KARACHI: Zainab Sajid opened Day Two of the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2012 by Style 360 at the Expo Centre with a collection with an ivory to beige base with dupattas in different colours ranging from red to green to shocking pink with a dazzling deep brown sari.
The collection spoke of the designer’s versatility when it comes to cuts, draping and embellishments, and featured TV and film actress Humaima Malik of Shoaib Mansoor’s Bol fame as the showstopper.
Next up, menswear designer Humayun Alamgir showed a collection of sherwanis, dark suits and tux accessorised by Nehru caps and turbans. Iffi was the show opener while Hum TV host Fahad Mustafa closed the show in a fetching eastern formal outfit.
A medley dance number by Hasan Rizvi and his Bodybeat troupe saw Iraj being carried in atop a dhol by four young men in its finale before the ramp was handed over to Saba and Misbah of Hijab to showcase their collection that comprised cuts, colours, drape and feel on a colour palette of white peach and red with gold and silver combos that combined old and new world charm with innovation and creativeness in front and back embellishments.
Showcase 2 of the PBCW 2012 opened with Shamaeel Ansari’s select nine pieces featuring striking signature earthy tones with understated elegance in cuts and prints and minimal embellishment. It featured angarkha cuts, rumaal prints and printed chiffons.
Ruby Shakeel showed appliqué on shaded fabric with stone and resham work. Model Rubya Chaudhry stood out in a fetching orange outfit while morning show host Shaista Wahidy was the showstopper and Ayesha Omer the show opener.
Lahore-based designer Saim Ali’s stunning Intoxicated collection was preceded by a show reel before he put on the ramp black banarsi and chiffon with shocking red dramatic borders with large silver motifs, white net shirt and pink layered with beige, mehndi green with streak of red and fluorescent banarsi green and orange bridal. A vibrant red number in georgette, patchwork and a print on red appliqué with peacock motifs stood out here visibly. For the bride and groom wear, tissue with gold screen print worn over red and showstoppers filmstar Sana with Nomi Qamar in a black velvet sherwani concluded the impressive presentation.
Indian designer duo Rabani and Rakha from New Delhi showcased matte gold sequin work on beige and gun metal grey with gauze long scarfs. It featured both classically eastern as well as western wear with model Neha in a stunning orange number with the palette including pink and sky blue worked in stones and blingy chandelier motifs with jaal work on saris. The jewellery was by Ali Javeri.
Tanura dance performance by Egyptian artiste Hamada which was also earlier featured at the same platform in Lahore was again the object of attraction on the last two days. His impressive display of whirling action with acrobatic feats leading up to a grand finale with LED lights got a full round of applause every time.
On Day Three, designer duo Asifa and Nabeel showcased Romulus, inspired by the remains of the Roman Empire and featured multi-layered women’s wear in chiffon, georgettes and lace in a diverse colour palette along with menswear.
Tabassum Mughal opened with ivory bridals with a crochet base outfit and going on to a full colour spectrum including peacock feather motifs on a duppatta. Some pieces that stood out in the collection featured model Gia Ali in an Indian-red bridal and one with Ganga Jamni work.
Model Iraj in a peacock throne design-inspired Noorjehan crown with matching motifs on a heavily-worked long coat and VJ Syra Yousuf as the showstopper concluded the segment.
Monia Faruqi’s trousseau collection titled Jazib was for the modern woman with kora dabka and Swarovski crystals featured next. A one-shoulder crystal-embellished candy-pink number stood out. Show hosts Hira and Mani were the showstoppers in this segment.
After the break, Cara by Imran Ikhlaque and Mustafa Shakeel showed extreme luxury and sartorial fashion in a variety of fabrics, material and details with a few smart menswear pieces. Pakistani cricketers Umar Gul, Younus Khan and Zeba Bakhtiar walked for the designers that showed heavy formal bridals in powder pink, fetching reds, light turquoise and model Iraj in a layered white lehenga.
Inspired by Victorian and Mughal eras as well as ethnic Rajasthani jewellery, the segment of Carat Creations by Sheikh Faisal had outfits by designer Zaheer Abbas. The formal and semi-formal trinkets’ collection is 32-karat gold plated with a silver base and embedded by semi-precious stones.
The Grand Courturiers show brought the PBCW 2012 to a grand, befitting conclusion.
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