The world over, fashion draws a host of wealthy sponsors and collaborators. Internationally, perhaps the most palpable example is of Mercedes-Benz, the key sponsor for myriad fashion weeks. Across the border, there’s beauty brand Lakme upping the ante with the high-profile Mumbai-based Lakme Fashion Week.

In the Middle East region, the Vogue Fashion Dubai Experience continues to gain strength by holding its second consecutive event in October last year with sponsorship by Emaar Properties. In Pakistan, Sunsilk is the longtime official sponsor for the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week (PSFW). Competitor Pantene was a prominent name in Style360’s Pantene Bridal Couture Week till last year with mobile company Telenor taking over this time and also debuting with its prêt equivalent last month, Telenor Fashion Weekend, in Lahore.

Beauty brand L’Oreal, meanwhile, allots a sizeable budget to maintaining a glamorous, high-end avatar, consciously aligning itself with ‘it’ events where fashion reigns supreme. From the red carpet at Cannes, Oscar after-parties to our very own PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week (PLBW), L’Oreal’s an unmistakable partner for fashion, globally. The brand’s spokeswomen include the likes of Gossip Girl Blake Lively, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Jennifer Lopez, Aishwarya Rai and in Pakistan, the stunning Mehreen Syed.

The celebrity affiliations particularly stand out during the launch of the brand’s new product lines. The limited edition ‘Pure Red’ collection was named after some of the brand’s savviest representatives so that you could opt for the ‘Blake’ crimson or the ‘Freida’ fuschia or even the ‘JLo’ ruby red. The line made its way to Pakistan last month through a collaboration with Sublime’s Sara Shahid with the designer creating designs in different hues of red, right in time for a rouge Valentine’s.

Similarly, the russet range of L’Oreal Paris Gemstone hair colours took Nomi Ansari’s signature kaleidoscopia on board. With recent LSA winner Amna Babar twirling out peplum skirts and saris, the very savvy Nadir Firoz Khan as photographer and the hair coloured by Saba Ansari of Sabs Salon, the video for the campaign quickly went viral on the Internet.

There’s no denying that image-building — more than immediate sales — is what spurs fashion and brand collaborations. But the catwalk’s oomph can be tricky, its brilliance often making mainstream sponsors fade into the woodworks.

But does all this ensure that it will become a hit in the consumer market? It may or may not but what this — and umpteen other such campaigns — do is foster the brand’s luxurious image. “Our marketing campaigns focus on generating sales, creating awareness about new lines and also, simultaneously, supporting fashion,” says Moazzam Ali Khan, General Manager at L’Oreal. “So, we’ll sponsor a fashion week but we won’t insist on forsaking the event’s image by plastering our name everywhere. Our aim is to forge mutually beneficial long-term associations in the industry. Given our international standing as a high-end glamorous brand, it’d be safe to say that associating with a fashionable event not only generates publicity for L’Oreal but also lends credibility to the event or personalities that are acting as our ambassadors.”

But other brands have to work harder for a sliver of that coveted trendsetting image. One of the most fabulous collaborations was between Bank Alfalah and Nomi Ansari for PLBW in 2013 when the designer created a patterned skirt out of 2,000 of the bank’s credit cards. Then, in an effort to gain popularity with the country’s youth, it also created the Bank Alfalah Rising Talent Show at the PFDC’s fashion weeks, featuring upcoming promising young designers. “Building the brand’s image is very important although its financial gains may only be realised in the long term,” says Syed Usman Qaiser, Senior Manager Brand Activation and Media at Bank Alfalah.

There’s no denying that image-building — more than immediate sales — is what spurs fashion and brand collaborations. But the catwalk’s oomph can be tricky, its brilliance often making mainstream sponsors fade into the woodworks. Sunsilk, for instance, began sponsoring the Lahore-based Pakistan Fashion & Design Council’s fashion week in the hope of transforming its image to that of a swanky hair care solution but things only really swung around when Frieha Altaf devised the idea of bringing in limited-edition designer shampoo bottles. “The concept was already a successful marketing mechanism in the West,” recalls Frieha.

“The average consumer loves the vivacity of fashion,” observes Fareshteh Aslam who was then working at UniLever. Now, ‘Sunsilk lounge’ areas at PSFW serve as precursors to the yearly release of designer bottles. Popular brands like Khaadi, Sana Safinaz and HSY among others help to create the lounge areas designed in coordination with the bottle covers.

Even as we speak, the PFDC orchestrated Crystal Couturiers in association with the just-launched Swarovski crystals — an exclusive event featuring two nights of fashion with 250 guests a night, eight capsule designer collections fashioned with Swarovski crystals featuring the works of Karma, Fahad Hussayn, Sublime by Sara, HSY, Nomi Ansari, Elan, Saira Shakira and Libas, live music and a sit down dinner.

The PFDC collaborated with CARE Foundation on the project to take on the responsibility of providing quality education to over 3,000 girls at the CDG High School Bado Ki Sani and CDG Girls High Sitara Colony, Lahore. “All proceeds from the Swarovski Crystal Couturiers will go to the launch and growth of the girls’ schools, as the Council’s CSR commitment towards nation building” says an official communication.

There are so many more corporate big guns who dip their toes into the waters of the Pakistani fashion industry with colourful, exciting results: Rose Petal, with its limited range of tissue packs, designed by Nomi Ansari (who appears to be quite the choice du jour for brand collaborations); Maybelline New York working alongside the Fashion Pakistan Council (FPC) for a make-up trend show last spring and following it by official sponsorship of the Maybelline New York Millennial Fashion Show later in November; Toni&Guy made a big splash with its Hair Meet Wardrobe lounge at FPW where celebrity trendsetters were selected to emulate the different product lines. Among some of the more memorable fetes from last year was the ‘Colours of Spring’ festival by Kayseria and Garnier and the Ascot-style Porsche Polo Diaries fashion show.

How can fashion-brand collaborations make a bigger mark? Sunsilk, L’Oreal Paris, Maybelline, Garnier and Toni&Guy are brands that can extend their red carpet installations by giving out sample products to fashion week attendees. It’s a tactic that perfume brand Scentsation has been following for the longest time. Magnum’s ‘Build your own ice-cream’ bar at PSFW last year was a hit because serving food at fashion weeks, where one can go hungry for hours, is a foolproof plan. Much stranger was the Farid’s ‘pharmacy kit’ given out to the front row at FPW two years ago. “For fashion can be a dangerous business,” as one cheeky journalist tweeted.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, March 15th, 2015

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