KARACHI It may have gotten off to a slow start, but the Fashion Pakistan Week-2 (FPW-2) showed some very beautiful collections on day two of the fashion extravaganza taking place in Karachi at the moment. The designers that showcased their collections included the likes of Abdul Samad, Aiesha Varsey Exchange, Kuki Concepts, Nauman Arfeen, Nida Azwer, Sanam Chaudhry, Shamael Ansari, Shehla Chatur, students from the Asian Institute of Fashion Design (AIFD) and Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design (PIFD). Other than these designers Anum Siraj, Mariam Qureshi and Obaid Sheikh showed a small capsule collection of their designer wear.

Shehla Chatur opened the evening with her collection titled 'Fire and Ice' which had a two-fold nature to it in the first segment she showcased her western women's wear and in the second, her eastern wear designs. Between the two, however, it was her western wear that shined on the runway. Her western wear collection mostly consisted of short bubble dresses in animal prints, tones of black, turquoise, creamy brown and white. Hints of gara embroidery were also visible in her outfits. The jewelry for her segment was provided by Shehrzad Hashwani which the models sported as encrusted clips in their hair, framing their forehead etc. Her collection was soft and was an embodiment in femininity and elegance rolled into one.

The students of AIFD also showed a stellar collection - one that was very mature in its conception. The students presented a white collection based on the theme of 'Peace'. The outfits had everything from an attached cape to an eastern wear garment to a full frontal, horizontally pleated dress that hung beautifully at the back. A garment with large drooping sleeves, shown as not being supported by the neck with white drop-crotch pants was also one of the outfits that stood out in their collection.

Nida Azwer showed a monochromatic collection called 'Juxtapose'. The collection saw the designer go back to the initial creativity she displayed when she did her debut show in June 2009. Her collection showed an interesting combination of screen printed motifs, turned pleating, a white, black and gold chequered neckline and white and black two-sided dress. Two outfits that stood out included her rilli-inspired black and white garments. The designer predominantly stuck to halter necks, long shirt lengths and both straight and chooridar pajamas.

Menswear designer Nauman Arfeen showcased his black men's wear collection titled 'Raven'. Some of the outfits had dark green embroidery done on them as well. The models sported elaborate head gears one of which was a Greek warrior helmet with large feathers stuffed in it, a large black turban, feathered shoulder pads, a large pointed Turkish hat among others. His collection although seemed to take heavy inspiration from Ismail Farid's menswear collection (also a predominantly black collection) showed at FPW in November 2009, Nauman made it his own.

Zahid Khan of Kooki Concepts showed his women's wear 'Aphrodisiac' collection. It was a fine, feminine in which the designer had created bubble dresses, pleated dresses, off-shoulder angular dresses in bold prints. The predominant colours of his collection ranged from white, pink, turquoise, a fresh green, deep earthy tones of brown among others. His collection was supposed to symbolize the elements which include water, air and earth. In his finale, his closing model, Nadya Hussain, wore a full head of antlers precariously balanced on her head.

In conclusion, FPW-2 day two was a very good day in terms of fashion with over seven out of 13 collections showing creativity, originality and promise.