KARACHI: The 11th edition of Fashion Pakistan Week kicked off on Tuesday evening at a local hotel’s open-air venue, featuring décor inspired by flora and fauna, and with a solo show by celebrated designer duo Sana Safinaz. The collection was titled ‘Message from the East’, based on Allama Iqbal’s Payaam-i-Mashriq.

Earlier, the Pond’s Miracle Journey ‘celebration’ in the lounge featured 10 mentors and mentees who shared, with those present, how their 2018 journey had impacted their lives.

‘Message From The East’ boasted of both classic body-hugging and voluminous silhouettes with flared sleeves in festive/trousseau wear with bold patterns, delicate silk floss thread embroideries, block prints, pearls, rhinestones, fluerettes and metallic embellishments. The myriad colour palette ranged from neons, candy colours to beiges, browns, deep reds and basic blacks, all coming together to form stunning outfits in luxe fabrics.

Layering was aplenty with a dramatic veiled showstopper that drew ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the appreciative audience and front-row fashionistas. A few trending pieces from previous collections also made their way on to the FPW ramp, invoking the grandeur and charisma of the SS brand name.

The black menswear complimented by women’s wear added a further dimension to the show wherein a more desi Eastern line worked its magic on the spellbound audience. A heavily-worked deep red short shirt stood out for sheer ingenuity in workmanship.

The designer line-up in FPW this time includes Sania Maskatiya, Tena Durrani, Zainab Chottani, Amir Adnan, Huma Adnan, Saira Shakira, Boheme by Kanwal, Yasmeen Zaman, Nauman Arfeen, Obaid Sheikh, The Pink Tree Company and Nomi Ansari, besides high-street brands Gul Ahmed, Al-Karam and Generation. Missing this time round are FPW regulars and veterans Maheen Khan, Deepak Perwani and others who have chosen to take a back seat in order to project new talent and to give them a better fighting chance.

As a result of different days being dedicated to different genres of design, the second day of FPW Spring/Summer ’19 will feature high street and luxury wear, with the third day’s theme being bridals. Nubain Ali is the show director with hair and make-up by Samiya Ansari of Sabs Salon.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2019