As BCW sticks its foot in the bridal couture door, it ushers in a vast galaxy of stars fresh off the screen and on to the ramp, a feat that its competitors — Pakistan Fashion Design Council’s Bridal Week and Fashion Pakistan Week’s Winter/Festive — have not been able to pull off so successfully. This time round, superstars flocked to the BCW ramp by the dozens, with everyone from Reema to Saba Qamar lending support to their respective designers as show-stoppers. However, the BCW red carpet lacks this kind of buzzing activity as all the starry action remains focused on the ramp. It needs to spill on to the crimson carpet as well.
Day One included Zoe Viccaji who lip-synced for the opening hair show segment, show opener QYT and showstopper Mawra Hocane for Nilofer Shahid’s ‘Badshah Begum’, Mansha Pasha and Sumbul Iqbal (Aisha Imran), Bilal Abbas Khan (Emraan Rajput), Hareem Farooq (Reema Ahsan), Aangan screen couples Sonya Hussyn and Ahsan Khan and Gohar Rasheed and Kubra Khan (Tabassum Mughal), JPNA 2’s Omer Shahzad (Arsalan Iqbal), mother-daughter duo Bushra and Meera Ansari (Ansab Jahangir) and Ayeza Khan (Faiza Saqlain). Moreover, participants of the “Ring of Pakistan” wrestling championship also made a surprise visit to the venue.
The celebrities who made heads turn on Day Two were newlyweds Aiman Khan and Muneeb Butt (Ayesha Sadya Design House), Pinky Memsaab’s Kiran Malik and Hajra Yamin (Faika Karim), Faysal Qureshi (Royal Tag), Saba Qamar and Zaid Ali T (Umsha by Uzma Baber), Urwa Hocane (Everthine by Samar), Hira Mani (Haris Shakeel) and superstar Reema (MNR Design Studio). Iqra Aziz and Yasir Hussain (Nickie Nina), Neelam Munir (Annus Abrar), Ali Josh (Murtaza Hussain), Nooray Bhatti (Mehdi), Zeb Bangash, Hania Amir and Asim Azhar (Munib Nawaz) and Mawra Hocane (HSY) rounded up the designer trousseau collections on the last day.
Nigh on Time
Yet another area for improvement is the time factor. Awards and ramp shows enjoy some creative license, but as the minutes turn to hours and the enthusiasm starts to wane, one is less inclined to accept too much license. But the blame cannot be heaped on organisers or participants alone as an ever-increasing amount of guests make it a point to turn up obnoxiously late or refuse to settle down in their seats in spite of repeated reminders.
Sadly, all requests tend to fall on deaf ears and the result is a show that starts way off the intended mark and continues way beyond the comfort zone. Also, the fact that some grand finale designers (hint, hint) never cease to take their sweet time to start their shows doesn’t help the cause of ending shows at a respectable time either. The argument that the look of the models had to change sounds feeble and quite lame to those who have been seated for over five hours. The euphoria of watching an amazing collection is dulled by the agony of searing back pain and muscle cramps.
Published in Dawn, ICON, December 16th, 2018