safinaz.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2014