Unabashed, unapologetic and showcasing everything and anything to do with bridals in Pakistan, the three-day bridal extravaganza Hum Bridal Couture Week has been a constant in our lives ever since it first rolled out the red carpet over a decade ago. Now is in its 20th edition, it is called the Pantene Hum Bridal Couture Week.

Over the passage of time, the Bridal Couture Week (BCW) format has hit a reset, with the song and dance performances omitted to focus on the business of bridal fashions. The musical score of the bridal fiesta also only blares out Pakistani tunes now, to promote local talent.

The one constant that hasn’t changed though are the bridal designs on show. Understandably, every designer show doesn’t feature eye-catching designs or become a runaway success. But, given any one particular edition, the average number of successful collections add up to a decent number, both in terms of bridal trousseau collections and grooms’ wear.

Further adding to it is the attraction of the event being recorded for Hum TV and being put on air constantly and, given the nation’s fascination with bridals and brides, what you have is a recipe for success, and of course TRPs or ratings.

The 20th edition of Bridal Couture Week in Lahore brought forth a multitude of established and emerging designers under the same roof, a privilege that BCW extends to its debutants, even as other fashion weeks have taken a tumble in the wake of Covid-19

Sultana Siddiqui, President Hum Network, acknowledging the hard work put in by her team, said that managing BCW is getting to be more challenging with every passing year because of logistics and rampant inflation, but her son, CEO and Co-founder Hum Network, Duraid Qureshi’s perseverance and commitment had led to the event being held this year.

Sadly, with the council-led fashion weeks’ fate now uncertain, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and its devastation on the economy, and some top-notch designers opting for limited solo shows, it can only be hoped that platforms such as BCW remain in effect for debutant fashion designers, or those who can’t afford to go solo.

This year, the 20th edition of BCW featured the usual crowd-pullers and pleasers such as Fahad Hussayn, Shamsha Hashwani, Haris Shakeel, Munib Nawaz, Zonia Anwaar, Umsha by Uzma Babar, Ahsan’s Menswear, Humayun Alamgir, Mehdi and Rizwan Beyg’s solo show.

Shahid Afridi Store made its debut in menswear on the BCW ramp while others such as Shoaib Ismail, Kanwal Malik, Tayab Moazzam Studio, Shaffer by Grace Fabrics, Jermyn Street and Shakeel’s by Zeeshan Danish were a hit or a miss based on their pieces.

An even bigger attraction lay in the plethora of top-notch celebrities as show-openers or showstoppers for the participating designers at BCW. Hum TV pulled strings and took out all the stops to make the runway come alive with celebrity presence and attendance, something the LSAs had to struggle merely a few weeks before.

Such comparisons are inevitable, given that both the events were held in the cultural hub of Lahore. And so what? We got to see Yumna Zaidi, Aiman Muneeb and Muneeb Butt, Ayeza Khan, Saboor Aly and Ali Ansari, Hareem Farooq, Sadaf Kanwal and Shehroz Sabzwari, Kubra Khan, Saad Qureshi, singers Sehar Gul and Quratulain Baloch, Sami Khan, Emmad Irfani, Kinza Hashmi, Nimra Khan, Ushna Shah and Abdul Hannan, Affan Waheed, Mikaal Zulfiqar, Komal Meer, Soch the Band and Wahab Shah, among others, dazzling the runway with their star power and charisma.

On day one, Fahad Hussayn dazzled his audience with his collection titled ‘Gharana, Ghar aur Gehna’ in his signature style and design acumen.

Fahad interwove dance and drama into his presentation, which comprised intricately embellished bridals in earthy and muted tones. His dastaan-goi storytelling manner of presentation divided into three distinct segments told a tale of Subcontinental culture and the brides that play a part in setting up a home and making the groom’s house her own while wishing for luck to be on her side.

He captured the essence of the tale in the clothes and the fashion presentation by Wahab Shah and his dance troupe, a lost era romanticised in poetry and prose, and captured effectively in the way it was presented on the ramp.

Except for Munib Nawaz’s ‘Untitled’ featuring Sarmad Khoosat and Zonia Anwaar, sadly the oomph element remained visibly missing for the remaining day one line-up of designers.

Day two was marked by a disappointing BCW debut by Ali Haider Couture, while regulars such as Haris Shakeel, Reema Ahsan and Deepak & Fahad, could have upped their game by quite a few notches, as they have the requisite experience. But they chose the well-trodden path with commercially viable collections.

Among the day three collections, elegance, splendour and minimalism defined Shamsha Hashwani’s ‘Jaan-i-Ada’ collection, with its meticulously handcrafted zardozi embroideries and dainty embellishments on luxe fabrics. Ahsan’s Bespoke Menswear featured Turkish influence with tone-on-tone silk thread embroideries on smart, fitted sherwanis.

With many things going in her favour in terms of design and cuts, BCW debutante Sheeba Kapadia still needs to up her game by quite a few notches while trying to make her mark in an already saturated market that poses tough competition for newcomers.

Shakeel’s by Zeeshan Danish spoke of commercial viability with an eye for bridal design acumen with an eye on finishing. The original brand, with decades of experience, is known and trusted by brides-to-be, and their ramp show certainly delivered on that promise.

Humayun Alamgir’s velvet print-paradise tuxedos, blingy jackets and subtle take on formal and festive menswear was received amid loud cheers, ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’. The Karachi-based menswear designer certainly has his finger on the nation’s men’s style pulse.

With newest singing sensation Kaifi Khalil (of Kahan Suno 2.0 fame) as his show-opener and Umer Alam and Tabish Hashmi as showstoppers, it elevated Humayun Alamgir to the status of a true showman, one who knows how to put on a good show and set the ramp on fire with a peppy vintage soundtrack, a feat more difficult to achieve than it sounds.

The grand finale on day three of BCW saw Mehdi, an old player and now considered a senior bridal couturier, showing after a long break. But the oomph element was somewhat missing in his pieces, or simply at a very low ebb for a designer who has put forth much better creations on the ramp in the past. There were the occasional flashes of brilliance but they need to be more constant.

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 25th, 2022