Have you shot any fashion campaigns lately?” I asked a photographer recently, well-known for his magical way with lighting and composition, hoping that he would open up his cellphone and show me some of his most recent, best work.

He nodded grudgingly. “Some, but mostly corporate work. Have you seen fashion these days?”

He shrugged. I shrugged.

Tragic. Heartbreaking. Distressing. These are adjectives in the lexicon that I have been using with increasing frequency as I write about Pakistani fashion. I do not do so with relish.

And it makes one wonder: if I, as a journalist, who has dedicated years of her life to critiquing Pakistani fashion and has cheered for it as it reached new heights, can feel so demoralised by its current state, how must the veteran designers feel when they see what the industry has become now?

What ails local fashion? Why have innovative ideas been replaced by a glut of celebrities on catwalks, indistinguishable bridal bling and television-friendly visual entertainment? And is there any hope?

How must the pioneers, who once laid the foundation blocks of the fashion industry, creating councils, curating collections, guiding younger designers and setting fashion weeks in motion, feel? Not too great, for sure.

Pakistani fashion, once a glittering unicorn, splaying its wings and aiming for the sky, has of late been flailing, drowning in a sea of mediocrity. Fashion weeks have bitten the dust and creative design is rare. The ateliers once famed for their inventive, artisanal designs have either stepped away from the spotlight, opting to quietly cater to their niche clientele, or have jumped on to the commercial bandwagon, turning their heads towards affordable but not too memorable fast fashion, profitable bridals and the lucrative domains of unstitched lawn.

The spurts of originality that once created a frenzy on the catwalk and hauled in sales from avid aficionados, are rare. They have been replaced by unabashed celebri-fication, where profits get generated when a popular ‘it’ celebrity is seen wearing clothes by a design house. Even when the clothes are downright ugly.

And when a fashion show does take place, the clothes are dismal. Even the brands once known for their stand-out shows seem to shrug their shoulders distractedly and roll out a generic mish-mash on to the ramp. And all you can say is that, at least, in these dark times, there is a catwalk. At least someone is making an effort. At least one deep-pocketed sponsor has steered its attention away from celebrities and invested instead in a fashion show. At least one designer has decided to create a collection for the catwalk, even if it’s a mundane one. At least the clothes aren’t ghastly, even though they are uninspiring and forgettable.

At least — because beggars can’t be choosers.

It wasn’t always like this.

In pre-Covid-19 times, there would be multiple fashion shows throughout the year and two fashion councils — one based in Karachi and the other in Lahore — would plan out regular fashion weeks, featuring the work of established labels as well as promising new names.

Great prestige would be attached to being singled out as one of the best at the event and amplifying this would be the Lux Style Awards (LSAs) — the country’s longest standing awards ceremony dedicated to fashion — where outstanding work through the year would be acknowledged.

What can be done, then? Will Pakistani fashion, the way it was, simply die away, replaced by a generic fast-fashion beast? Will creative couture go extinct with bling-infested, similar-looking bridals taking over? Will fashion weeks, the way they were, the way they should be, never return?

The present-day LSAs, in sharp contrast, only give a fleeting nod to accomplishments in fashion, with the aid of a handful of categories. Similarly, sponsors — once eager to be associated with the exclusive world of fashion — now prefer the razzle dazzle of celebrity. The coronavirus pandemic, in its wake, managed to wipe out the vivacity and excitement which was one innate to Pakistani fashion.

What can be done, then? Will Pakistani fashion, the way it was, simply die away, replaced by a generic fast-fashion beast? Will creative couture go extinct with bling-infested, similar-looking bridals taking over? Will fashion weeks, the way they were, the way they should be, never return?

It all depends on the fashion industry itself. Sure, sponsors may have become waylaid by celebrities but have fashion’s so-called torchbearers also lost interest?

A need for curation

For instance, Hum Network’s Bridal Couture Week (BCW) took place in December last year, standing out as the only platform consistently investing time, effort and money into putting out a show dedicated to bridal-wear. As always, the show met mixed reviews. As always, a considerable faction of the local fashion diaspora turned up its noses at BCW, raising disdainful eyebrows at the celebrities crowding its catwalk and the song and dance that is an inevitable part of the show.

Would they participate in BCW? Certainly not. Would they even sit in the front row to attend the fashion shows of labels they like? Probably not. They would rather opt out of the tamasha.

But set aside the snobbery and shift your focus away from the deluge of celebrities mumbling and fumbling down the runway and you spotted a few wedding-wear brands that actually had potential. Admittedly, some of the fashion was mediocre but, then, there were some fledgling designers who stood out with their beautiful, hand-embroidered bridals. With the right guidance, they could become fashion power-players in the future.

The guidance, unfortunately, isn’t there. There was a time when veteran designers would edit out collections, guiding younger labels on what worked and what didn’t work, putting in long hours into curating line-ups. Now, it seems that anything at all can be showcased on the runway. In fact, the critique against song, dance, theatrics and celebrities on the runway could easily be dismissed if the clothes being showcased on the runway stood out.

Where are these senior designers now, who would be so involved in uplifting fashion’s next-gen? Moreover, why can’t the powers-that-be behind BCW — the Hum TV Network — go the extra mile by creating a committee of fashion veterans who could sift through collections, eliminating the misses and zoning in on the hits?

One appreciates that the platform is consistent and is allowing new labels an opportunity to showcase their work but, now, with 22 editions under its belt, more needs to be done to usher in a bright future for local fashion.

The TV network admirably endeavours to highlight achievements in fashion with the yearly Hum Style Awards (HSAs) — a platform that has, in a short span, managed to highlight and encourage some of the brightest young names in the industry today. Why can’t similar efforts be made to streamline the fashion featured on the BCW runway?

A case of never-ending bridals

There also needs to be more to fashion than bridal bling. Bridal-wear may be extremely lucrative for designers but — except for the most inventive ateliers — its beauty lies primarily in a beautiful mix of colour and embroidery on luxe fabrics. Pret and luxury-wear, on the other hand, offers a wider playing field to designers, where they can experiment with silhouette, construction and technique and introduce new sartorial trends in the market.

And while it is certainly not as lucrative as an order placed for heavy-duty bridal-wear, there was a time when Pakistani designers looked beyond commerce and revelled in upping the ante with creative showcases dedicated entirely to pret.

Fashion councils would orchestrate one fashion week entirely to ‘winter festive-wear’, ie bridals, and another, to ready-to-wear. The short-lived but very innovative Showcase fashion show — another Hum TV Network project — had set new benchmarks by eschewing bridals altogether and strictly following the mandate of only allowing pret on its catwalk. Where is Showcase now? Why are no such efforts being made anymore?

It is ironic that, when Pakistani fashion was in its heyday, I would write impassioned critiques pinpointing a few young labels that had immense potential but no business sense whatsoever. The clothes they would show on the runway would merely win rave reviews but would never reach retail racks, never generate business.

In complete contrast, fashion today is entirely commercial. Creative spurts are toned down so that clothes sell easily. Pastels and tone-on-tone embroideries are created and recreated unabashedly because, while they may not be trendsetting, they sell very well. Everything is viable but hardly any collection is catwalk-worthy. And if any investment is made at all in uplifting a collection, it is made into taking on-board an ‘it’ celebrity rather than making the effort to create bona fide original design.

The rampant celebrification could be bearable. So could the dancing on the catwalk. One would even nod grudgingly at the paid posts placed on Instagram, where designers unabashedly label their own collections as ‘best’, ‘high-end’ and, that most hackneyed of all adjectives, ‘stunning’. If only the fashion would also fascinate.

Published in Dawn, ICON, January 12th, 2025

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