LAHORE: Day two of the ongoing Bridal Couture Week was a mixed bag, as various designers showcased their wedding wear.

The first show of the day opened with Ammar Shahid showing ‘Splendour’, which was all about light tones, nets and lace. He played on bling with voluminous silhouettes interspersed with select menswear.

Supermodel Mehreen Syed in an ash grey showstopper number with a gold motif border looked ethereal and stunning.

‘Umsha’ by Uzma Babar, presented by the telecom company sponsoring the event, showed a traditionally festive colour palette with cluster metallic embellishments on luxe fabric and featured model-singer Rizwan Jaffery and Suhai Aabroo as showstoppers.

A light show by Shahzad Disaster and his troupe using ultraviolet lighting techniques and visual illusions coupled with dance movements proved to be quite entertaining and thrilling. They have performed at the same venue before but this time their act was more refined and way more polished.

Later, Teena by Hina Butt fused jaal work with appliqué on rich fabrics such as velvets, chunky outline bold embroidery on classic eastern and western cuts and fascinating silhouettes.

Saira Rizwan’s ‘Shalimar’ manifested the heritage of Lahore with menswear, and Jaipur paisley patterns in wine red, black and emerald green with layers in their women’s wear.

After the break, Fahad Hussayn showed ‘Nautanki Rani’ through a short play. It was written and conceived by Mehreen Jillani, original music composition by Hassan Mohiuddin and narrated to perfection by classical artist Naheed Siddiqui.

It was set in pre-dated Multan and Derawar Fort and the designs were also inspired and borrowed generously from these cultures.

This report was filed during the break, after which Aisha Imran was to show ‘Souvenir’ followed by a hair and make-up show by Depilex and finally Hajra Hayat’s ‘Empress’ inspired by the diverse wardrobe of the Mughals.

The choreography and show direction was handled by HSY with hair and make-up by N-Pro and N-Gents, and show production by the in-house team of Hum Network.

Published in Dawn December 13th , 2014