KARACHI: Day three more than made up for what was lacking on the first two days of Fashion Pakistan Week Winter/Festive ’15 with an impressive display of the works of grand couturiers. Some of the biggest names in bridal wear showed their collections, starting from Umar Sayeed who put an amalgamation of 26 years in the industry with a rich trousseau that was both pristine and cohesive, and innovatively styled.

Sexy silhouettes defined the showing that was opened by Asim Reza’s Ho Mann Jehan stars Mahira Khan, Sheheryar Munawwar Siddiqui and Adeel Hussain. Tunics, traditional bridals later transformed into full-blown Western wear in attractive shades of turquoise, pinks, browns and purples with accentuated contrasts underlining the richness of the fabrics.

Bad-i-Naubahar by Zaheer Abbas paid tribute to the poetic works of Faiz Ahmed Faiz in which longing for the return of the beloved is the dominant theme. The designer fused floral motifs with a colourful palette, also signifying a transition from dark to light through gold and silver embellishments and recreating the timeless fusion of black and gold.

Delphi’s The Dream Weave revisited the zardozi craft after the label’s 20 years of displaying crochet weaving. The bling effect was full on in the collection inspired by the conference of birds in motion and while resting on branches. The segment featured jewellery by Saba Talpur.

In Dilruba Zainab Chottani created traditional silhouettes with modernising trends such as recreating the gharara as pants and pairing it with jackets. The technicolour bridals and motifs won the audience over hands down.

Faraz Manan’s Imperial A/W ’15 transcended race and culture and was not bound by time or era in its appeal factor. The swarovski-infused bridals were a class apart in shades of pinks, ivory, amber and superbly tailored cuts.

Nauman Arfeen’s menswear featured sherwanis and jackets in his signature style. Nilofar Shahid closed FPW W/F ’15 with the grand finale show with the ceremonial pomp and fervour.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2015