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KARACHI: An entertainment extravaganza featuring live fashion segments, music, dance and beauty awards was held at the Expo Centre late Saturday night to celebrate the best of Pakistani beauty, fashion and entertainment.
The Veet Celebration of Beauty hosted by Azfar Rehman and Aamina Sheikh opened with a dance segment featuring near-invisible performers adorned with led lights in what was a visually-spectacular display of acrobatic skills and dance choreography. It was followed by the first of four fashion segments that depicted fashion through the ages. The Vintage segment featured Khadija Shah of Elan who paid homage to the bygone era of Pakistani cinema. Traditional ghararas, open-front long coats, jamawar fabric in rich shades of deep red, ivory and peach were displayed by the models with Zeba Bakhtiar as the showstopper in this segment.
The first two of the eight beauty awards for which voting was conducted online were later announced and presented by the Main Hoon Shahid Afridi lead cast, Humayun Saeed and Mahnoor Baloch, to Syra Yousuf who won the Most Beautiful Smile award and Saima Azhar for Most Promising Model of the Year.
The golden times of the decade after Pakistan’s independence were the focus of the song and dance tribute to Madam Noorjehan and performed by Sara Raza on vocals. Mehwish Hayat in a peacock theme costume danced to Mehki Fizayain from the film, Koel (1959).
The fashion segment entitled the Retro ’70s featured the designs of Sadaf Malaterre with film star and TV host Sana as the showstopper. Afterwards, the Best Posture award was given to Nadia Ali and the Miss Catwalk trophy to Aamna Ilyas by presenters Nomi Ansari and Mehreen Raheal.
After Zoe Viccaji’s cover of Nazia Hassan’s Aap Jaisa Koi, the revolutionary ’80s period was heralded in that saw the Most Beautiful Skin and Miss Photogenic awards being given away by Asadul Haq and Zoe Viccaji to Ayyan Ali and Aamina Sheikh, respectively.
Designer Ali Xeeshan showed his collection focusing the era of pop with Ali Azmat performing his hits Neeli Neeli Aankhoon, Mera Mahi and Sajna with Nadia Ali as the showstopper in the fashion presentation.
The present age entitled the Eclectic era witnessed the Miss Elegance 2013 award going to Mahnoor Baloch with Humaima Mallik of Bol fame bagging the coveted Veet Beauty of the Year trophy.
Next, designer duo par excellence Sana Safinaz showcased a superlative collection with varied silhouettes including toga-inspired dresses, slim-fit pants, etc, and Ms Mallik as the showstopper.
Finally, a song and dance medley featuring film and TV actress Sara Loren concluded the ceremony and brought the evening to a close. The event was styled and choreographed by Nabila and her team with show production. - Text by Faisal Quraishi/Photos by Shameen Khan and Kurt Menezes
