Hair; here, there, everywhere!

A shock of curly orange hair mingled with a strawberry pink mane, a sandy blonde bob, glossy brunette waves, highlights, lowlights, mixes of ombre. There were braids, futuristic wigs and hair blown up into experimental frizzy clouds.

Stylist Saeeda Mandviwalla and her team at Toni&Guy South Pakistan took centre stage at the recent ‘Hair at Toni&Guy’ celebration in Karachi, offering a range of hair trends hot off the brand’s international roster. There were looks that were avant-garde and very global, others were a bit unfathomable.

Solo shows dedicated to hair, in my experience, have always tried to push boundaries, presenting beautiful options alongside other styles that are radical. And while it may take one time to appreciate the finer points of a lopsided wig, lumped on the head in multiple tiers, theatrics are an inherent part of such shows.

There is hair styled for the evening soiree, for the formal dinner, for the awards night and, then, there’s hair aimed towards making an eccentric statement on stage. There is hair that you’d opt for when you want to be the most beautiful woman in the room — and there is the hairstyle that you’d want to recreate for Halloween.

Hair was in focus at a recent Toni&Guy celebration and it certainly shone a light on global hairstyling trends. But the show also left one wishing for more…

This solo show stretched out to both sides of this spectrum. There were models wearing alien-like hairpieces, even doing a bit of a zombie dance on the runway! Hair-raising, really.

It was sometimes enjoyable; the ebullient pops of hair colour, the artistic braiding, the short bouncy curls and the sleek bobs. The catwalk was laid out against the colonial backdrop of Karachi’s British High Commission and the guest list was very exclusive. Fashion journalists and bloggers milled about among a smattering of TV celebrities and also some of the city’s most notable salon-owners. In past hair shows, one hasn’t usually seen competing salon-owners make an appearance but they were here this time, cheering for a peer.

The music was upbeat and the models’ wardrobe appeared to have been sourced from the brand’s homebase in London. The hair, also, was right off the streets of London. As the press release clarified, this show was strongly focused on the latest 2024 brand campaign. The funky, punky clouds of frizz, heavily worked with product, was certainly more London than Pakistan. This is what made the show fun to see. This was also what sometimes didn’t work for the show.

One appreciates the effort to highlight global trends but, at the same time, couldn’t a segment of the show be dedicated to tweaking these trends to Pakistan’s tune? Every country has a certain aesthetic and what was shown on the catwalk couldn’t really be applied, as is, to the Pakistani high fashion image.

Perhaps the show had to follow a certain mandate, given to them by their global heads, but just a segment could have been set aside, where one could have seen the brand’s very global ethos merge with that of contemporary present-day Pakistan, where the short dresses from London could have been replaced with smart, trendy shalwar qameez sets. It would have been very interesting.

Also, while hair was understandably this catwalk’s raison d’etre, perhaps a bit more attention could have been given to the make-up? Make-up in the show was mostly minimal and understated — a pop of bright red lipstick or a crazy bit of eye make-up could have helped amplify the looks.

Far too much of the show’s time was dedicated to streaming out videos of the brand’s various products. While the videos were uber-cool, uber-trendy, the audience wasn’t here to see advertisements. The segment where the stylists sculptured hairstyles live could have also been helped along by some theatrics. Again, one understood that hair was in focus but this was a show, after all, and not an in-house salon tutorial.

Was the show still introducing new trends? Certainly. Did it push the envelope with a slew of eccentric, globally relevant hair statements? Yes it did. But one wanted to see more. So much more. Maybe next time. I do hope that this show becomes a regular feature in Toni&Guy Pakistan’s annual calendar.

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 8th, 2024