The 18th edition of Pantene Hum Bridal Couture Week kicked off on February 4th, 2021. It was the first major fashion event to be physically in held in Pakistan ever since the Covid-19 outbreak. The show had 35 designers to showcase their collections over the time of 3 days.
The venue this time was Pearl Continental, Lahore, where all SOP’s were followed. A fresh new design instead of the same old arches would have been refreshing to see but the ramp and the whole setup pretty much resembled that of every Bridal Week held before.
The designers who showcased their collections included Fahad Hussayn, Uniworth Dress Co, Noman and Bhaiya, Alishba and Nabeel, Haris Shakeel, Naushad Imdad, Madeeha Shoaib, Munib Nawaz, House of Arsalan Iqbal, Faiza Rehman, Karismash by Irfan Shoaib, Tabya, Kashee’s, J., Almirah, Diner’s, Umsha by Uzma Babar, Ali Zeeshan, Sable Vogue, Jeremyn Street, Ayesha and Usman, Nisa Hussain, Amir Adnan, Mahgul, Sania Maskatiya, Rizwan Beyg, Nilofer Shahid, Faiza Samee, Zara Shahjahan, Elan, HSY, Omer Farooq by Republic, Sana Safinaz, Ahsan’s Menswear and Zaha Couture.
The styling and makeup was done by Nabila and N Gents whereas all public relations operations and media liaison was carried out by the in-house team of HUM Network Limited, in collaboration with the vibrant Moiz Kazmi and his team at MK Digital PR, with show production, direction, choreography and execution by the special projects & events team at HUM Network Limited.
Coming towards the collections we have so many questions, the first and foremost being, why were the clothes so ill fitted? Not just of models, some outfits of the show stoppers were unpleasantly loose or tight. An example of that is Ushna Shah’s blouse, Alyzeh Shah’s Kashee’s outfit which not only was super tight but also turned out to be a complete design rip off of an Indian designer!
Another thing which totally bummed us and so many others was that Pantene had a hair show with 0 representation of curly hair. Many people came forward and pointed out how at least a “hair show” should have included different hair types instead of the same old straightened hair with a few curls at the end given by hot tools. Pretty much every model almost looked the same, so where is the diversity?
The highlights of the show definitely included a plethora of celebrity showstoppers which included Sarah Khan, Falak Javed, Sonya Hussayn, Ayesha Omar, Alizey Shah, Hareem Farooq, Imran Ashraf, Yumna Zaidi, Urwa Hocane, Mawra Hocane, Ushna Shah, Nauman Ijaz and his son Zaviar Shah, Affan Waheed, Hira Mani, Saboor Aly, Sana Fakhar, Shaista Lodhi, Fizza Ali, Aijazz Aslam, Muneeb Butt, Ahsan Khan, Nimra Khan, Zubab Rana, Resham, Jannat Mirza and many others.
Apart from that it was a treat to watch Nauman Ijaz walk together with his son, and it was one powerful walk! Ali Xeeshan’s collection ‘Numaish’ an attempt to ward off dowry, also made a powerful statement. Moreover, his pregnant wife as the show stopper also was a treat to watch!
We do feel that where celebrities add the glitz and glamour to the show, the real stars of fashion week, the models, don’t get highlighted. Back in the day everyone knew the names of our models because they were highlighted so much. Now, even that job has been taken over by celebrities and to us it is a tad bit unfair with them. We hope to see them getting more acknowledgement in the future!
