The launch, organised at a farmhouse on Bediyan Road, was unconventionally planned as an outdoor, day-time event where models were styled live on stage while using the Summer Fantasy 2011 product line.
However, on a Sunday morning, laid-back Lahorites were expected to turn up late, which they did. It was quite long before the seats, amply dotted around a sprawling verdant lawn, began filling in and the models finally walked up to the stage bathed in lilac and powder pink for their makeovers to commence.
The brand’s Pakistan spokespersons, Aamina Sheikh and Sabina Pasha, besides fashion model Ayaan, unadorned and draped in champagne capes, took their places behind white-washed mirror frames resting on ornate dressers and set on a round stage. Attending to the models, Nabila’s creative team started working on lending them the look, as the models coyly peeked through the mirror frames.
Thespian eyes, matte-finish skin tones, hair hues from blonde to brown to brunette, the three models sported different hairstyles in short, medium and long-length cuts, showcasing practicality for everyday high fashion, while employing an overstated artistic expression. The hair was curled, ironed, combed and puffed up with visible dexterity and creativity. Nails were shaped and polished. Faces powdered and glossed with adroit brush strokes.
Finally, the models slid out of their salon wraps like butterflies emerging from their cocoons, to reveal the stunning short prom dresses (designed by Nabila), and hence their final look. Scintillating with vibrant hues and the vitality of spring, the dresses were crafted using Gul Ahmed’s pastel print and plain fabrics. The net, voile and floral lawn prints used to make the dresses gave the semblance of silk, taffeta, French dot mesh or silk Mikado.
“It’s a unique east-meets-west of what the French would do and Lahore should do for spring,” said the stylist also the mastermind behind the event. “It’s also about showing the process of beauty that creates magic. We wanted to show that there is no secrecy to the process and that every woman can become just as stunning,” added Zain Mustafa, who had helped translate her vision to reality. “It’s about showing what Nabila as a group does, and not just about the individual.”
The show was complemented by a music performance by Emu and the Balochi folk artist Akhter Channar. Performing a medley of three tracks, Akhter Channar presented Balochi rap composed on centuries’ old shepherds’ poetry that narrates the story of three plants that return to celebrate spring with the gypsies. The performance began with an ancient genre of storytelling, Narh Sur, that celebrates the return of spring by depicting songs sung by budding flowers and shrubs.
Strutting down to the beat of Balochi verses were three more models who were given their makeover backstage by the stylist. Draped in floor-length French ballgowns, and their fancy hairdos adorned with pink, violet and red flowers, fashion models Fayazeh Ansari, Sophia and Mehreen Syed walked down the stairs of the farmhouse building.
As they posed and paraded on the lawns, Balochi chaap dancers made their entry into the show, hopping in from all sides, while lending their specific native touch to the ongoing gallic gala.
The smooth intermingle of models, donning western-style outfits crafted from local fabric, with Balochi folk music and performers was a gratifying personification of the fine blend between indigenous and foreign elements — a culmination that the event had, all along, aimed at highlighting. Nabila and Zain manifested their understanding of this blend through an ingenious set of props and colours, typical of spring, with shapes and profiles focusing on effervescent and quirky outlooks that their team had aptly lent to the models.
Also spotted at the event were musicians Ali Zafar, Ali Azmat, and Junaid Khan of Call; film and TV stars Shaan, Faisal Qureshi and Juggan Kazim; fashion designers Sehyr Saigol, Kamiar Rokni, Ammar Belal, Nickie and Nina, Munib Nawaz, Amna Kardar, Kuki and Yahsir Waheed; fashion models Aaminah Haq and Nooray Bhatti and stylists Khawar Riaz, Maram Azmat, Aabroo Hashmi and Asmaa Mumtaz. -Dawn