Pakistani fashion gala finale pays ode to women empowerment

2014 April 14. | Szerző:

In a country where women are still finding it tough to enjoy full freedom in the way they dress up, showcasing at PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2014 a collection that pays an ode to “women empowerment” was a bold step. Designer Hassan Sheheryar Yasin feels that it is a step to give back to the country that has nurtured him and given him so much.


In the spirit of his 20th year motto, Hassan Sheheryar Yasin showcased a collection titled “Sher” under his label HSY which was in homage to and in support of, women empowerment.


As part of the initiative, Team HSY collaborated with the Anjuman-e-Khuddam-e-Rasul Allah (AKRA), a renowned voluntary organisation in Shergarh, Okara district, which is working towards improving education and poverty alleviation.


There are nearly 4,000 students in AKRA’s 30 schools in and around Shergarh, more than half of whom are girls. AKRA also runs a teacher training centre in Shergarh and employs most of the graduates in its schools.


HSY draws from the strength of AKRA, with a project called “Sher”, named in homage to the village Shergarh itself.


“The initiative looks at giving back to the country that nurtured me. It also seeks to empower specifically the women of the village Shergarh, through employment opportunities and highlighting the work of their female artisans through the embroideries, embellishments and detailing found on HSY’s collection at the fashion gala,” said the designer.


“The initiative’s focus is not on charitable donations alone but on giving long term and sustainable working and educational opportunities to underprivileged women by empowering them with the skill and resources to earn independently,” he added.


HSY is best known for combining contemporary silhouettes with the traditional techniques of old and this is what one witnessed at the show’s finale. The designs were not only wearable but also very modern and elegant in approach.


The collection featured both men’s wear and women’s wear in luxurious fabrics including pure chiffons, silks, and georgettes paired with indigenous embroideries fashioned by the female artisans of the village Shergarh.


Diverse colour palette inspired by earthy colours naturally observed in the rural environment, particularly in Shergarh, dominated the line. The colour of wood, water, pure indigo, beige, chilli red and turmeric yellow were prominently featured in the collection.


Some of the key trends that were highlighted with the brand’s collection included looser silhouettes, varying options of short and long hemlines, indigenous embroideries and summer jackets.


All in all it was a finale that was the mix of contemporary meets class with some cause involved in it.


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‘The Face’ Recap: Dinner & A Runway Competition Brings Out The Tears

2014 March 20. | Szerző:

The Face opened with Naomi calling out Lydia and Anne V, saying, “How dare you put up two women of color for elimination?” as she speaks of the emotional results of the last round — and it doesn’t look the tensions between the mentors are getting any better. As we look forward to the next competition, this time it is all about the runway.


‘The Face’ Recap — Season 2, Episode 3 Runway Competition:


The models are tasked with walking a difficult runway, (hello, steps!), in restrictive clothing — and it really shows which girls have gotten more comfortable and developed their model walk! Famed model Tyson Beckford sat in to help judge, and it was interesting to see how the latex clothing and the sky-high pumps interfered with their walk. Some girls with an amazing walk faltered, while others had just the right amount of confidence to totally own it! “Kira’s painful to watch….this is the worst walk so far,” Naomi explained as she came down the runway.


Tyson named Tiana from Team Anne the winner, and she couldn’t be happier — and we’re sure it will come in handy come campaign day! Kira admits she is so nervous and doesn’t think Naomi likes her — but after seeing her try to rock the runway, we kinda understand where all her doubt is coming from…(no offense, Kira!).


Campaign Day:


Fashion designer Pamella Roland, (who is gearing up to launch her Pamella line), is present on campaign day and the models must model a cocktail dress and a glam red carpet gown on a dinner table — and that’s not all! The gals will also have to walk as seated guests are present. Team Anne V has an advantage, as they will get to select their dresses first — and the wrong dress can definitely do a gal in!


Naomi gives her team advice, and tells them practice makes perfect — and she’s definitely right! Kira is not happy when her model mentor tries to give her constructive criticism — and you do not want to snap back to Naomi! Kira definitely needs to tone down her attitude, especially cause her walk can use all the help it can get.


In the end, it is Team Anne V who takes home the big win — and it is a total game changer as it is their first win! Naomi and Lydia both have to put someone up for elimination, and Lydia’s team is looking like the weakest link.


Elimination Round:


Lydia sends Ray back into the elimination room, and it is because Lydia thinks she really needs a push to get focused — if she doesn’t find her voice she won’t make the cut. Kira is sent in by Naomi, and she says she wants her to fight, (not beg!), to come back. Unfortunately, Kira gets in front of Anne and starts crying and blaming Naomi for not giving her proper directions — ouch. Kira’s bad attitude sends her packing, but not before Naomi breaks the rules and comes after Kira after she hears her crying. She calms her down and tries to comfort her, and you can tell seeing her go is breaking Naomi’s heart. Ray somehow makes it past her second elimination round and sent back to Lydia’s team.


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Fashion forward

2014 March 17. | Szerző:

Recently, Alannah Hill likened the end of her partnership with her eponymous brand to “a death”. Kit Willow, who was ousted from the label she began, said “my heart was broken”. Collette Dinnigan and Ksubi have shut their shops. Lisa Ho’s company collapsed spectacularly (although it is set to revive in a different incarnation). Is this any climate in which to hold the rebranded Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival?


Well, yes. Behold, Melbourne’s new fashion saviours, a group of up-and-coming designers, models and innovators who offer the promise of change and new invention. VAMFF’s Graeme Lewsey, the chief executive of the festival, recognises the challenges facing the fashion industry, but has responded by shaking things up. A breakfast called “I will survive: the challenges in establishing and protecting your business” is a sign of the times. There is still the usual fabulous glitz afoot: Eva Longoria is the hostess of a Vue de Monde cocktail party, wearing her L’Oreal Paris Global Ambassador hat, and Cara Delevingne is rumoured to be flitting around events as an unofficial guest following her girlfriend Michelle Rodriguez’s visit to the Grand Prix. But what should get fashion-watchers really excited is the range of new blood that will be seen on the runway.


More than beauty: Paris Roberts says you need to connect with people.

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This year’s VAMFF will introduce previously unheard-of fashion figures. Adele Varcoe is an artist who creates faux fashion performances to explore the psychology behind fashion. Thea Baumann is an inventor who has created ”appcessories” – fashion accessories that work with social mobile apps. And then there are the initiatives designed to showcase new talent. Future Runway presents the work of year 11 and 12 students, while tertiary students strut their stuff at the National Graduate Showcase. The Tiffany & Co National Designer Award is the most prestigious of the bunch, presenting a new designer with a kick-start that includes a $10,000 cheque and pop-up store at Westfield Doncaster. Past winners include Dion Lee, Josh Goot, Toni Maticevski and Yeojin Bae.


One of this year’s entrants, Christina Exie, is an RMIT graduate who won reality TV show Project Runway. What she does differently with her “luxury avant-garde” brand is to host a global store from Melbourne. Via the internet, she sells her garments to Kuwait and Russia. She hasn’t restricted her brand’s sales to Australia because, “I use heavier fabrics, and also the price point of my clothes – $80 for a basic top to $3000 for a customised jacket – means that there’s a very small amount of Australians who are willing to invest in the garments I make”. She represents the new breed of designer who prefers to make investment pieces for a greater good. “A lot of people want to produce, cut and sew garments whose only use is to make women feel better, but the garments are ultimately useless – they go into landfill. We need to be smarter, and ask if these garments have another use. Can they be recycled or re-used? There are a few designers who’ll produce things that will never be thrown away.” Exie plans to be one of them.


Fashion bloggers: Stef and Jess Dadon began a clothes diary that eventually translated to 93,000 followers on Instagram, landing them prestigious ad campaigns.

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Another of the Tiffany & Co award finalists is Strateas. Carlucci. Mario-Luca Carlucci and Peter Strateas started their Australian label unconventionally – by debuting their collection in Paris. “We’ve been focusing on the international market,” says Carlucci. So far, that includes selling to stores in Russia, Ukraine, Finland, Italy and China. “We wanted to give it a red-hot shot, and thought, ‘Why build it locally and slowly? Let’s go straight overseas and see how it fares.'” To do so, they “steered away from what was known as the Australian ‘look’ – people think of Australia as being a surf culture, and relaxed, easy and lighter”. ”We use Australian merino wool, a lot of leatherwear, a lot of suiting.”


They attribute their success to the internet, because “back in the day, people had to be in the front row of a fashion show or see it printed in a magazine six months later [to know what was in fashion]”. ”Now you can watch a show in New York on your iPhone at the same time. A brand like us in Melbourne can be seen as an international brand, even though it just happens to be based out of a Brunswick studio.”


That said, there are still up-and-coming designers who prefer their wares to look Australian. Pageant (also Tiffany & Co award finalists), a men and women’s sports luxe label, is the brainchild of Amanda Cumming and Kate Reynolds who display their nationalist pride through using local factories and also teaching fashion design classes at RMIT. “In the Australian fashion industry, everybody’s trying not to reference where they’re from, but celebrating that is really important to us,” says Reynolds. Their innovative approach sees them collaborating with unexpected partners, such as local filmmakers and videomakers, and referencing art through their designs. Art and fashion seem to be closer bedfellows than ever: even the well-established designer Megan Park, whose label has been going for 18 years, collaborated with photographic artist Nairn Scott and illustrative artist Dylan Martorell in 2013 to develop her prints.


Rising talent: Peter Strateas, Christina Exie, Shanali and Mario-Luca Carlucci.

But all these designers recognise that their audience has changed. And expanded, no pun intended, according to plus-size designer Kate Millett, whose Bombshell Vintage label will be showcased in VAMFF’s Curvy Couture Roadshow. At that event, customers can meet designers who focus on size 14 upwards. Millett’s retro-looking label began when “my plus-size friends said that they couldn’t find vintage anywhere for their size”. She realised that vintage lines – promoting hourglass shapes – often suited plus-size customers. But it’s her inclusion in VAMFF that makes her realise that times really are changing. “There are so many beautiful women out there of all sizes. On the catwalk, there’s a resurgence of body diversity that I’m glad to see,” she says, adding that runways still need to embrace women who might be larger and shorter than the traditional model. “If the majority [of current plus-size fashion] is in dark colours and act as a hiding mechanism, people draw the conclusion that those women want to hide and be concealed. But I’ve met so many women who want to wear bright colours and glitter and spandex and be noticed. I want to change the perception of what plus-size fashion means, and what a plus-size woman is. It’s about loving your body and not reflecting what other people think your body should look like.”


The modelling world is changing, too. Melbourne high school student, Shanali Martin, 17, was the runner-up of the most recent Australia’s Next Top Model TV show. With an Australian father and Fijian-Indian mother, her looks are exotic. “I’m not as diverse as a brunette who can go for a few more things for me, but when I get a job, it’s because they want me for my look,” Martin says.


Even that, though, is no longer enough. “A model isn’t just a coat hanger any more. With the advancement of technology and Instagram, people are personalities now.”


That’s a sentiment shared by Georgia Geminder, 20, a student of criminology at university. She is the official ambassador of the 2014 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix, and will also be walking in VAMFF. “The internet has changed the face of modelling worldwide. I know a lot of girls at the agency who get booked weekly because of Instagram.” She says that it’s hard to strike a balance between being a public face and a private person, especially as she’s the granddaughter of the late billionaire businessman, Richard Pratt. “You want to put yourself out there and promote what you’re doing, but … as I’m getting more exposure, I have to be careful with things I post and how I present myself to the world, because people can manipulate [those images].”


Melbourne-raised and New York-based model Paris Roberts, 20, will appear exclusively on the Mimco runway during VAMFF as its campaign’s new face, and says that social media doesn’t just keep people being interested in you; it almost supersedes the way you look. “It’s not just about being physically attractive; you have to have something that other people can connect to. If you can connect with people, you may not be the most amazingly beautiful person, but you can still attract [consumers], and clients will find that attractive.”


The key to success in fashion, it seems, is to not let others define you. Take Stef and Jess Dadon, sisters in their 20s whose blog, How Two Live, has defied expectations. What began as a clothes diary has translated to 93,000 followers on Instagram, landing them prestigious advertising campaigns with the likes of Mimco.


Stef and Jess will talk about blogging at a VAMFF workshop. And this, perhaps, is how the future of fashion will evolve. Industry insiders are no longer content to play particular, confined roles. They see themselves as change-makers, rather than trend-setters.

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Porsche Polo Diaries: where fashion meets sports

2014 March 13. | Szerző:

With the Porsche National Polo Open for the Quaid-e-Azam Gold Cup underway at the Lahore Polo Club, Porsche Centre Lahore presented the Porsche Polo Diaries Fashion Show featuring 17 of Pakistan’s leading design houses.


HSY opened the night with structured black, sequined jackets over long dresses. He brought a rugged sensibility to his outfits and paired riding boots under his maxi dresses. Cropped jackets and riding pants were all the rage for men throughout the night. Wish HSY had added more colour to his collection to make it pop for a daytime sporting event though.


Tony & Guy kept up with international make-up trends and gave the models popping bright orange lips. Ladies, orange lipstick is a must have this spring, be it daytime or night time; there is a shade out there for everyone. It was also interesting to see Shamaal Qureshi take inspiration from the Polo pony tail for the hair dos. Flattened out, rolled up braids gave the styling a truly sporty feel.


Maheen Karim went retro chic with her capsule collection and psychedelic prints on silk. She used greens, whites, blues and the occasional pop of red in her prints. From classic Parisian dresses to rompers and harem pant jumpsuits, Maheen Karim brought her own sensibility to the sport.


The House of Kamiar Rokni made preppy sexy with his capsule collection. His silhouette, based collection had a very dominatrix feel to it with sheer net and organza backs, paired with bustiers peeking out.


Sonya Battla missed the memo on what Polo fashion is all about and her collection failed to show anything even remotely close to preppy chic aura around the sport.


Nida Azwer was a breath of fresh air as she reinvented herself and brought to us sports day chic. Embellished hats added the oomph factor while the best piece of the collection would have to be her white belted jacket.


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Munib Nawaz is a costume designer at heart and his entire collection focused on the riding pants he had designed. While the velvet jackets were a bit much, they added a bit of drama to the evening.


Fahad Hussayn showed structured pleated dresses styled with fur baleros. The highlight of his collection would have to be the Carrie Bradshaw-inspired feathered head dresses.


Faraz Manan upped the game with sheer embellished capes that are perfect for the Lahori spring. Sania Maskatiya, however, sadly missed the mark. The collection seemed too haphazard and not well put together. The collection lacked the design house’s sport signature sensibility.


Trust Ali Xeeshan to add some much needed drama to the evening. While his Faberge prints that have been a bit overdone around the globe, his creative head gear is what made his capsule stand out.


Wardha Saleem’s 1970s-inspired polka dotted collection had one or two fun elements and a whole lot of problems. While her motif of a bird carrying a polo stick was cute, the ill-fitted outfits just did not hit the spot.


Zara Shahjahan’s decision to pair floppy beach hats with blinging evening gowns was a creative choice that we just did not understand. Deepak Perwani’s capsule exuded his natural style and sensibility. The beautiful prints took the runway by a storm, and with actual polo players walking down the ramp in sleek tailored velvet jackets, this collection was very Deepak and extremely Polo-centric.

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