KARACHI: Shamsha Hashwani opened Day 2 of ‘A Secret Garden Fashion Pakistan Week Spring/Summer ‘21’, with the Lenny Massey band in attendance, with ‘Surraiya’, a collection for brides and grooms in complementing tones and zari, tills and dhaba work. Its appeal lay in classic eastern cuts and silhouettes.

Amnesia by Maheen Khan in collaboration with Hilal Silk Palace aimed to revive the dying craft of hand-woven silk thread and the union brought forth a stunning collection in black and muted grey with classic Maheen signature cuts and silhouettes accentuated with beehive pattern gold jackets as separates. Overall the effect remained mesmerising. A triumph hands down as always.

The sherwani collection titled ‘Miraki’ by Sameer Sain was a hit and miss, the hits being the more traditional cuts and misses being improvised variations. The bottom line here was why fix it if it ain’t broken, or better still why interfere with perfection.

Zaaviay by Fatima Hasan produced very commercial and saleable bridal trousseau pieces, something that we’ve all seen before and borders on the downright boring. And even that’s saying a lot.

‘Gulnaz’ by Sana Abbas showcased understated elegance in bridal wear with kora dabka, pearls, diamantes, and oxidized gold embellishments on chatta-patti borders and geometrical block print patterns in gold on a bed of kaleidoscopic colours. A stunning Kinza Hashmi walked for the designer.

Gogi by Hassan Riaz certainly did not disappoint in its sheer shock value, and birds of paradise-themed colour palette and design acumen with colourful ostrich feathers and gaudy, oversized motifs in sequence that strangely worked in this very fun collection. Nadiya Hussain walked for the designer.

Colour Me Delphi by Nida Tapal featured iridescent embellishments on woven patterns that stood out in a style of its own. The diva-esque silhouettes proved to be a fitting finale for this season of FPW.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2021