Fashion is the cure

KARACHI: While the limestone façade of the Seth Ramgopal Goverdhandas Mohatta Hindu Gymkhana with its minarets and domes has always been impressive, the addition of the twin spiral staircases winding down from the roof to the ground level gave it an added dramatic appeal.

The grounds of the structure housing the National Academy of Performing Arts was the venue of Sindh Fashion Festival on Wednesday evening and also opened the second component, a museum display featuring the works of 17 top names in fashion including Shamaeel Ansari, Sania Maskatiya, Nida Azwer, Ismail Farid, Fnk Asia, Mahin Hussain, Adnan Pardesi, Amir Adnan and others. It will run till Feb 15.

Stringent security measures were in place for the event attended by Sindh Festival chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and his sister Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari. However, one track of the road that used to host Koocha-i-Saqafat and also has the Arts Council auditorium located on it thoughtfully and considerately remained open for vehicular traffic in order to avoid unnecessary congestion for commuters from I.I. Chundrigar Road.

The fashion festival was attended by the likes of Maheen Khan, Deepak Perwani, Amir Adnan and Huma Amir Adnan among many other big names in fashion and started with a performance by the O2 dance troupe with men wearing ankle bells and Sindhi embroidered short jackets on presumably Western attire. If it was meant to denote a merging of cultures and the transition of the culture of Sindhi to encompass other influences in keeping with the times, then the costumes spoke of it loud and clear. The performers moved energetically to a fusion number of Alif Allah, Meem Muhammad, Ain Ali in well-synchronised and rehearsed dance moves in garbs of blue with ear accessories such as worn by the men of the Thar region.

The first to present her collection, titled Embroidered Dreams, of luxurious shawls and panels worn over black outfits provided by The Pink Tree Company was the queen of couture, Bunto Kazmi. With just the right amount of razzle, dazzle and bling, and lined in contrast colours that offset the intricate thread hand embroidery, the segment was a fitting start. All the top models including supermodels Iraj Manzoor and Nadia Hussain showed off the impressive designs offset by jewellery by Amber Sami.

Huma Amir Adnan of the ethnic luxury prêt label, FnKAsia, kept her focus on youth and presented tunics, waistcoats and lowers in a collection titled Sindh Revisited. She used the Sindhi guch made from thread and colourful fabric beads and embroidery as elaborate necklaces and optional wear from the original outfit that was indeed a smart move on the part of the designer. It was all shown to the fusion beat of Khari Neem Ke Neeche by Mai Bhagee while the colour palette largely remained mango yellow and elegant black.

Amir Adnan’s Young Pakistan on the Road to Success held the most star power as a number of personalities ranging from Amin Guljee, Roger Bayat, Sohail Javed, Tapu Javeri, Immu of Fuzon, Fakhre Alam and Sheheryar Taseer walked the ramp while showing tangents of the sherwani, waistcoat and shalwar kameez again mostly in black.

Mr Taseer then announced that they managed to put together the Sindh Festival within 90 days. “Ours is not merely a 65-year-old nation but our culture is over 8,000 years old and just as incredible as that of Egypt, Greece and Rome,” he said, “we have suffered a lot, and now we are here to celebrate.” He thanked Bilawal for his vision and hoped to pull off an even better festival next year.

Folk artist Sherry Raza performed Tere Ishq Nachaya to an infectious beat by the Fuzon band members after which Nauman Arfeen presented his collection and accessories such as shoes and bags for both genders inspired by the black pheasant (kala teetar) of the Sindh region.

Zaheer Abbas’ Ajrakistan employed ajrak print in a variety of costumes, which were essentially Western with Eastern fusion and thrown together with black to make a bold fashion statement. Shortly afterwards, Fuzon performed the ever-popular Khamaj followed by the auction of a Zenith wristwatch presented by Rameez Sultan of Collectibles and the proceeds were to go to the preservation of Mohenjodaro. The bid started at Rs250,000 by Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari and Sheheryar Taseer concluded at Rs1 million. The Collectibles Man of the Evening title went to Owaiz Muzaffar and the Best Dressed Man to Tariq Islam. At this point, the Revlon CEO also presented a gift hamper to Bakhtawar.

Umar Sayeed was the last designer to present his collection with jewellery by Feathers. Classic embroidered panels accentuated with bling in hues of yellow, black beige and pink showed off excellence in local craftsmanship. Sheheryar Munawwar and Zara Peerzada were the showstoppers in the segment.

For the finale, Akhtar Channar Zahri performed popular numbers with O2 dancers with also a fire-breathing act, all of which was set off by a brilliant display of fireworks that lit up the night sky. Nabila was the creative director of the show, with styling of all the models by N-Pro and N-Gents; set design and backstage by Production 021; choreography by Omar Rahim and coordination and management by Tehmina Khaled and Nabil Shaukat.

Day Two of the festival scheduled for Thursday was to showcase designs by Nomi Ansari, Munib Nawaz, Sonya Battla, Farnaz Mustafa, Yousuf Bashir Qureshi and Sana Safinaz but was postponed till a later date.

An online communication read: “Following the Thursday murderous and cowardly attack in which dozens of brave police officers were killed in the line of duty, Day 2 of the Sindh Fashion Festival has been postponed. The show will now be held after 40 days as a fundraiser for the benefit of the victims’ families. Our hearts go out to all the families who have been affected by this terrible tragedy, and we pray for all those injured and fighting for their lives in hospital.”