ISLAMABAD, Jan 27: After Karachi and Lahore, fashion week came to Islamabad on Thursday, opening avenues for designers.

The four-day Islamabad Fashion Week (IFW), the first in the capital, opened at Serena Hotel. With security one of the main concerns, the hotel’s basement became a no-go area for regular visitors. People from the fashion fraternity – models, members of the press, stylists and choreographers – had started arriving in the city on Tuesday.

The foreign press was amply represented.

Arshad Sidiqui’s Triple-E, an event management company, is organising the Islamabad Fashion Week. Tariq Amin, style guru who made Islamabad his home many years ago, is the consultant for the fashion week in the capital. For the IFW, a model hunt was launched in Islamabad and Lahore, as Amin selected 60 boys and girls for the event. These models showcased the collections of four designers on the opening day.

Fashion weeks attract sparse crowds on opening days, but gather momentum as the event proceeds. Same was the case when Deeba & Zoe showcased their fashion-friendly fusion wear. By the time the second show got under way in late afternoon featuring the designs of Shehzad Nawaz & Sumaira, more seats were occupied by those who had access to invitation-only event.

IFW is scheduled to host five to six prêt and prêt luxury shows daily with couture shows at 9pm. Thursday night’s show featured the designs of Lahore-based Ammar Belal.

There were some complications on the first day as when it came to light that the opening designer, Priyanka Bhansal from India, was denied a visa. Other than that, the shows proceeded as scheduled with hair and make-up by Karachi-based Shaheen Saeed and her styling team and choreography by Amina (Pomme) Gohar, a known Pakistani fashion model who has returned to the fray after 15 years.

A weak collection was put forth by Envogue by Hamida. Shafaq Habib’s designer jewellery collections had five models walking the ramp wearing turquoise-studded designs, inspired by headdresses and necklaces worn by the Pharaohs of Egypt, traditional eastern jewellery patterns and finally improvisation – gold discs and spiral patterns. She got a standing ovation from the full house.

Fashion weeks are to generate business for the participating designers by inviting international buyers to review the collections on show and place orders, and to entertain the foreign press which projects a positive image of the host country.

While it is yet to be seen whether IFW delivers on the first count, it did deliver on the second count as the delegation of the World Fashion Organisation (WFO) and World Fashion Association was present, among other foreign press members. PierCarlo Borgogelli Ottaviani, WFO vice chairman, said it was his first time attending a fashion week in Pakistan.