 Flimsy decor, exotic flowers, grandeur,
rich colours… these are the words that best explain the aura and
ambiance of Style 360 Bridal Couture Week (BCW). The third season of
the grand bridal show was held at the Pearl Continental Lahore. The
event commenced with its entire splendour carrying forward some of its
hitches and overcoming a few that it saw during the previous season. For
one, this time around BCW started only half an hour late which is a
pleasant change, it brought forward not only the best creations of famed
fashion designers but also presented a wide palette of theatrics
infront of a live audience.
The extravagant bridal show was held on the 15th
and 16th of October with the city's crème de la crème coming together
to participate. Despite the dengue scare, cars queued outside the hotel
and pedestrians hurriedly tried to find their way in through high
security checks. Laying ahead was a narrow pathway lined with Christmas
lights over a thick red carpet, decorated along the sidelines were
images of the last Bridal Show. Following the red carpet area were more
dramatic effects; bare trees were aesthetically placed on both sides of
the ramp, life like peacocks crafted completely out of flowers stood
perched on them. The ramp too was lined with the same flowers and spiral
crystal chandeliers hung above. The event was definitely bigger and
better than its previous seasons and the creative team had outdone
themselves.
The show started with Mona Imran's bridal
collection who decided to start slow with soft pastel gowns, building up
towards more elaborate lehngas. The gowns were detailed with silver
embroidery and jamawar choori pyjamas brightened up single toned shirts.
Kosain Kazmi was next with his Mughul inspired
collection, pulling out one beautiful dress after the other. His was a
colourful palette of bright jamawar intertwined with chundri fabric. The
bridal dresses were not mere lehngas, they were more like gowns
trailing behind with thick gold borders. This was the first time a model
wearing black sashayed on to the ramp that evening.
Up next were the duo Saba and Misbah of the
label 'Hijab'. Their focus was on kalidar shirts, artfully using
applique work on a palette of bright yellows and greens. The choori
pyjamas were lined with beadings and buttons to give an added effect.
Bina Sultan from BNS Couture presented her
line of winter bridal wear with velvet capes over gowns. Their fusion of
thick velvet with netted fabric and contemporary mirror work on dresses
would have been beautiful if not paired with the contrasting gold
jewels.
Round two of day one started with the talented
MEHDI for whom Waseem Akram dressed in a sherwani made a special
appearance. This, however was not the only special appearance since
model and actress Iman Ali too waltzed on to the ramp looking slightly
pale but still beautiful nonetheless in a striking white gown.
Fahad Hussayn wowed the audience with not just
his bold designs but also the dramatic way his collection was
presented. The models wore black netted veils which clearly showed off
their unconventional jewels and matha pattis. This collection too was
full of surprises as singer Quratullain Baloch made an appearance that
marked the end of day one, not just displaying a piece from Hussayn's
collection but also entertaining the audience with live music.
Day two kicked off (fashionably an hour and a
half late) with the 'Dera Jutta' women inspired collection of self
embossed ivory palate with muted embellishments. Adorned with velvet
applique work and laden with chundri dupattas and layers upon layers of
fabric!
Motifs depicting the Mughal era are still
quite popular as Saira Rizwan gave them a twist from the classic silk
painted to motifs on velvet. She vamped up the bridal gown with belts
over sheer cloaks and the seventies inspired hairdos completed the look.
To further add spice to an already steaming collection, the very
talented Omar Iftikhar sang (with his eyes closed – a huge audience can
be very intimidating) a wise, tasteful selection of Bollywood numbers.
His voice mesmerised the audience and the spell was broken by the
beautiful film star Resham; as she boldly came and took over the ramp
with a beautiful banarsi fabric lehnga bedazzled by intricate embroidery
on net.
Sadaf Arshad changed the aura completely with
her turquoise and soap green collection voluminous gowns. With
background music of Ali Zafar from his latest Sufi album, the collection
and choreography both stole the show. Model and actress Fizza Ali
brought this sequence to an end adorning a beautiful green and white
dress.
More paneled cloaks, velvet and banarsi
borders appeared along Shazia Bayani's collection who brought forward a
traditional red-bride parade. The dupattas were weighed down further
with heavy tussels and the frail models were laden with more layers!
The trio from India, Rabbani and Rakha
redefined the traditional gota and started off with a very
unconventional collection that although showed their creative sides but
failed to define bridal beauty. Their experiments with net and heavy
kamdani on sheer saris lined with sequenced fabric, she stole the show.
Hadiqa Kiyani shone in an orange dress by the talented designers and
received great applaud.
Ali Xeeshan, the talented young designer
brought forward farshi ghararas, mukesh dupattas and ivory gowns. He
improvised the bride-grooms dress with pieces from his bridal collection
such as a heavy dupatta and even a mermaid lehnga! Xeeshan was the only
one to fuse cottons with silks and accentuate them with pearls and
beadings to bring a fresh new flavor to the traditional bridal attire.
Concluding the two day even was 'La chantel'.
The designers collection had been a huge success in the second BCW and
she came back to stupefy the audience with more glorious trousseau.
Theatrics
The designers were not the only ones who stole
the show; infact there was another art form that made the audience
dizzy with excitement – literally!
This was a Turkish version of spiraling sufi
dance, performed by the extremely gifted young boy, Hamada. This
talented performer spiraled non stop for a whopping twenty minutes,
making the audience cry out with sheer joy as he pulled off one trick
after the other. This visual delight was one that many had never seen
before and was a class apart from all other performances previously seen
at the BCW.
Other performances were by Maryam, who
performed Lollywood style on a dance choreographed by Pappu Samrat and
one by model Fia who performed a classical dance.
Bridal Trends this season
For the winter bride, velvet is a must.
Whether in the form of trimmings, applique, hems, borders or if you are
more daring, complete cloaks!
Black is the new red! The colour traditionally
avoided by brides can be tastefully and stylishly added to your bridal
gown. From black bodices to black velvet trimmings on hems, this will
add the extra oomph you need on your big day.
Layers and length are here to stay. Add layers
to your gown giving it more volume for a more sixties look or get a
long embroidered shirt that can be paired with a lehnga on the big day
and churidar pyjamas on other occasions.
Cloaks and capes might change shape, size and
volume but they add richness to any outfit. Trailing cloaks with
intricate silver embellishments are must haves for the modern bride.
What the participants had to say
It was a mad rush backstage but the designers
were eager to voice their views. Here is what some of the participating
designers had to say.
Saba and Misbah – Designers
"Bridal Couture Week is an excellent platform
for designers to showcase their talent and get noticed. Our work is
simply inspired by beauty – any girl would feel beautiful wearing these
designs"
Sabeena Pasha – Model
"BCW this year is more organised and has a
renewed energy about it that everyone can feel. The makeup is different
and so is the choreography. The dresses are smart and simply beautiful"
Saira Omer – Jewellery Designer
"Because of the skyrocketing jewellery prices,
the current trend should be to have portable poeces that can be
shuffled around to create something new and different each time. This
way the money saved on jewellery can be used for something more
important like buying a house or even a car!"
Sunita Marshall – Model
"The dresses are to die for! They have lots of
length and layers upon layers of fabric. Any bride would feel beautiful
wearing them."
 |
|
Currently have 0 comments: