Couture Life
by Zurain Imam
Karachi was once again awash with an exhilirating buzz as the Teacher's Resource Centre (TRC) announced its line up of couturiers for it third Lux Carnivale de Couture. What piqued the city's cafe society's interest most was the inclusion in the triumvirate of designers showing, of 'bad boy of Indian Fashion' 45-year-old (and not 34-year-old as mentioned at the show) Rohit Bal who 'Time' magazine has dubbed "India's master of fabric and fantasy."
After last year's show in which Sana Safinaz's very wearable yet muted slit capris and shifts in mint and stone proved anti-climactic after Tarun Tahiliani's electrifying pin-tucked and draped showstoppers in ruby and shocking rose, one wondered what configuration Zeba Hussain, the chairperson of the TRC Committee, had put together this time.
One was briefly alarmed that revivalist Faiza Samee and artisan Nilofer Shahid were to be paired with Bal's brash and oftentimes subversive clothes until one learnt that Bal was showing his ode to purity, his Sheen Mubarak collection.
This writer would like to make a brief comment at this juncture. All proceeds of the event including two auctions pieces: a UAE national flight carrier's Karachi-London-Karachi First Class ticket (which fetched a whopping amount), and an original Rohit Bal ensemble which garnered Rs500,000 (Pakistani) went to the President's Fund for Earthquake Relief. Many of the victims were from Bal's home state Kashmir. It was heartfelt of Bal to lend his huge celebrity for a cause close to his heart but one wished that he had made a brand new special collection for this event as he had already shown this one earlier at the Lakme International Fashion Week 2005 in April 2005.
"I had almost finalized to have Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla come this year," says Zeba Hussain. "But I attended the LIFW in April 2005 and saw Rohit Bal's breathtaking collection for which he received a standing ovation. In comparison, Abu Jani and Sandeep's collection wasn't that great. And when I saw Rohit's long-flowing Nehru jackets, I thought of pairing him with Nilofer Shahid who also does long coats. I wanted Rohit to show this pure white collection as it was the best of the best and we want each country's public to appreciate the very best of each."
She said she added a third designer, Faiza Samee, because she didn't want people to compare and pit one Pakistani designer with one Indian designer. "Each designer has their own distinct style and I am happy that Lux Carnivale de Couture is shaping up to be an annual event."
Of course, the other buzz created was the one garnered by the smouldering presence of supermodel-turned-Bollwood film star, Arjun Rampal, who looked as suave and handsome as he does in his films and in magazines in a light herringbone Armani suit; and Sonia Jehan who looked stunning in a cream, red-trimmed sari "that I just picked up" she said.
The first designer to show was Faiza Samee who as always created a "special collection and a new line" for the show. Other fashion writers have sometimes chastised Faiza for attempting to experiment with modernity, for example her inclusion of slit capri pants in this collection, believing she should remain in the realm of tradition and revivalist textiles.
"I like to do classic stuff based on classic cuts. Clothes which remain timeless," Faiza ripostes. "I don't want my clothes, which are fairly expensive, to become outdated as the once 'all the rage' four-layered skirt some years ago." Faiza used a melange of fabrics including gauze, georgette, chiffon, velvet and pure silk. Saris and classically cut suits including short, and mid-length kameezes paired with slit capri pants included elements Faiza often uses including floral applique motifs, animal prints and a collage of textiles that gave the collection a "richly chunky feel." The inspiration of this collection was the exquisite architecture of the Taj Mahal including its inlay work that showed up in the jewel-toned embroidery.
"The colours of the collection are from the precious stones of the Taj Mahal," Faiza explained. The showstopping finale bridal piece that took Faiza's artisans 355 days to complete was the dull rose-coloured gharara reminiscent of the red sandstone of Agra and Jaipur that was paired with a jade green dupatta and a shahala (second dupatta) which was a weave of the jade and the red sandstone. The ensemble had reverse chatapatti at the hem and was imbued with precious stones, real pearls and woven with gold thread. "This outfit remained at the Victoria & Albert Museum for six months in 1998 and also the Royal Museum of Scotland who wanted to buy it for their permanent collection," said Faiza.
Rohit's 'Sheen Mubarak' (Kashmiris' way of harking and celebrating the first snowfall) collection was breathtakingly deft and a fine ode to purity. 'This was a going-back -to-the-roots collection for me and was, therefore, heartfelt'
Faiza said she was happy to show with Rohit Bal, a close friend who she met on one of her trips to India. She had seen both the silver imbued Sheen Mubarak collection which was dedicated to the plight of Kashmir and his own virgin white Taj Mahal Collection, both of which he juxtaposed at Lux Couture. "The collection wasn't a surprise and I knew what to expect as far as who I was being paired with," Faiza says. "I get along with all designers, Indian and Pakistani, as each has an individual style identity and value."
Nilofer Shahid's hallowed Paris Couture-worthy collection was a soulful amalgamation of tradition and modernity. It was ethereal yet unpredictable, merging myriad design vocabularies that will undoubtedly prove to be timeless and classic. Since the age of 16, Nilofer has been enamoured by the Lebanese writer, poet and mystic-philosopher, Khalil Gibran, who she recently discovered was also an accomplished artist. This three-part collection was an ode to Gibran and was inspired by his tome, 'The Playground of Life', from which she picked up a sub-narrative, 'Tears and Laughter' (Smiles). Reminiscent of the Shakespearean four stages of life, Nilofer honed in on the narrative's opening lines for her collection which briefly paraphrased begin as: One hour of truth for the love of God is worth more than an eternity of glory. The collection's impetus is the profound feeling one feels when one surrenders to God and feels myriad emotions including empathy for the downtrodden. "That one hour is treated like a jewel and that's what I was inspired by," Nilofer said.
The first segment is thus influenced by the beginning of life: the sea which is an integral part of nature. Swathes of aquatic blues and an electrifying lilac blue swished down the circular runway that was designed by Ahsan Najmi, who has designed the sets for the
Carnivale each year and who may have been influenced by each of the designer's Circle of Life collections. The lines of the first segment were reminiscent of men's couture of the 16th century but imbued by feminine embellishments. A jade and turquoise-coloured jacket was richly embellished with fleurettes, ribbons, pearls and real turquoise, jade and Chinese beads. There was also use of the very au courant Chantilly lace which also found itself on an aquamarine and turquoise brocade and organza jacket which had an innovative elasticized skirt with a bouquet placed off-centre and offset by a Chantilly lace veil.
Nilofer's second segment represented worldly life, and reflected Gibran's life in France hence the Parisian feel to this capsule. Bejewelled and visual, this segment had an off-white base that represented the soul cleansed and returned to God. The third segment introduced Nilofer's bridal collection that indicated eternal happiness to God's promised right-hand people. There was a feel of ebullience and vivid colour including a deep-coral fitted elasticized skirt with ribbon-like strips going down one side with a trompe l'oeil jewel effect on the Chantilly lace top and offset by a circular half veil.
Nilofer, who loathes being put into a bridal designer niche, was an early trendsetter and was the first designer to introduce the fishtail into Pakistani couture in 1999. "I cannot work in a niche and I believe I have always been a bold innovator," she says. This spurious and delicious innovation and unpredictability was seen in a creative dupatta emerging from inside the sleeve of a bustier with ruched edges; and in the reinvention of the poncho which Nilofer felt had become common. A hybrid of a shirt and a cape, a blue, kimono-sleeved silk top was bifurcated into a long-waisted velvet shift with delicate embellishments inspired by nature. Nilofer also researched Lebanese headgear worn by men and women, including Lebanese women winding up their hair which manifested itself in scarf-like headgear. Conical
topis and skull caps embellished with Lebanese coins and flowers were a final ode to Gibran.
"The feedback was that my collection resembled Paris couture on FTV. It wasn't predictable. I innovated and added unique design elements (that included bondage-like strips and wraps and sexy texturing in the form of minute cutouts on silk on a low-cut shirt. ) "My discontent about the Pakistani fashion industry is that designers have become scared to innovate for fear of losing their commercial appeal, and hence have become stagnant and clones of one another, with a low level of creativity."
Rohit's
Sheen Mubarak (Kashmiris' way of harking and celebrating the first snowfall) collection was breathtakingly deft and a fine ode to purity. "This was a going-back-to-the-roots collection for me and was, therefore, heartfelt," Rohit said. As with all of Rohit's shows, his segment began with Ancient Egyptian-looking models dancing Hindu god-like/meets Madonna vogueing before the avalanche of models including Indian supers Sapna, Carol, Joey, Bhavna, and Neha; and Pakistani 'supers' including Iraj, Nadia Hussain, ZQ, Sunita Marshall and newcomer Faiza swarmed around the runway. Lahori model Iman Ali looked ridiculous as she swaggered angrily, drag-queen style, and pouted in a faux sexy manner. It's all very well for a model to have her trademark walk and look, but she should also be aware of the mood of the clothes and what other pleasantries are going around her.
Tania Shafi, on the other hand, was too aware of her surroundings as she giggled as her gaggle of relatives including Sanya and Sadaf Muneer and Safinaz cheered her on as they do each year at Lux Couture. A senior male fashion journalist of some repute also managed to attract a few frowns and unappreciative stares when he shouted flirtatious innuendoes to Arjun Rampal.
Rampal himself raised the aforementioned astronomical auction amount with his own charming teasing, although he mentioned that he was married (to beautiful former model Mehr Jessia) a couple of times to the dismay of many single socialites.
Rohit's womenswear line consisted of full skirts, cholis, empire-line long tops, Nehru-collared jackets and capes. A long, ghair skirt was gathered and tucked casually at the side and was sexily paired with a bustier blouse and a long streamlined jacket.
Rohit's menswear had a latent warrior look, with toga-like wraps, flowing shirts, angharka-like wrap jackets, double layered skirt-pants, dhotis and simple trousers. An ankle-length wrap was fastened across the front at the side, and paired with a lungi, and a long, Nehru-style jacket was paired with a chiffon dhoti. Male models including Ameer Zeb Khan, Rizwan and Daniyal wore asymmetrical lapel jackets with crescent shape embroidery on their jacket and worn with layered skirt-pants.
The moon symbol, Rohit says, was something he saw on an ancient 15th century jacket worn by a Mughal emperor at the Smithsonian (Washington DC). He said he chose this motif for all his clothes for this collection.
Rohit also revived the age-old
warak ka kaam (work in silver/gold leaf) once used for the Mughal royalty. Detailing on Rohit's finely embellished women's jackets included edging with jewels and crescent symbols, and a short jacket-style white-and-silver
choli worn with a
dhoti-style draped sari. The petticoat of this ensemble had been laser cut to give the impression of holes or optical polka dots, whichever perspective one prefers. Ruched up fabric was tied up into moon-shaped circles and wrapped around a long, encrusted jacket and a flowing skirt for another
avant garde look.
The finale bridal
ghagra-choli, worn by Carol, who was picked up from the stage and carried half way to the podium by Arjun Rampal ,was embellished with gold
gotas on the
odhni and the skirt. These
gotas are called
sachcha gotas, the true gold thread work that "will last forever," says Rohit. "Pass it down to your great-granddaughter and the lustre will be the same. Nothing will happen to it."
Hair and make-up, as with all the preceding Carnivale shows, was by Tariq Amin who gave models a healthy bronze look, light kohl eye make-up and shiny lips. The show was choreographed by Aparna and Tanya of Preferred Professionals with production services by Freiha Altaf. The ambience and décor was by the Friends of the TRC.
Attended by the
creme de la creme of society including fashion designers Nomi Ansari, Samyra Rashid, Rizwan Beyg and Umer Sayeed; stylists Nabila and Mubashir; and myriad industrialists and TV personalities, the Lux
Carnivale de Couture's third annual fashion offering was an energizing and fun-filled purview of the very best that subcontinental fashion has to offer, and also showed true
desi heart and spirit at its most noble.