Pakistan Fashion week 2, 2nd day

From the backstage chaos to the front stage excitement, Pakistani models presented creations from designers during the second day of Fashion Pakistan Week (FPW) inKarachi on April 6, 2010

Pakistan’s second fashion week kicked off Monday (05 APRIL10) at an upmarket hotel in the southern city of Karachi with a grand opening ceremony.

Models walked the runway with bare shoulders and exposed navels, openly defying doctrine which forbids women to be unveiled outside their home.

Fashion Week organizer, Rizwan Beyg said that the show must go on.

“I mean a lot of people are talking about this being anti-Taliban and I don’t think it has anything to do with that. The idea is not to be reactive but to be proactive and to go ahead and get on with the business of fashion,” Beyg said, “because not only does it involve just the designers but also the entire setups that the designers put up, which is tailors and embroiderers and everybody like that.”

Pakistan Fashion Week, a non-governmental organization, aims to provide a stable platform for its designers to win international acclaim.

Some of the country’s top designers and fashion models were joined by a handful of their foreign counterparts from Italy, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.

The lines on display hugely varied from western style dress to thoroughly eastern inspired garments.

First to show his collection was menswear designer, Shakil Saigol, formerly a photographer and a painter.

His designs included a black and white Zebra theme with a Mongolian/Chinese headgear motif.

Middle-Eastern designer, Rabia drew inspiration from Islamic values of the hijab.

Her designs bore a striking resemblance to modern Islamic dress using a variety of silks and chiffons.

Rabia’s collection is the first of its kind to be exhibited in Pakistan – contemporary, yet staying within the confines of a conservative culture.

She included long necklaces created specifically for veiled women.

“These are custom made for veiled woman to wear, they are long and trendy,” Rabia explained. “I also do my own scarves, colorful veils, different styles of wearing the veil.”

Sana Safinaz closed the first day of the five day extravaganza.

Safinaz presented an ultra feminine collection, which saw models strut down the catwalk in floaty dresses.

“I really enjoyed the show, but I loved the last segment which was Sana Safinaz, I was really looking forward to their collection, which was awesome, amazing, I must say that was really very good. And I was expecting more from the other designers but maybe they are not to that extent, they didn’t meet the expectations, but overall the show was very good,” said audience member Nazia Malik.

Fellow attendee, Atiya Khan agreed that some sections were better than others.

“Well I think two of the designers were brilliant, the one who opened and the one who closed, Sana Safi(naz) and Chand (Shakil) Saigol. I was a bit disappointed with the rest.”