With the 18thedition of the Bridal Couture Week set to take place next week here in Lahore, there is a sense of anticipation and exhilaration, yet a little uncertainty in the air, for this is going to be the first local fashion week to take place with a live audience after being postponed last year because of obvious reasons.

The fashion week regulars sure will notice how the pandemic has changed the way events are held. The private TV channel helming the mega event is determined to ensure that the show goes on with all the precautions needed, more so because this is the 10-year anniversary of the annual fashion extravaganza.

Saher Agha, the special projects and events general manager at the media organisation, explained that they are taking all coronavirus precautions and, most importantly, have made it compulsory for everyone who’s going to be present backstage to get a Covid-19 test done -- models, designers, assistants, the management.

“We have also reduced the number of guests from 700 every year to 200 now. We are facing some resistance from the models about the Covid tests, but then it’s compulsory to make the show operational and functional for everyone’s safety and even as a social responsibility. We have to move on; we can’t have events!”

Besides cutting down on a lot of things to bring the three-day event to life from Feb 4 to 6, this year the ramp choreography will be handled in-house unlike previously, seats will be placed with a six-foot distance between each – minimising the coveted front row considerably, there won’t be a photographers pit, and an SOPs inspectors team will be ensuring the guests follow all precautions, revealed a source privy to the event management.

He added that besides a mix of seasoned and new designers participating, there will be a ‘Grand Couturier’ segment featuring 12 veterans of the fashion world exhibiting one outfit each as well as a menswear segment comprising three designers, forecasting bridal and groom-wear trends, respectively, for 2021.

The designer and brand line-up over the three days of the Hum BCW includes Fahad Hussayn, Uniworth, Nauman & Bhaiya, Harris Shakeel, Munib Nawaz, House Of Arsalan Iqbal, Faiza Rehman, Kashees, Umsha By Uzma Babar, Ali Xeeshan, Sable Vogue, Jermyn Street, Nisa Hussain, Ahsan Menswear and Zaha Couture among others.

And no fashion week is complete without a host of celebrities walking as showstoppers for each designer. This year, the stars likely to descend on the ramp include actors Urwa and Mawra Hocane, Hareem Farooq, Imran Ashraf and Resham, as well as TV anchor Shaista Lodhi and TikTok star Jannat Mirza, revealed the source.

Making her fashion week debut in Pakistan is a designer from Peshawar, Zarmina Zahid of Sable Vogue, who’s been designing for over eight years, but started working for local clients around five years ago.

Talking about her debut showcase, Ms Zahid said: “I’ve never needed to showcase my wedding wear to anybody because it sells very well and is exclusive. For this show, I want to bring my culture and ethnicity to a few couture pieces that I have been working on; this is coming straight from the heart. The showstopper piece is brilliant and took 30 people to make over a month. It is really close to my heart.”

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2021