PLBW 2013 – Day 3 – Pakistan Fashion Design Council L’Oreal Bridal Week

PLBW Bridal Fashion Week Day 3 – A Fitting Finale

Kamiar Rokni wows with his Orientalist collection

The third and final day of PLBW was by far the best – a super line-up and collections that lived up to the billing for the most part. Nomi Ansari provided the masala, Sana Safinaz the sophistication and Kami delivered an artistic showpiece that brought this fashion week to a spectacular end.

Zara Shahjan’s pretty floral joras were eye-catching and innovative

Zara Shahjahan opened the final day with her pretty “True Love” collection. The opening sequence featuring embroidered floral bridals was innovative and very much in keeping with the brand’s design philosophy.

The opening floral segment left fashion lovers wanting more

Unfortunately the rest of the show revolved around more typical and fairly ordinary bridals. If Zara had maintained sufficient faith in her design vision, this could have been an outstanding debut bridal show.

This red bridal by Zara Shahjahan is a safe bet commercially speaking

It isn’t necessary to include a red bridal in ramp show simply because it’s the single most popular bridal look in Pakistan. By all means include red bridals in your shoots and at your showroom but don’t compromise the integrity of your ramp show if typical red bridals don’t go with the concept.

A promising debut by Zara Shahjahan

This was a promising debut by a talented designer but Zara Shahjahan is capable of a lot more.

Saai – layering that didn’t appeal

I wish the same could be said of the next designer to show at Day 3 of PLBW. There was so much wrong with Saai’s collection that it’s difficult to know where to begin. From basic things like un-ironed clothes to hanging threads to fundamental flaws like bad fitting and shoddy design, the list of faults is endless.

Saai – poorly ironed ill-fitting outfits were part of the problem

This is Sahar Atif’s second time at PLBW but her clothes were not up to the standard of other designers showing at PLBW. An edited selection of the photos makes them look much better than they were in real life.

Saai couldn’t match the standard set by other designers

Up close, the sloppy finishing and garish colours really made the clothes look like a cheap imitation of the ethnic chic that other designers managed so well.

Nomi Ansari was colourful desi chic personified

Nomi Ansari, meanwhile, was the epitome of ethnic chic. No one does “colourful” quite as well as Nomi Ansari, as he proved yet again at PLBW.

Nomi Ansari has a way with colour

Nomi’s flamboyant ethnic chic may not be to everyone’s taste but it is flawlessly executed and brilliantly creative.

Bank Al-Flah plugs its credit cards in a novel way with this Nomi Ansari lengha

Nomi opened with a technically astounding creation for Bank Al-Falah, a lengha made from some 4000 credit cards. He went on to give an upbeat typically colourful presentation that was inventive yet stylish.

Nomi Ansari was one of many designers who included short shirts in their collections

Nomi is certainly worth a look-see by any bride looking for a vibrant mendhi or baraat jora. He was also responsible for one of the best moments of fashion week – he put Salman Khan lookalike Hasnain Saleem on the ramp to perform a wedding style Bollywood dance number.

This Salman Khan doppelganger was one of the highlights of fashion week

It may not have been fashion but it was pure entertainment and fit perfectly with Nomi’s glitzy style.

Elegant, wearable bridal wear by Asifa Nabeel

Asifa Nabeel, meanwhile, put together a very polished collection. There was nothing ground-breaking about the collection but it was solid, well-executed and attractive. After a somewhat humdrum start featuring mainly off-white ensembles, the pair showed a selection of navy, black, red and gold joras.

This Asifa Nabeel collection will sell and sell

These were classic, pretty outfits that will do very well commercially and while they didn’t set the ramp alight, what’s certain is that they will sell and sell.

The red bridal – as envisioned by Asifa Nabeel

Asifa Nabeel are capable of more however and it would have been nice to see them push themselves a little more in terms of styling and silhouette.

Sana Safinaz showed a sophisticated collection at PLBW

Sana Safinaz was the penultimate show of bridal week, showing for the first time at PFDC L’Oreal Bridal Week.

Sana Safinaz used a palette of black, white, old gold and red

Firm favourites on the bridal circuit for their sumptuous bridal joras, Sana Safinaz chose to show a select collection focusing mainly on back, white, taupe and old gold with a pop of red thrown in as an accent.

Sana Safinaz – effortless chic

It was a superb play on the black and white theme they have recently used for their pret shows, taking the concept of monochrome and adapting it to luxurious Pakistani bridalwear.

Sana Safinaz used red to add a pop of colour to their collection

Brilliantly styled, the collection was chic and sophisticated – effortless excellence from the designer duo.

The Orientalist collection by Kamiar Rokni was breathtaking

Last but not least came Kamiar Rokni. His Orientalist collection was a fitting Grand Finale for PLBW. The show contained three distinct segments and took an Oriental journey from Siam to Senegal.

Matador by Kamiar Rokni

It was, from a fashion point of view, the most exciting collection of fashion week. Kami seems to have spared no thought for commercial considerations – apart from a few pieces of his final segment very little looked like traditional wedding wear.

Kami chose artistic integrity over commercial viability

Kamiar Rokni

His marvelous styling was reminiscent of Rohit Bal though his inventive vision was very much is own.

This jacket by Kami instantly made it on to many fashionistas’ wish lists

The outrageous sleeves and quirky details may not appeal to the average bride-to-be but there was plenty in the collection that can be adapted to more conventional joras.

The third segment by Kamiar Rokni struck a happy medium between innovation and potential sales

The collection was a true fashion statement and a brilliant finale to a pretty great fashion week.

Want to read more on Bridal Fashion week? Read about PLBW Day 1 here, catch up on PLBW Day 2 here. You can also read the PLBW Round-up here.
You may also like this review of PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week where many of the same designers showed their pret.

Pictures courtesy Faisal Farooqui and his team at Dragonfly