In the generic wasteland of local fashion came Showcase; helmed by an industry veteran and a powerful TV network, collating a line-up of some of the country’s most creative people on the basis of merit and pure clout. The three-day-long event wrapped up a Spring/Summer fashion calendar that has simply gone on and on and fortunately, it was the proverbial pot of gold that one discovers at the end of traversing a tedious, rather uphill journey towards a rainbow.

Poetic references aside, Showcase packed in heavy-duty fashion punches like no event has in a long time. Sponsored by Hum Network and with stalwart designer Rizwan Beyg playing show director, a very illustrious montage of designers was enlisted to show their collections on a minimalist, classy catwalk. The model pool included nine international models flown in from London and South Africa and the well-edited fashion segments efficiently wrapped up around 10pm. There were no celebrity showstoppers to pump in publicity because ostensibly this platform was aiming to serve the higher purpose of elevating local fashion standards.

 “We want to show unadulterated, real fashion on the catwalk without confining designers to retail aspirations,” Beyg had said before the event. “We want to provide them with a non-political, non-partisan, well-orchestrated platform.”

Hum TV’s new Showcase wowed with bona fide fashion. It should be allowed to spread its wings

Fashion forerunners

Beyg was, quite evidently, referring to the politics that can sometimes plague fashion weeks orchestrated by local fashion councils and the general demise of creativity due to a lack of editing and a focus on retail. Disillusioned by the scenario, the designer had long declined to participate in local fashion weeks. Showcase marked his return to the limelight with an all-white fashion fantasy dedicated to lace and three-dimensional florals with structured skirts, trails, fitted bodices and pants.

On a similar note, one could wax eloquent about so much more that scintillated and riveted on the Showcase catwalk. Quite an extensive procession of designers put their best foot forward and while the list is quite long, it would be quite sacrilegious not to highlight every one of them.

Faiza Samee, another acclaimed veteran, had frequently been known to mention that she would only want to take part in a fashion event where standards were maintained with a stellar line-up. Showcase, apparently, fit the bill where she put forth fine embellishments and a well-conceived mélange of layers. Bunto Kazmi, veritably the country’s most coveted bridal couturier and notorious for safeguarding her bespoke designs from the spotlight, opted to be part of the show and brought out her achingly beautiful formal wear.

Umar Saeed, openly selective about airing out his designs, gave one a rare glimpse of the funky flipside to his penchant for bridal-wear. In an ode to Karachi’s Zainab Market, the designer flirted with denims, kitschy imagery and all the colours of the rainbow.

Munib Nawaz made his catwalk comeback with subtle, well-tailored menswear.  

Even the younger labels that usually walk commercially friendly lines at fashion weeks allowed creativity to reign on this particular catwalk.

Nomi Ansari spun his colour wheel to create a seamless tropical paradise replete with exotic birds, flora, swishing sequins and glistening crystal embellishments. Wardha Saleem turned to Russia for inspiration and splattered Babushka Nesting dolls on to fabric, embellishing via appliqué and basket-weaves. Quite as eye-catching as the Babushka printed lowers, jackets and tops were the theme-based accessories: hand-painted leather bags and shoes with little Babushka dolls twirling on the heels.

Inaaya characteristically steered the age-old rilli technique towards modern design, fashioning it on to a range of edgy, chic silhouettes. Faraz Manan was very evidently catering to his local market as well as to his burgeoning Arab clientele with Mirage. Working with embroidery and appliqué, the designer played out his flair for luxury on to fluid, glamorous lines. Adnan Pardesy, similarly, stuck to what he does best. The designer shaped gota into origami-like patterns creating some very dramatic luxury-wear.

Shamaeel Ansari’s predominantly red line of capes, boleros and tasseled tunics spoke of fierce, confident, standout design. Zaheer Abbas paid ode to the celestial bodies of the cosmos with embroideries swirling about on a white chiffon canvas. Sania Maskatiya paraded out East-West fusion in a sophisticated range of jackets, pants and ankle-length gowns that fell in well-conceived folds. Momina Teli’s monochrome capsule line was well-stitched and wearable. HSY scrawled ‘Love Letters’ on to organzas and chiffons in scripts that varied from hand-written to typed and stamped.

Faiza Samee has frequently been known to mention that she would only take part in a fashion event where standards were maintained with a stellar line-up. Showcase, apparently, fit the bill where she put forth fine embellishments and a well-conceived mélange of layers. Bunto Kazmi, notorious for safeguarding her bespoke designs from the spotlight, opted to be part of the show and brought out her achingly beautiful formal wear.

Among the menswear, the relatively young atelier Deepak n Fahad stood out for resuscitating menswear and bringing it into artistic design. And it was a pleasure to have Ahmed Bham back on the catwalk after a long time – while there may be many aspirants to menswear design, no one in the local market can cut a suit with as much finesse. Certain elements in Jazib Qamar’s line also showed promise.

Certain high-street shows were equally inspiring. In a brilliant debut, Khaadi introduced its upcoming new line Chapter 2 which had the brand returning to its roots with indigenous hand-woven fabric. From classic monochromes to bright bursts of tangerines and pinks, the line-up was very poised with the focus on minimalistic androgyny. Ideas Pret showed great promise with a cohesive line of very wearable modern formals.

It’s quite a lengthy line of hit collections which is rare for a fashion event. Showcase seems to have had set a precedent.

The council dilemma

But while the fashion at Showcase was certainly exemplary, one heard the critique that it was not a fashion week orchestrated by a council. The insinuation was that regular fashion weeks held by established councils are representative of the local business of fashion. Why, then, should another event creep in through the woodworks and try to make a mark of its own?

These arguments, though, would have had been much more plausible had local fashion weeks been less hit-and-miss. In recent memory, no other fashion event has been able to put forward such a consistent profusion of bona fide fashion. One has also noticed a general lack of editing in certain recent fashion weeks where anything and everything has been allowed on to the catwalk.

Showcase, meanwhile, is being purported as an annual Hum Network event which means that it can be a platform that designers will be able to depend on regularly. The media mileage is also more or less guaranteed given that the network is sure to air the show frequently enough so that it is seen by audiences around the world.  

Why, then, shouldn’t a platform like Showcase be allowed to spread its wings and establish benchmarks? We may have plenty of fashion weeks, an abundance of designers-turned-Instagram stars and an unfathomable number of fashion-centric soirees, but benchmarks? We don’t have too many of those.

Published in Dawn, ICON, April 30th, 2017