There were significantly more hits than misses on Day 2 of PLBW. While the event picked up momentum on the ramp, off the runway, the energy still left much to be desired.

The Blah Black Carpet

L to R: Natasha Saleem, Juggun Kazim and Teepu Qureshi at the Black Carpet. – Publicity Photo

In lieu of a red carpet, PLBW 2014 has a black one, and it is as lackluster as its name suggests.

People-watching is one of the highlights of fashion week (what else is one supposed to do between shows?) but the carpet is largely devoid of celebrities and designers this year.

Meesha Shafi wearing Zara Shahjahan and HSY at the Black Carpet. – Publicity Photo

Spotting Anoushey Ashraf as she goes about her hosting duties is always a treat, but the glitterati have seriously dulled on the shine this year.

Nabila’s Magic

Bored with the proceedings on the black carpet, I made my way backstage during the mid-showcase break. The difference in energy was palpable.

Nabila’s team was electrified and working at a feverish rate, prepping the models for the next segments, while Zara Shahjahan and Ammara Khan made their way through the tables, giving every single model a once over and approving their looks.

There was significantly less noise being made than expected. Everyone moved quietly but quickly. I finally got to see Nabila’s famous MagiCurl in action as Tabesh Khoja prepped a model’s hair for Zara’s ‘A Folk Tale.’ It’s quite ingenious actually.

Nabila's hairstyle for a model for Zara Shahjahan's 'A Folk Tale'. –Photo Courtesy Jaffer Hassan

The team at Nabila’s did a stellar job overall with the styling and makeup on Day 2, especially in Fahad Hussayn’s showcase.

Nabila's hairstyle for a model for Fahad Husayn. - Photo Courtesy Jaffer Hassan

Speaking of makeup, berry lips are the hottest trend at PLBW this year, both on and off the ramp.

Shamaeel’s ‘Red’ Wedding

Shamaeel's collection The Wedding. – L&R Photo Courtesy Faisal Farooqui and Dragonfly team; Center Photo by Jaffer Hassan

Shamaeel Ansari’s made her PFDC debut last night with a collection titled ‘The Wedding.’

A collection that offers brides something for every event of the wedding festivities, including the trousseau, mayun, mehendi, bari, nikkah, along with options for those attending a wedding as well. Shamaeel’s creations, moody and dramatic, were made in shades of saffron, deep reds and blacks, offset with a few ivory pieces.

– Photo Courtesy Jaffer Hassan

Despite being low on the bling factor, the pieces were rich, with a decadent feel, made on rich silks using vintage gold coiled work and antique tankas in zardozi.

One other thing we now know about Shamaeel Ansari is that she is apparently a Game of Thrones fan. For ‘The Wedding’ the models slowly prowled down the runway to the theme song of the much loved HBO series, and it worked. So well.

Just call Fahad Hussayn 'The Puppetmaster'

Fahad Hussain's collection 'Putlighar'.– Photo Courtesy Faisal Farooqui and Dragonfly team

Pre-PLBW, I found myself wondering how Fahad Hussayn was going to successfully reconcile all the seemingly different sources of inspiration he was drawing on for Putlighar – from puppets and dolls to forgotten fairytales and sagas of lost lovers.

The second the first model waked out on to the ramp, any and all doubts vanished.

– Photo Courtesy Jaffer Hassan

The collection was wearable and commercial, yet experimental and developed beautifully on the foundation that Fahad intended. Putlighar was dramatic and had a beautiful melancholy about it, but was less dark that some of the collections that we’ve seen from Fahad previously.

With this collection, he struck the perfect balance between his own gothic tendencies as a designer and what works commercially. The use of traditional zari work, vintage tilla and threadwork deserves a special mention here, as according to the designer, most of the work was hand done, and one of the lehngas shown on the ramp took almost a year to make for this very reason.

Zara Shahjahan - From Floral to Folk

'A Folk Tale' by Zara Shahjahan. –Photo Courtesy Faisal Farooqui and Dragonfly team

More berry lips, and darker hued bridal wear. ‘A Folk Tale’ was Zara Shahjahan like we’ve never seen her before.

Dramatic oriental prints, offset with a few floral motifs here and there, her collection was significantly less flirty and flowery than the ones we’ve seen before from her, and she proved with ‘A Folk Tale’ that she can do this just as well.

One extremely covetable part of her collection is the beautiful threadworked shawls, each prettier than the one before it on it ramp. They’re set to be the perfect way to keep warm at winter weddings, and between these and the ornate Kashmiri headdresses, we’re all set to make ‘folksy’ a major trend for shaadi season.

Ammara Khan – Not Russian, but definitely regal

Collection by Amamra Khan. – Photo Courtesy Faisal Farooqui and Dragonfly team

The colour palatte for Ammara Khan’s bridal debut was too pastel and subdued to give an authentic feel of Russian opulence – HSY was much more Tsarina inspired with his furs, ravishing reds and deep midnight blues. That said, save a few pieces her collection shot past expectations that one can have from a first-time designer.

There were some absolutely stunning standout pieces, like a pastel blue lehnga that Sadaf Kanwal wore down the ramp, with glittering 3D flowers appliqued in it.

While some of the pieces might have gone a bit OTT with the embellishments, the ones that didn’t did justice to the age old techniques of silver and gold embroidery that she employed.

No Xeeshan No

Bhagawat by Ali Xeeshan – Photo Courtesy Faisal Farooqui and Dragonfly team

– Photo Courtesy Jaffer Hassan

Ali Xeeshan has always been a showman. He is dramatic, larger-than-life and likes to make a statement with everything he does. According to the grapevine at PLBW, this year he was looking to make more one of a political nature rather than a style statement his showcase this year.

Apparently, his soundtrack included a few anti-establishment slogans that have become all the rage on our TV screens and social media these days. It is unfortunate that this was shut down. If it had gone through as planned, it would have given all of us something to talk about until the next PLBW.

Aptly titled 'Bhagawat', Ali Xeeshan took inspiration from Roman warrior and the idea of defiance itself for this collection. There was customised shanghai silk all over the ramp, along with French velvet, raw silk and jacquard. While the fabrics certainly looked rich, the collection overall lacked the ‘oomph’ that we’ve come to expect from Ali Xeeshan.

A candy-coloured lehnga was a particular standout, while the rest of the collection used a darker palette than we usually see from the designer.

It was sorely disappointing to see a male model carrying a fake peacock down the ramp – with Ali Xeeshan, one expects an army of live peacocks, not a stuffed toy.

Bank Alfalah – Who rose to the occasion?

There was a lot of anticipation for the Bank Alfalah Rising Talent Show. Mahgul has been on a roll lately, with her recent nomination for the LSAs and quickly becoming a must have pret designer, and expectations were high for her capsule collection.

Collection by Mahgul. – Photo Courtesy Faisal Farooqui and Dragonfly team

Collection by Akif Mehmood. – Photo Courtesy Faisal Farooqui and Dragonfly team

Seher Tareen has proven with her Gustav Klimt inspired collection that she can use source material for a collection well, so I was interested in seeing what she’s do with ‘The Emperor’s Assassin’, and if she’d show maturity as a designer in the short span of time between her collections.

Collection by Sofia Badar. -– Photo Courtesy Faisal Farooqui and Dragonfly team

Out of the five designers that showed (Akif Mahmood, Mahgul, Studio S by Seher Tareen, Sofia Badar and Wardha Saleem), there were two clear standouts.

Studio S by Seher Tareen. -– Photo Courtesy Faisal Farooqui and Dragonfly team

The refinement of Mahgul’s work shows an understanding of fabric and embellishments beyond her years of experience. While I personally loved how structured her silhouettes were, some for a bridal collection may deem them too experimental.

Overall, her collection was a clear hit, as was ‘Madhubani’ by Wardha Saleem. Wardha’s collection burst onto the ramp in a riot of colour after a parade of outfits in blues and pastels, awash in bright oranges, deep greens and golds.

Madhubani by Wardha Saleem. -– Photo Courtesy Faisal Farooqui and Dragonfly team

Wardha was the only designer whose showcase was preceded by a fashion film shot by Nubain Ali, the concept and styling of which was fantastic, but fell a little short when it came to execution.

Compared to some of the films that we’ve seen so far at PLBW, like HSY’s excellent film for Divine.Decadence, shot by The Videographers, and Abdullah Haris’ for Saira Shakira starring a very flexible necked Amna Babar, this one definitely needed more work.

Read more here:

PFDC Bridal Week Day 1: Hit and miss

Road to PLBW: Showcase sneak peeks and designer insights