Pakistan Fashion Week London- Part 2

Carrying on from where I left off, the second part of this article will look at rest of the designers that showcased at the finale show of London Fashion Week with Deepak Perwani closing PFW 2012.

LALA TEXTILES

Lala Textiles is another textile mill based in Pakistan that showed its print collection. Just returning from my holiday in Pakistan, I know how crazy women can go after these lawn and cotton printed fabrics. The prints were nice and summery. The style was flowing and loose- perfect for the summer heat. But I personally did not go ga ga over them!

AMMAR BELAL

Ammar Belal’s collection had a foot tapping start but had to be stopped before it even began because they did not have the outfits. So while we waited for the full collection to arrive at the venue, the High Commissioner of Pakistan made a little speech. Speech over, the music started and the show began! Ammar Belal’s collection was very young and had spunk! Taking after his mom in style and designing, Ammar Belal has made a name for himself. He is known for his funky and “out there” designs considering he is based in Pakistan. My favourite piece was a red biker jacket and sequinned/jewelled transparent tights. And while I usually stay away from taking pictures with any “celebrity”, I did take a picture with Ammar Belal. Totes embarrassing!! *cringe* Umm..never again. I’m better behind the camera.

It was great to see the first two models walk out in the Pakistani flag colours with the female model wearing the Pakistani flag’s design as a T-shirt. Definitely getting that for my feeling-patriotic-day outfit. Deepak Perwani walked the ramp modelling clothes for men. Finally! someone who had thought about the poor guys as well. All in all the collection was okay. I would not call it amazing. There were some great individual pieces but I would not call it a sell out collection.

And here’s me being a total loser posing with a local cele-brity (obviously I know celebrity is one word!). It’s funny how his hand is almost touching my shoulder. “Respaaaact baji jee!”

GUL STYLE

Gul is a London based Pakistani designer. If I am not mistaken, his outlet is on Ilford Lane, East London. While most of the designers in the show were Pakistan-based, Londoners will be glad to know Gul is based in London so they can see him directly. His collection was more bridal with a few party outfits thrown in. The work was quite similar to what I have seen previously, lots of embroidery and embellishment on gowns and frocks. There was some good use of colour but nothing I have not seen before but of course for the London audience, it would have been something new!

DEEPAK PERWANI

And then it was time for the season finale. Who better than Deepak Perwani to close Pakistan Fashion Week 2012. This guy knows how to drape a woman’s body. The designs were crisp, the fabric fell in the right places and the tailoring was to a high standard. There was something for everyone in this collection. Deepak Perwani’s collection itself put up a show. Every outfit was captivating and it kept you interested. I would’ve preferred to see more fusion and western wear from him. Here’s to hoping he comes back next year!

And that is THE END!

It was quite a show. I was gutted I could not attend the fashion week in Pakistan when I was there, so it was a pleasant surprise to visit it in London. Hah!

Now a couple of suggestions I would humbly put forward:

They need to have more representation of Pakistani models from Pakistan. Even if they cannot, they need to hire better models. Most of the models could not walk properly, they were too wooden or over excited. It did not seem natural.

It’s great they are trying to showcase variations of talented designers from Pakistan but they need to scrutinise the designers, who wish to showcase, properly. Case in point, Moazzam Abbasi’s collection was disappointing to say the least. There needs to be more representation from Pakistani designers like Karma, Muse, Élan, Zara Shahjahan and the likes- a mix of old and new.

The collection they show should not just be focussed on bridals. Yes, us Asians love getting married and there is loads to be made from bridals but we need more Pret wear and more practical clothes. Catch a glimpse of what fashion week in Pakistan looked like earlier this year in the photos below. I felt the collections shown back home were more up to date than the ones shown in London. At the same time, it was an amazing effort and with only second year running Riwayat Ltd has done a commendable job. They will have to raise the bar later this year when Adnan Ansari spoke of showing at London Fashion Week. The kind of stuff that I have uploaded below needs to be put out there.

In terms of queuing, us Pakistanis will never learn the etiquette of standing in a line whether it’s in London or Pakistan or any where else for that matter. It was shameful seeing people, old and young alike, pushing each other trying to get into the venue!

Anyway, that said, hope you enjoyed these posts. It’s always good to see what’s going on in other parts of the world in terms of fashion. Leaving you with some amazing Pakistani designers who have been wowing me recently. Stay tuned for more exciting posts. Till the next one xxx